Title
Authorizing the Mayor’s Office to accept a grant in the amount of $50,000 from the McKnight Foundation’s Midwest Climate and Energy Program to support the goals of the City of Saint Paul’s Draft Climate Action and Resilience Plan and to create more equitable mobility services.
Body
WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul (the “City) has approved a Climate Action and Resilience Plan that includes the goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions in Saint Paul by 2050; and
WHEREAS, the McKnight Foundation’s Midwest Climate and Energy Program aims to foster and support climate and energy leadership in the Midwest, making the region a model for the world by reducing energy-related greenhouse gas emissions; and
WHEREAS, the City is partnering with local nonprofit carshare provider HOURCAR in this project, as well as the City of Minneapolis and Xcel Energy, and Xcel has committed $4 million to provide the needed electric infrastructure to serve the new charging hubs; and
WHEREAS, to date, HOURCAR has only been able to serve neighborhoods along the Green Line in Saint Paul, and the City has a desire to spread carsharing services to a larger segment of the Saint Paul, including more ACP50 neighborhoods; and
WHEREAS, carsharing has been shown to reduce overall vehicle miles traveled and to induce car-shedding by providing a reliable way for households to have access to a vehicle when they need one, and has been shown to be complementary to and supportive of the use of public transit; and
WHEREAS, the City has identified a need to partner with community-based organizations in conducting community engagement around the design of the new carshare service and charging hubs project, as this has been identified as a best-practice for ensuring the successful launch of new charging infrastructure and new carshare services, particularly in lower-income communities and communities of color that have been underserved by carshare to date; and
WHEREAS, the City applied for $50,000 (“Grant”) from the McKnight Foundation to meet project goals as outlined in RES 19-1328; and
WHEREAS, the McKnight Foundation has awarded the City $50,000 to advance the goals of the City’s Draft Climate Action and Resilience Plan and to create more equitable mobility services;
WHEREAS, the Mayor, pursuant to Section 10.07.1 of the City Charter and by receipt of the Grant, certifies that there is available for appropriation funds of $50,000 in excess of those dedicated to the Mayor’s Office in 2020; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the City Council of Saint Paul does hereby:
1. Authorize the Mayor’s Office to accept the Grant from the McKnight Foundation in the amount of $50,000.
2. Authorize the appropriate City officials to execute and implement the grant agreement.
3. Adopt, upon recommendation of the Mayor that $50,000 is available for appropriation to the Mayor’s Office as specified in the attached financial analysis form.