Title
Authorizing the City to accept a grant of $805,139 from the U.S. Department of Transportation, to execute a cooperative agreement for the grant, and to establish a corresponding budget for the grant in the City accounting system.
Body
WHEREAS, on May 22, 2024 the City Council adopted RES 24-718 to authorize the Office of Financial Services to apply for a grant from the US Department of Transportation ("DOT") through its Innovative Finance and Asset Concession Grant Program ("DOT Grant") that would allow the City of Saint Paul ("City") to procure experts to: 1) conduct an asset scan for city-owned properties near fixed guideway transit stations and Union Station Depot, 2) conduct a valuation and zoning analysis, and provide preliminary asset modeling to identify a portfolio of assets to expand opportunities for private partnership and increase the efficiency of our transit by locating more residential units and jobs nearby, 3) seek expert financial analysis to propose innovative finance strategies to support the feasibility of identified opportunities, and 4) proactively identify existing city real property assets with the potential to become "enhanced assets" through public-private partnerships and other finance opportunities; and
WHEREAS, on September 17, 2024 the City was notified that it had been awarded $805,139 for these purposes through the DOT Grant; and
WHEREAS, the DOT has provided the City a cooperative agreement ("Agreement"), attached hereto as Exhibit A, that governs the City's relationship with DOT concerning implementation of the DOT Grant, and staff from the Office of Financial Services and Office of the City Attorney have reviewed the Agreement and found it to be acceptable; and
WHEREAS, the Mayor pursuant to Section 10.07.1 of the Charter of the City of Saint Paul, does certify that there are available for appropriation funds of $805,139 in excess of those estimated in the 2025 budget; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the City Council hereby:
1) authorizes the City to accept the DOT Grant;
2) authorizes and directs the proper city officials to execute the Agreement in a form and content substantially as set forth in Exhibit A attached hereto; and
3) acknowledges the certification of the Mayor that $805,139 is available for appropriation in the 2025 budget, and that said budget, as heretofore adopted by the City Council, is hereby amended as outlined in the attached Financial Analysis.
Financial Analysis
See Attachment