To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Breyana Brandt, Parks & Recreation Services Director
Prepared By: Jeffrey Gittings, Parks & Urban Forestry Manager and Ali Koenig, Parks Project Manager
TITLE:
Title
CAL FIRE Urban and Community Forestry Grant
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Adopt a resolution: (1) authorizing the Parks and Recreation Services Director on behalf of the City to accept a grant from the State of California through the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) for Urban and Community Forestry Management in the amount of $510,908, with a City match of up to $174,388; (2) approving both revenue and expenditure budget adjustments to appropriate grant revenue in the Nonrecurring General Fund in the amount of $510,908, as documented in Council Budget Amendment No. 29P11; (3) authorizing the Parks & Recreation Services Director to negotiate and execute an agreement with Davey Resource Group, Inc. for the CAL FIRE Urban and Community Forestry Grant Project in an amount of up to $516,606; (4) authorizing the Parks & Recreation Services Director on behalf of the City to support the Napa County Resource Conservation District in their inter-jurisdictional application to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for an Urban and Community Forestry Grant for tree planting and related activities and utilize the CAL FIRE grant funds or in-kind services to satisfy the matching requirements; and (5) determining that the actions authorized by this resolution are exempt from CEQA.
Body
DISCUSSION:
The City of Napa (City) Parks and Recreation Services Department oversees the maintenance and growth of the City’s urban forestry network which includes street trees (trees located within City rights of way) and park trees (located within City parks and trails) throughout the City. The City does not currently have a comprehensive inventory of the urban forestry network but estimates that it includes approximately 50,000 to 60,000 trees. The City’s urban forest is a critical contributor to the community’s public health and is considered an essential component of the City’s Green Infrastructure; that is, a dynamic ecosystem that provide solutions to urban and climatic challenges by building with nature.
The State of California, through the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), offers several grant opportunities annually to support various forestry-related programs. Through previous City Council action, City Council authorized staff to submit a grant application in an amount up to $700,000 to fund Napa’s first Urban Forestry Management Plan (UFMP). Upon review of the City’s grant application by CAL FIRE, the City was awarded a grant of up to $510,908 with a required $174,388 City match. The grant requires applicants to have projects completed no later than March 30, 2025.
To meet the requirements specified in the CAL FIRE Urban and Community Forestry Program grant guidelines, the City requires a consultant that is experienced in collecting large-scale tree inventory datasets that include and detail the required CAL FIRE attributes utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS), developing urban forest management plans for municipalities and engaging with local communities on plan development. The overall project involves five main initiatives:
1. Complete a tree inventory utilizing GIS or a GIS-compatible software inclusive of CAL FIRE attributes to understand current tree stocking levels, locations, species distribution, age distribution, and condition; and
2. Develop a community engagement process to seek and incorporate feedback in the final plan and increase community awareness and education on the benefits of an urban forestry program; and
3. Develop a 40-year Urban Forestry Management Plan to guide staff to implement and facilitate effective management of the city’s urban forest; and
4. Review and update City tree planting lists, policies, programs and ordinances to match long-term maintenance and funding needs based on findings from the UFMP; and
5. Support in delivering 400 “early-action” tree plantings, including a tree care plan that includes scheduled irrigation for the first 3 years.
City Staff issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) on March 9, 2023, to select a consultant that is most qualified to provide the abovementioned services. City staff reviewed six proposals for general qualifications, relevant experience, proposed staffing, pricing, proposed approach, responsiveness and references to determine the most advantageous proposal. City staff determined that Davey Resource Group Inc.’s proposal is the most advantageous proposal and recommends that Council authorize staff to negotiate and execute an agreement with Davey Resource Group in the amount of up to $516,606, which includes a lump sum of $466,606.00 for required and optional services -with a $50,000.00 contingency for additional services on an hourly basis if needed (approximately 10% of proposal).
Additionally, the City is seeking to leverage the grant funding received from CAL FIRE to implement recommendations from the Urban Forestry Management Plan. The Napa County Resource Conservation District (NCRCD) has identified the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Urban & Community Forestry Inflation Reduction Act (Act) as a viable opportunity to receive implementation funding. This Act is administered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and provides multi-year, programmatic, competitive grants for tree planting and related activities, with a priority for projects that benefit underserved populations. As part of this action, staff is seeking authorization to support NCRCD in their inter-jurisdictional grant application to the USDA Forest Service and to utilize the CAL FIRE grant funds or in-kind services to satisfy the matching requirement for the USDA Forest Service grant. The deadline to apply for the grant is June 1, 2023.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
There is no impact to the General fund by this recommended action. Approval of this item would provide $510,908 in 2021/2022 Urban and Community Forestry Management grant revenue to fund the Urban Forestry Management Plan (UFMP). The proposed budget adjustment to the Nonrecurring General Fund increases both revenues and expenditures by $510,908 to reflect this grant award and the associated expenditures. This amount is equal to 75% of the submitted project budget of $685,296 within the grant application.
The 2021/2022 Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program requires grantees to match 25% of the program/project overall cost. The 25% match of this grant opportunity can come from several sources and may be reduced or waived for portions of the projects within disadvantaged or low-income communities. In addition, match contributions may be satisfied with in-kind activities or materials related to the project. This can include budget line items such as Project Administration ($65,328) & Tree Care ($60,000).
It is anticipated that the City would need to provide a maximum match of $174,388. The City has the additional opportunity to provide in-kind services to meet the match requirement and as such the match contribution may be reduced or waived. It is anticipated that the match requirement is likely to be less than required $174,388. There is $195,000 from Tree Mitigation Fees collected pursuant to NMC Section 12.45.070 already appropriated in the Nonrecurring General Fund to satisfy the City’s match contribution. These funds have been appropriated for tree planting and educational programs which align with the scope of this grant and project. The City intends to use a portion of this appropriation to satisfy the match requirement for this grant opportunity for any other project costs not covered by grant funding and in-kind contributions.
In addition, there is no impact to the General Fund related to the support of the RCD grant application to USDA Forest Service as the matching requirements will be satisfied by the CAL FIRE grant or in-kind City services.
CEQA:
Staff recommends that Council determine that the Recommended Action described in this agenda report is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15304, which exempts minor alterations to land, which includes the planting of new trees and maintenance of trees.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
ATCH 1 -Resolution
ATCH 2 - Council Budget Amendment No. 29P11
NOTIFICATION:
None.