Title
Authorizing the City to accept a $500,000 grant from the State to pay for Technology Rich Space improvements to the Rondo Community Library; authorizing the execution of a grant agreement related thereto (which includes indemnification language); authorizing the appropriate City officials to record a declaration related to the grant agreement on the Rondo Community Library property; and amending SPPL’s 2026 financing and spending plans.
Body
WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul (the “City”) through the Saint Paul Public Library Agency (“SPPL”) seeks to improve community access and resources at the Rondo Community Library, located at 461 Dale St. in the City (the “Rondo Library”), and has proposed certain technology rich space improvements to the Rondo Library to take place in 2026 (the “Project”); and
WHEREAS, the State of Minnesota, acting through its Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education (the “State”), has awarded a $500,000 grant to the City from its Capital Projects Fund to support the Tech Rich Spaces Project (the “Grant”); and
WHEREAS, the City wishes to accept the Grant and enter into a grant agreement with the State (the “Agreement”); and
WHEREAS, the Agreement includes indemnification language in favor of the State; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds that the Project has a legitimate public purpose of providing high quality library and community services to City residents; and
WHEREAS, matching funds are not a requirement of this grant; and
WHEREAS, the expenditure of public funds pursuant to the Agreement, which includes the promise of indemnification and defense, will facilitate that public purpose; and
WHEREAS, to accept the Grant, the State requires that the City record a certain declaration against the Rondo Library (the “Declaration”), attached hereto as Exhibit A; and
WHEREAS, the City’s Office of Financial Services-Real Estate Division and the City Attorney’s Office have reviewed real estate documents for the Rondo Library and have confirmed that there are no covenants or restrictions on the Rondo Library that inhibit the City’s ability to record the Declaration thereon; and
WHEREAS, the City wishes to amend SPPL’s 2026 financing and spending plans to account for the receipt of the Grant; and
WHEREAS, the Mayor of the City, pursuant to Section 10.07.1 of the City Charter, certifies that when the Grant is received, there will be available for appropriation to SPPL funds of $500,000 more than those estimated in the 2026 budget for the Project; and now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, the City Council hereby accepts the Grant and authorizes the appropriate City officials to enter into the Agreement and record the Declaration with the Ramsey County Recorder’s Office and/or Registrar of Titles; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the City Council appropriates an additional $500,000 to SPPL in the 2026 budget for the Project as outlined in the attached fiscal analysis.