To: Board of Directors of the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District and Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District
Staff Name and Phone Number: Amy Ricard, 565-7261; Pamela Swan, 565-7348
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
2022 Matching Grant Program Round 2 Funding Recommendations
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Accept Recommendations for Projects and Related Funding Amounts for the 2022 Matching Grant Program Round 2 Cycle.
B) Authorize Ag + Open Space to extend the project implementation deadline for five active Matching Grant Projects to August 22, 2025.
end
Executive Summary:
Every two years, the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District (Ag + Open Space) offers a competitive Matching Grant Program (MGP) for urban open space, restoration and recreation projects. In early 2022, Ag + Open Space opened the MGP with a $4,000,000 funding cycle, but only two applications were received and accepted by the Board of Directors during that initial funding cycle. On December 13, 2022, the Board directed staff to reopen the funding cycle to make the remaining funds available to potential grant applicants. Six highly competitive projects were received during the second funding cycle, requesting over $8,200,000 in funding.
Staff are recommending the Board accept five 2022 MGP Round 2 projects into the program for a total potential award of up to $5,940,000, given the significant community and environmental merits of the proposed projects. Round 2 project applications and funding recommendations have been extensively reviewed by Ag + Open Space staff, the Matching Grant Ad Hoc Subcommittee (comprised of members of the Advisory Committee and Fiscal Oversight Commission), the full Advisory Committee, and full Fiscal Oversight Commission.
This item seeks the Board’s approval of staff’s reccomendations with respect to the acceptance of specified projects into the Program and related funding amounts. However, the Board’s acceptance of projects into the Matching Grant Program does not in itself guarantee funding. Rather, this step represents a commitment by Ag + Open Space to work with the project applicants to meet all Program requirements for the proposed grant. Project implementation will then occur in accordance with the Program Guidelines, including approval of a Matching Grant Agreement by the Ag + Open Space Board of Directors. The Matching Grant Agreement identifies the roles and responsibilities of Ag + Open Space and the grantee, and includes requirements that must be met in order for Ag + Open Space to disburse funds. Each of the projects reccomended for acceptance into the MGP today will return to the Board for final approval once the matching grant agreement and related projects documents are finalized for Board review and action.
Further, due to unexpected delays in construction and entitlements, staff is requesting authorization to extend project implementation deadlines for five active Matching Grant projects to August 22, 2025.
Discussion:
Through the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District’s (Ag + Open Space) Expenditure Plan, Sonoma County voters authorized Ag + Open Space to provide funding to public agencies and nonprofits through a competitive Matching Grant Program (MGP), which has operated to date to protect community open spaces for local agriculture, recreation and public access, and natural resource restoration.
Since 1994, Ag + Open Space has accepted 64 projects into the MGP in each of the county’s nine incorporated cities and numerous unincorporated areas, pledging over $40,000,000 to community-based organizations, Cities, County departments, and other public agencies. Generally located in areas lacking open space, MGP funding has enabled the development and implementation of innovative projects that reflect the needs of Sonoma County’s unique and diverse communities. Matching Grant Projects include Andy’s Unity Park, Bayer Neighborhood Park and Gardens, Cloverdale River Park, Creekside Park, Falletti Ranch, Petaluma Marsh Enhancement, Prince Memorial Greenway, Sonoma Garden Park, Sebastopol Skategarden Park and Garden, Steamer Landing Park, and Windsor Town Green, among others.
As a condition of funding, Ag + Open Space achieves permanent protection of lands through a conservation easement. As the majority of MGP projects include a public recreation component, Ag + Open Space may also receive a recreation conservation covenant which enables and permanently protects public recreational uses.
2022 Matching Grant Program Round 1 Funding Cycle
In early 2022, Ag + Open Space opened the MGP funding cycle with $4,000,000 available for award. The amount of funding available for each Program cycle is determined by analyzing changes in revenue, Ag + Open Space funds available , and financial projections. Two applications (see Table 1 below) were received during that initial funding cycle. The Board of Directors accepted those projects into the program for a potential funding amount of up to $1,950,000 for the two projects. However, $2,050,000 remained available for this cycle.
Table 1. 2022 Matching Grant Program Round 1 Awards
|
Project |
Applicant |
Project Type |
Score |
Funding |
|
Lower Colgan Creek |
City of Santa Rosa |
Acquisition |
78 |
$1,500,000 |
|
Helen Putnam Park Extension |
Earth Island Institute |
Improvement |
74 |
$450,000 |
|
TOTAL |
|
|
|
$1,950,000 |
2022 Matching Grant Program Round 2 Funding Cycle
To create additional opportunities for community open spaces, the Board directed staff to open a second application period from December 13, 2023 to March 10, 2023. Ag + Open Space received six eligible applications at the close of the second application period.
Matching Grant Program Savings
In addition to the remaining $2,050,000 available, staff identified $900,000 in savings from projects previously accepted into the MGP. The Sonoma County Community Development Commission (CDC) was accepted into the MGP in 2014 for the Roseland Village Public Space Project for $500,000 to fund improvements of the project. This project experienced jurisdictional shifts and project delays resulting in it withdrawing the project and submitting a new application, Tierra de Rosas Public Plaza, in this Round 2 funding cycle. Likewise, the SMART Payran to Southpoint project was a trails project accepted into the Program for up to $400,000 in 2014, which has since been withdrawn by SMART. For purposes of evaluating the potential availability of funds for this Round 2 cycle, the unawarded balance of these withdrawn projects ($900,000) was added to the $2,050,000 that had been established for this cycle, resulting in a targeted amount of $2,950,000 for the Round 2 funding cycle.
Application Review and Evaluation
Projects are considered individually to determine how well they fulfill the MGP Guidelines’ goals and criteria. During the application review process, an inter-disciplinary committee of Ag + Open Space staff reviewed and evaluated applications using the evaluation matrix. The staff team conducted site visits, met three times to discuss projects, and developed preliminary funding recommendations.
The evaluation matrix utilizes applicant responses to score each project in the following categories: Program Intent, Community and Environmental Benefits, Need, and Readiness. Prioritization includes acquisitions that add new land to community open space and projects that link communities. While not given a numerical score in the matrix, an “Other Considerations” category is also analyzed as a part of the evaluation process. These “Other Considerations” which were highlighted by the Board of Directors and included in the 2022 Guidelines, include projects located in underserved areas; geographic diversity; projects in fire and flood impacted areas; community support; and past MGP project performance. The maximum score is 100, and all projects must exceed the baseline score of 65.
Funding Recommendations
In over 30 years of administering the MGP, the 2022 Round 2 cycle was one of the most competitive. In this cycle, Ag + Open Space received a diverse field of eligible applications that embodied the goals and intent of the program, and represented unique, time-sensitive community-based projects in areas in need of public open space. Please see Attachment 1. Map of MGP Projects: Complete, Active, and Proposed, for geographic representation.
The Round 2 cycle’s six applicants requested a total of $8,209,500, exceeding the targeted program allowance of $2,950,00 by $5,259,500. The strength of the applicant pool and limited remaining funds from Round 1 made funding recommendations especially challenging. Even so, the staff MGP subcommittee carefully reviewed project applications and made initial funding recommendations commensurate with the quality and time-sensitivity of the projects. Staff presented initial funding recommendations to the MGP Ad Hoc Committee, the Advisory Committee and the Fiscal Oversight Commission, and with their input, developed final funding recommendations based on the projects’ merits and additional available Ag + Open Space funds. Following this extensive review process, staff recommend accepting five of the six projects into the Program for a total potential funding amount of up to $5,940,000 (Table 2). Please see Attachment 2. Project Application Summaries and Funding Recommendation for related details.
Table 2. Funding Recommendations 2022 Matching Grant Program Round 2
|
Project |
Applicant |
Project Type |
Total Score max = 100 |
Request |
Funding Recos |
Justification Summary |
|
Bounty Farm |
People Petaluma Services |
Acquisition & Improvement (Combination) |
90 |
$2,040,000 |
$2,040,000 |
100% Prioritized Acquisition, Urban Ag, Climate Protection Not scaleable, project at risk if not fully funded |
|
Sonoma Schellville Trail |
Sonoma County Regional Parks |
Acquisition & Improvement (Combination) |
86 |
$1,000,000 |
$900,000 |
90% Prioritized Acquisition, Community Connection. First Schellville application. Not scaleable |
|
Colgan Creek Neighborhood Park Phase 5 |
City of Santa Rosa |
Improvement |
83 |
$1,000,000 |
$ - |
0% Awarded $1,500,000 in MGP 2022 Round 1. Implementing Phase 3 & 4. Scaleable, can apply in 2024 |
|
Geyserville Community Plaza |
Sonoma County Public Infrastructure |
Improvement |
69 |
$1,000,000 |
$500,000 |
50% Prioritized Wildfire Area. First Geyserville Application. Scaleable, can apply 2024 |
|
Tierra de Rosas |
Sonoma County CDC |
Improvement |
69 |
$2,000,000 |
$1,500,000 |
75% Prioritized Underserved Area. Leverage BOS Funding. Scaleable, can apply 2024 |
|
Mark West Community Park |
Sonoma Land Trust |
Acquisition |
66 |
$1,169,000 |
$1,000,000 |
85% Prioritized Acquisition, Prioritized Wildfire Area. First Mark West Application. Not scaleable, project at risk if not fully funded. |
|
TOTAL |
|
|
|
$8,209,500 |
$5,940,000 |
|
If the Board of Directors approves the staff’s recommendations included above in Table 2, the total funds that may ultimately be awarded for the two rounds of the 2022 cycle total $7,890,000 ($1,950,000 + 5,940,000). Staff recommends accepting the projects described below into the program notwithstanding the exceptional amount of funding that could flow to these projects, if ultimately approved, for the following reasons:
1. The Round 2 projects were extremely competitive and well-aligned with MGP guidelines. The community and environmental benefits of these projects merit allocation of additional resources; and
2. The acquisition projects recommended are time-sensitive and will be difficult to achieve without significant funding. Without MGP funding, these community-based projects/properties are at risk of conversion to development or other uses.
Approval of the funding recommendations by the Board of Directors will signify acceptance of the projects into the Matching Grant Program and project implementation will occur in accordance with the Program Guidelines. Funding disbursement for projects is contingent upon future approvals by both the Fiscal Oversight Commission (for acquisition projects) and the Board of Directors, including execution of a Matching Grant Agreement, Conservation Easement, and in some cases a Recreation Covenant.
Matching Grant Program Active Projects Extensions
Ag + Open Space is requesting authorization to extend the project implementation deadline for five Matching Grant Program projects to August 22, 2025. These active MGP projects are continuing beyond originally stated completion dates due to unexpected delays. Upon consultation with grantees, it is anticipated these projects will be complete within the requested implementation extension date. Please see Attachment 3. MGP Active Project Extensions, for related details.
Matching Grant Program Revision
Ag + Open Space is currently engaged in a comprehensive Matching Grant Program Revision process, the results of which will come before the Board of Directors on October 24, 2023. Community responsiveness and racial equity advancement are central to the revision, which includes increasing community access and collaboration, advancing racial equity goals and low-income specific goals and metrics, and amending the guidelines, application, and funding evaluation matrix. Staff is collaborating with an Ad Hoc Revision Committee composed of Staff, Advisory Committee and Fiscal Oversight Commission members, County Counsel, community partners, past applicants, and the Office of Equity, all of which have made significant recommendations regarding the program’s administration, design, process, and funding recommendations.
Racial Equity Analysis - Matching Grant Program
Supported by the Office of Equity, staff used the Government Alliance on Race and Equity’s (GARE) Equity Toolkit to craft a racial equity analysis of the Matching Grant Program. Please see Attachment 4, Racial Equity Analysis of Ag + Open Space Matching Grant Program, for more information.
Strategic Plan:
This item directly supports the County’s Five-year Strategic Plan and is aligned with the following pillar, goal, and objective.
Pillar: Climate Action and Resiliency
Goal: Goal 5: Maximize opportunities for mitigation of climate change and adaptation through land conservation work and land use policies
Objective: Objective 2: Develop policies to maximize carbon sequestration and minimize loss of natural carbon sinks including old growth forests, the Laguna de Santa Rosa, and rangelands. Encourage agricultural and open space land management to maximize sequestration
Prior Board Actions:
December 13, 2022: The Board accepted two projects in the Program for a total funding amount of $1,950,000. The Board Launched a new Matching Grant Cycle, receiving applications from December 13, 2022 to March 10, 2023 with an allocated budget of $2,050,000.
March 23, 2021: The Board accepted six projects into the Program for a total funding amount of $5,805,600.
November 12, 2019: The Board approved updates to the Matching Grant Program.
November 13, 2018: The Board accepted five projects into the Program for a total funding amount of $3,681,943.
October 25, 2016: The Board accepted seven projects into the Program for a total funding amount of $3,408,124.
October 14, 2014: The Board accepted seven projects into the Program for a total funding amount of $2,582,715.
September 18, 2012: The Board accepted staff and subcommittee funding recommendations and accepted six projects into the Program for a total of $2,000,000.
December 6, 2011: The Board approved revisions to the Program.
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY 23-24 Adopted |
FY 24-25 Projected |
FY 24-25 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
|
$5,190,000 |
$750,000 |
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
|
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
|
$5,190,000 |
$750,000 |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
|
|
|
|
State/Federal |
|
|
|
|
Fees/Other |
|
$5,190,000 |
$750,000 |
|
Use of Fund Balance |
|
|
|
|
Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
|
$5,190,000 |
$750,000 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
A 2022 Matching Grant Program Round 2 total of $5,940,000 is being recommended for approval, though no funds are committed through this action.The fiscal impacts of adopting the funding recommendations and the requested action will not be realized until Ag + Open Space completes negotiations of all grant related requirements and they are authorized by the Board to execute a Matching Grant Agreement. If a budget adjustment is required Ag + Open Space will return to the Board to request approval.
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
NA
Attachments:
1. Map of Matching Grant Program Projects: Complete, Active, and Proposed
2. Project Application Summaries and Funding Recommendation
3. MGP Active Project Extensions
4. Racial Equity Analysis of Ag + Open Space Matching Grant Program
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
1. 2022 Round 2 Matching Grant Program Guidelines - English
1.5 2022 Round 2 Matching Grant Program Guidelines - Spanish
2. 2022 Round 2 Matching Grant Program Application - English
2.5 2022 Round 2 Matching Grant Program Application - Spanish
3. 2022 Round 2 Matching Grant Readiness Assessment Form
4. 2022 Round 2 Matching Grant Evaluation Matrix
5. 2022 Round 2 Matching Grant Scoring and Recommendations
6. PPSC Bounty Farm Application
7. Regional Parks Sonoma Schellville Trail Application
8. City of SR Colgan Creek Application
9. Public Infrastructure Geyserville Plaza Application
10. CDC Tierra de Rosa Application
11. SLT Mark West Community Plaza Application