TAMRMS#: B06
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Municipal Stimulus Program (MSP) & Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) Grant Applications
Presented by: Diane McMordie, Director, Finance & Assessment/CFO
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RECOMMENDATION(S)
recommendation
1. That the following Postponed motion be approved:
(PM-21-003)
That the following 2021 growth project charters, provided as attachments to the September 28, 2020 agenda report titled “Municipal Stimulus Program & Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program Grant Applications” be approved subject to MSP and MCCAC grant approval:
a. ENG-054 (a) Intersection improvements - Boudreau Road at Bellerose Drive - $1,000,000
b. ENG-054 (b) Intersection improvements - Everitt Drive at Ebony Way - $805,000
c. ENV-002 Solar PV Program - $1.500,000
2. That by October 1, 2020 the following projects be submitted for approval to the Province of Alberta related to the Municipal Stimulus Program (MSP):
a. Community Amenities - Lakeview - $5,000,108
b. Intersection improvements - Boudreau Road at Bellerose Drive - $1,000,000
c. Intersection improvements - Everitt Drive at Ebony Way - $805,000
d. Solar PV Program - $1,050,000
3. That the following Postponed motion be approved:
(PM-21-004)
That the following 2021 growth project charters, provided as attachments to the September 28, 2020 agenda report titled “Municipal Stimulus Program & Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program Grant Applications” be approved pending formal ICIP-COVID-19 Resiliency Stream funding transfer request:
a. RECR-049 Neighborhood Park Development $2,039,600 (Growth)
b. ENGS-068 -Active Transportation Plan $1,100,000 (Growth)
c. FIRE-027 Emergency Operations Center $972,800 (Growth)
And;
That the 20% municipal contribution, required as part of the ICIP - COVID-19 Resiliency Stream program guidelines, of $822,480 be funded from the Capital Reserve.
4. That the following Postponed motion be approved:
(PM-21-005)
That project charter RECR-070 Fowler Athletic Park Refurbishment, provided as an attachment to the September 28, 2020 agenda report titled “Municipal Stimulus Program & Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program Grant Applications” budget be increased from $250,000 to $2,870,000 to allow for the entire project to be completed in 2021 to align with the requirements of the ICIP-COVID-19 resiliency stream grant criteria.
And;
That the 20% municipal contribution required as part of the ICIP - COVID-19 Resiliency Stream program guidelines, of $574,000 be fulfilled by the current $250,000 already approved for this project with the additional $324,000 funded from the capital reserve.
5. That by September 30, 2020 the City provide notice to the Province of Alberta of our intent to transfer $10,915,868.31 of grants previously allocated under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) - Transit Stream to the new COVID-19 Resiliency Stream and submit the following projects for approval:
a. RECR-049 Neighborhood Park Development
b. ENGS-Active Transportation Plan
c. FIRE-027 Emergency Operations Center
d. RECR-070 Fowler Athletic Park Refurbishment
e. PW-031 Municipal Facilities - Repairs & Renewal (Servus Place Roofing) $1,300,000
f. RECR-071 Larose Park Court Refurbishment
g. Kingsmeade Park
h. SERV-001 Servus Lifecycle Replacement Program
i. RECR-003 City Sportsfield Rehabilitation Program
6. That any residual municipal allocation uncommitted through this process is transferred to the Transit Lifecycle reserve or be otherwise committed to future transit requirements.
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PURPOSE OF REPORT
To seek Council approval on:
1. the project charters being submitted for consideration under the MSP & ICIP Programs
2. Municipal funding required to be committed to satisfy program matching requirements
ALIGNMENT TO PRIORITIES IN COUNCIL’S STRATEGIC PLAN
Strategic Priority #4: Infrastructure Investment: Identify and build needed capital assets.
ALIGNMENT TO LEVELS OF SERVICE DELIVERY
N/A
ALIGNMENT TO COUNCIL DIRECTION OR MANDATORY STATUTORY PROVISION
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Municipal Stimulus Program
In June 2020, the Province of Alberta announced a $500 million capital stimulus program with the following goals:
1. Sustain and create local jobs
2. Enhance provincial competitiveness and productivity
3. Position communities to participate in future economic growth
4. Reduce municipal red tape to promote job-creating private sector investment
St. Albert’s allocation of this funding is ~$7.8 Million dollars.
Administration has been carefully reviewing the stringent criteria of the program and communicating with the provincial granting staff to ensure that the projects submitted (October 1, 2020 deadline) will qualify for the program. Should any of the projects not be approved, there is no opportunity to reallocate dollars to another project and the funding will be forfeited.
Administration recommends the following projects be submitted as part of the MSP grant.
-Community Amenities - Lakeview - This is a strategic shovel ready servicing project that will foster economic growth within the Lakeview Business District. The portion of the project for which we are applying for MSP funding is $5,000,108 of a total project budget of ~$21M. It is anticipated that the remainder of this project will be financed through debt. The debt is anticipated to be funded through the off-site levy recovery fund and eventually recovered through off-site levy contributions. (A complete capital charter will be presented to Council at a later date, therefore project approval is not being requested at this time but rather only approval to submit for MSP funding. Note: If the project does not move ahead, any funding approved under MSP will be forfeited)
-Intersection improvements - Boudreau Road at Bellerose Drive - This project will create local engineering and construction jobs and enable / support further growth and development with increased capacity and level of service. It will also mitigate motor vehicle collision risk and close existing gaps in the active transportation network through construction of sidewalk. In addition, operational improvements using Intelligent Transportation System strategies will maximize efficiency and safety. The entire project cost of $1,000,000 is being requested through the MSP grant funds.
-Intersection improvements - Everitt Drive at Ebony Way - This project will create local engineering and construction jobs and support development (residential and commercial). It will address mitigation of motor vehicle collisions, and close existing gaps in the active transportation network through construction of sidewalk. The entire project cost of $805,000 is being requested through the MSP grant funds.
-Solar PV Program - This project includes the design and installation of a roof top solar photovoltaic array for a City owned facilities ( Servus Place Recreation Center). This energy efficiency upgrade will reduce operating costs of the said facility. The entire project cost of $1,050,000 is being requested through the MSP grant funds.
Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP)
On August 25, 2020 the Honorable Ric McIver, Minister of Transportation, provided written notice that there would be new options available for the utilization of previously allocated transit grants. Of the total remaining $10,915,868.31 available to the city, we have the ability to transfer all or a portion of the funding from the Transit stream to a newly created COVID-19 Resiliency Stream. This request to transfer dollars to this new stream along with the detailed list of projects being put forward must be submitted by no later than September 30, 2020.
While still having a responsibility to support our transit assets through to regionalization, Administration considered the pros and cons of transferring the dollars into this new stream.
Pros
-Under the transit stream, the municipality must participate in a 50/50 cost share while under the COVID-19 resiliency stream there is only a 20% matching requirement. This means that under transit it would require municipal contribution of $10.9M in order to access $10.9M of grant funding while under the resiliency stream we would only need to commit $2.2M to access all $10.9M in grants.
-The transit stream covers the period up to 2028. With our known rolling stock replacements and building requirements it would take many of these years to fully utilize the funding. Under the resiliency stream, the projects must be completed by 2021 allowing us to access the full value of the grant within 1 year and freeing up other municipal capital dollars.
-The resiliency stream is less prescriptive and will allow for a variety of projects including parks, active transportation and rehab of municipal facilities. There are limited grants specific to these streams.
Cons
If we were to transfer these dollars away from transit, we need to recognize that the City still has a responsibility to support our existing transit assets (planned maintenance & replacement) until they transfer to the future RTSC. The dollars “freed” up from utilizing this grant towards other municipal projects should be subsequently tagged back to the transit lifecycle reserve and/or otherwise protected for this purpose.
In the end, we need to acknowledge that this is not new money but rather an opportunity for us to control the use and timing of all of our funding sources.
Recommendation
Administration recommends that the entire $10,915,868.31 be transferred to the COVID-19 Resiliency Stream and that the following projects be submitted for approval:
a. RECR-049 Neighborhood Park Development
b. ENGS-Active Transportation Plan
c. FIRE-027 Emergency Operations Center
d. RECR-070 Fowler Athletic Park Refurbishment
e. PW-031 Municipal Facilities - Repairs & Renewal (Servus Place Roofing only) $1,300,000
f. RECR-071 Larose Park Court Refurbishment
g. Kingsmeade Park
h. SERV-001 Servus Lifecycle Replacement Program
i. RECR-003 City Sportsfield Rehabilitation Program
Projects a through c are 2021 growth project that Administration would have been recommending for funding as part of the 2021 budget process. This agenda report requests pre-approval of these projects in order to secure the 20% municipal contribution as required.
Project d was partially approved by Council as part of the 2021 RMR in June of this year however the original intent of this project was to spread out the expenditures over 3 years therefore only the design dollars of $250,000 were included as part of this approval. This project was deemed a good contender for this grant however it needs to be, and can be, complete by 2021 as required. This agenda report requests formal approval to bring the remainder of the project into 2021 and fund the shortfall to meet the 20% municipal contribution.
Projects e through i are approved 2021 RMR projects with identified funding therefore, other than Council providing direction for administration to submit them as part of the grant application, no further motions are required.
A summary of the complete grant application is provided below
Project Name Total Project Budget
Neighbourhood Park Development 2,267,200
Active Transportation Plan 1,100,000
Emergency Operations Center 972,800
Fowler Athletic Park Refurbishment 2,870,000
Servus Place Roofing Repais 1,300,000
Larose Park Court Refurbishment 470,000
Kingsmeade Park 3,890,000
Servus Lifecycle Replacement 1,776,500
City Sportsfield Rehabilitation Program 316,700
14,963,200
ICIP - COVID-19 Resiliency Stream 10,915,868
Municipal Contribution $ 4,047,332
Municipal Contribution % 27%
STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS OR ENGAGEMENT
A cross-functional team within Administration was struck to assess the grant programs and develop a list of projects for consideration. A focus was made to consider program restrictions, ability to execute and potential current and future risks.
IMPLICATIONS OF RECOMMENDATION(S)
Financial:
MSP - This program does not require a municipal matching contribution however should any of the projects not be approved under this grant, the City would need to fully fund these projects in order to move them forward.
ICIP - Although the program requires a 20% municipal matching contribution, the recommended projects either already have approved funding (2021 RMR) or were planned to be presented as part of the 2021 growth capital recommendation.
Legal / Risk:
MSP - should any of the submitted projects be denied there is no opportunity to re-submit another project and the grant amount related to that project would be forfeited.
ICIP - COVID-19 Resiliency Stream. If the declaration to the province is not made by September 30, 2020 to transfer to the new stream or to leave in the transit stream along with a complete list of planned projects, the grant funds will be forfeited all together and used by the province for provincial priorities. With a longer time horizon to expend in the transit stream, future changes in the program could limit or remove our access to these funds. Any remaining grant dollars available may not be eligible to transfer to the future RSTC.
Program or Service:
Impacted departments have confirmed their ability to complete the submitted projects within the required timelines.
Organizational:
None at this time
ALTERNATIVES AND IMPLICATIONS CONSIDERED
1. ICIP - Leave the dollars in the Transit stream and provide a list of projects to the province. To action this alternative, recommendations 3, 4, 5 & 6 should not be moved.
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Report Date: September 28, 2020
Author(s): Diane McMordie
Committee/Department: Finance & Assessment
Deputy Chief Administrative Officer: Kerry Hilts
Chief Administrative Officer: Kevin Scoble