To: Board of Supervisors, County of Sonoma
Department or Agency Name(s): Emergency Management
Staff Name and Phone Number: Jeffrey DuVall / 565-1152
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): All Districts
Title:
Title
Delegation of Authority for Obtaining and Managing Grant Assistance Provided by the State of California’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Mitigation Program
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Adopt a Resolution authorizing the Director of Emergency Management and/or Deputy Director of Emergency Management to apply for funding; accept allocations of funding; execute grant agreement(s), and any amendments thereto; and, execute for and on behalf of the County of Sonoma, any actions necessary for obtaining funding provided by the State of California’s Housing and Community Development Community Development Block Grant Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) program 2017- Round 2 Mitigation and Public Services (MIT-PPS) Program.
end
Executive Summary:
The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) recently released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for Round 2 applications to be awarded through the Mitigation and Public Services (MIT-PPS) Program. The MIT-PPS Program is a subset of the CDBG-MIT under the Resilience Planning and Public Services Program. Program funds may be used for emergency management, disaster response, or disaster preparedness costs that are not generally eligible for CDBG funding, but which provide a demonstrable benefit to the community per the definition of a Mitigation activity.
A total of $9,987,941 in funding is now available on a first come, first served basis, until all funds are expended, and no later than March 29, 2024, for up to $1,500,000 per applicant. Projects must benefit the area designated by HUD as the Most Impacted and Distressed areas, which includes Sonoma County due to the 2017 wildfires.
HCD requires formal authorization from your Board for the involved County officers to apply for and receive the Round 2 MIT-PPS funding, and HCD also requires authorization for delegated signature authority to execute funding documentation.
Discussion:
Background
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) appropriated $212 million in CDBG-Disaster Recovery (DR) funds to the State of California to address the impacts of disasters that occurred in 2017. The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) is the distributor of this funding, which includes the $9,987,941 for 2017 MIT-PPS Round 2.
Jurisdictions affected by the DR-4344 (2017 Wildfires) and DR-4353 (2017 Southern California floods) are eligible to apply for the subject funding, as long as the respective program requirements regarding benefit to low and moderate income (LMI) and most impacted and distressed (MID) areas are met.
The Mitigation Planning and Public Services (MIT-PPS) Program was developed to support projects and activities that reduce risk to communities impacted by the 2017 disasters. The goal of the program is to have projects and activities that address risks to community lifelines that support health and safety and mitigate future disasters. Community lifelines, as defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), are services that enable the continuous operation of critical government and business functions and are essential to human health and safety or economic security, build capacity for eligible jurisdictions, assist local entities with planning, and support public services.
In 2022, the Department of Emergency Management was awarded funding for five (5) mitigation projects, totaling $9,046,612 through the first round of CDBG-MIT funding. Your Board is requested to approve certain consultant agreements related to this first-round funding on January 30, 2024, via a separate Board item. This item requests approval to apply for the second round of funding for additional projects, as described below.
The Department of Emergency Management intends to submit two applications for funding consideration:
1. A Comprehensive Multi-Jurisdictional Emergency Transportation Plan - $500,000: The goal of the Emergency Transportation Plan is to identify gaps and areas for improvement of emergency transportation in Sonoma County. Community lifelines, evacuation routes, vulnerable populations, and communications will all be identified in the plan.
2. Increased Language Access and Accessibility for Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Website - $350,000: The objective of this project is to increase preparedness, response, and recovery knowledge for residents and visitors to Sonoma County that have limited English proficiency or who are hearing impaired. This will be accomplished by updating Sonoma County’s primary emergency webpage, SoCoEmergency.org, to include translations in additional languages outside of English and Spanish, including American Sign Language. The project will work closely with other County departments to ensure it is aligned with the County’s updated Language Access Plan, the County’s website accessibility standards, and translation coordination mechanisms that occur during real-time emergencies.
HCD requires a new formal authorization for the Department of Emergency Management to apply for and receive CDBG-MIT Round 2 funding. As part of the HCD-required Resolution, the County is required to acknowledge the CDBG-MIT program requirements and program documents, including the State’s Community Development Block Grant Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) Action Plan for 2017 disasters, which are available at:
<https://www.hcd.ca.gov/grants-and-funding/disaster-recovery-and-mitigation/mitigation-planning-and-public-services>
Staff has previously reviewed the Action Plan, the State’s CDBG-DR Policies and Procedures Manual, CDBG MIT-RIP addendum, Standard Agreement and other related materials, and are prepared to implement all program requirements should funding be awarded and grant agreements be finalized. As permitted by HCD and in accordance with County general requirements, County Counsel approval as to form, legality, and other agreement-specifics will be required in conjunction with finalization of the actual agreement(s) to be executed with HCD.
Strategic Plan:
N/A
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
Prior Board Actions:
October 26, 2021: Delegation of Authority for Obtaining and Managing Grant Assistance Provided by the State of California's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Mitigation-Planning and Public Services (MIT-PPS). (First Round funding)
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY23-24 Adopted |
FY24-25 Projected |
FY25-26 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
|
|
|
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
|
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
|
|
|
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
|
|
|
|
State/Federal |
|
|
|
|
Fees/Other |
|
|
|
|
Use of Fund Balance |
|
|
|
|
General Fund Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
|
|
|
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
No fiscal impacts to the current year FY2023-24 budget. Any future grant awards will be budgeted into the applicable performance period fiscal years. There is no local match required for this grant.
|
Staffing Impacts: |
|
|
|
|
Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
None.
Attachments:
1) Resolution.
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None.