Title
Identifying the need for Livable Communities Demonstration Account funding, and authorizing applications for grant funds.
Body
WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul is a participant in the Livable Communities Act's Housing Incentives Program for 2011 as determined by the Metropolitan Council and is therefore eligible to apply for Livable Communities Demonstration Account (LCDA) funds; and
WHEREAS, the City has identified proposed projects within the city that meet the Demonstration Account's purposes and criteria, and are consistent with and promote the purposes of the Metropolitan Livable Communities Act and the policies of the Metropolitan Council's adopted metropolitan development goals; and
WHEREAS, the City has the institutional, managerial and financial capability to insure adequate project administration; and
WHEREAS, the City certifies that it will comply with all applicable laws and regulations as stated in the grant agreement; and
WHEREAS, the City agrees to act as legal sponsor for the projects contained in the grant applications submitted on July 15, 2011; and
WHEREAS, the City acknowledges Livable Communities Demonstration Account grants are intended to fund projects or project components that can serve as models, examples or prototypes for development or redevelopment projects elsewhere in the region, and therefore represents that the proposed projects or key components of the proposed projects can be replicated in other metropolitan-area communities; and
WHEREAS, only a limited amount of grant funding is available through the Metropolitan Council's LCDA during each funding cycle, and the Metropolitan Council has determined it is appropriate to allocate those scarce grant funds only to eligible projects that would not occur without the availability of Demonstration Account grant funding; and
WHEREAS, cities may submit grant applications for up to six projects during each funding cycle for LCDA Development Grants and Pre-Development Grants combined, but, using the cities' own internal ranking processes, must rank their projects by priority so the Metropolitan Council may consider those priority rankings as it reviews applications and makes grant awards.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that, after appropriate examination and consideration, the Saint Paul City Council hereby finds that it is in the best interests of the City's development goals and priorities for the proposed projects and activities to occur at these particular sites at this particular time; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Saint Paul City Council finds that the project components for which LCDA funding is sought:
a) will not occur solely through private or other public investment within the reasonable foreseeable futures; and
b) will occur within three years after the grant award only if LCDA funding is made available for these projects at this time; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City Council ranks the project funding applications, according to the City's own internal priorities, in the following order:
PRIORITY |
PROJECT NAME |
GRANT AMOUNT REQ'D |
1 |
Schmidt Brewery Historic Redevelopment |
$1,250,000 |
2 |
Westgate South - Phase I |
$1,315,000 |
3 |
Zoning Framework for Saint Paul Ford Site |
$100,000 |
4 |
Beacon Bluff Site Improvements |
$1,727,000 |
5 |
West Side Flats |
$550,000 |
6 |
1333 University Avenue |
$750,000 |
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City has undertaken reasonable and good faith efforts to procure funding for the project components for which LCDA funding is sought but was not able to find or secure from other sources funding that is necessary for project component commencement within three years, and states that this representation is based on the following reasons and supporting facts:
a. Capital improvement bonding is not available, due to prior commitments and the increased demands being placed on it to cover decreased LGA funding.
b. State and federal funding programs are either not available on a timeline that would allow the projects to be completed within 36 months, or are not a fit in terms of eligibility.
c. There are no other sources for pre-development funding.
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the City Council authorizes staff to submit on behalf of the City and Port Authority applications for Metropolitan Council Livable Communities Demonstration Account grant funds for the project components identified in the applications, and to execute such agreements as may be necessary to implement the projects on behalf of the City.