1. Public Facilities Application Basics Brent Allen, Cindy Alligood, Robert Compton  12/4/2014

2. Public Facilities Projects Public Facilities Application Basics Meeting the needs of low and moderate income people in the community, using bricks & mortar, concrete & paving and piping and plumbing.

3. ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES Public Facilities Application Basics  Water & Sewer  Streets & Drainage  Health Care Facilities  Senior Centers

4. ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES Public Facilities Application Basics  Battered Women’s Shelters  Mental/Physical Health Departments  Head Start Program Facilities  Boys & Girls Clubs  Acquisition for Public Facilities

5. PROHIBITED!!  “...the renovation or construction of new space where the primary purpose is the provision of general purpose local government” Public Facilities Application Basics

6. COMMUNITY NEED  The Community must decide what are the most severe needs for their particular community!  City Council or County Commission will decide which project to pursue. Public Facilities Application Basics

7. Identify Key Players Public Facilities Application Basics Once a project has been identified, pull together the key players – quickly!  Grant writer  Administrator* (may also be your Grant Writer)  Architect / Engineer * Funding for Administration must be included in the budget, or an experienced Administrator must be identified.

8. FIRST, DECIDE… How will Administration & Architect/Engineer fees be paid?  Local Funds?  CDBG Funds? Public Facilities Application Basics

9. Procurement - CDBG Funds Public Facilities Application Basics  Must use formal procurement procedure outlined in manual (Does not apply to RC’s for administration.)  Limits: 12% for Engineer; 10% for Architect (percent of CDBG construction, not grant amount). Break out CDBG amount from local funds on DCA- 8.  Admin. Limit: 6% of grant amount for public facilities, 7% for multi-activity or housing.

10. PROCUREMENT REQUIREMENTS CDBG Funds Public Facilities Application Basics  Common rule  Maximum Competition  Advertise in local paper. Allow 30 days response time  RFP: Send to 7 known providers for Administration; 10 for Architect/Engineers

11. PROCUREMENT REQUIREMENTS CDBG Funds Public Facilities Application Basics  Written method of selection (score sheet based on criteria listed in RFP)  Use Pre-selection to avoid headaches  Use Conditional Contract - if grant awarded, contract extended

12. Procurement - Local Funds Public Facilities Application Basics  Use local procurement policy.  Engineer/Architect fees may be used as cash match or leverage.  Administration fees can be used as cash match, may also be used as leverage.

13. Sample Budget – CDBG Funds Public Facilities Application Basics  Acquisition: $5,000  Administration (6%): $30,000  Engineering / Architect (12% / 10%): $42,000  Construction: $423,000  Total: $500,000 CDBG

14. Determine The Budget Public Facilities Application Basics  Figure out what the project is going to cost.  Line items:  Administration fee  Architect/Engineering fee  Construction estimate  Acquisition

15. Budget - Revenue Public Facilities Application Basics  Sources of income:  CDBG Grant - $500,000  Local Matching funds - $10,000  Local Leverage funds - ?  Other Funding Agencies (USDA, etc…)

16. Cash Match  Must be Cash!  Calculate at 5% of Grant Amount above $300,000, 10% above $500,000.  A $500,000 Grant will have a $10,000 Cash Match requirement. An $800,000 will have a $40,000 Cash Match. Public Facilities Application Basics

17. Leverage = Bonus Points! Public Facilities Application Basics  Additional funds, land and NEW materials above the required Cash Match are counted.  Operating budgets & salaries, already owned furnishings & equipment DO NOT count.  Leverage will be monitored – must be realistic and achievable, or the local government will have to pay the difference.

18. Construction Costs Public Facilities Application Basics  Your Architect or Engineer will give you the construction cost estimates.  The Preliminary Architectural/ Engineering Report is vital to the success of your application. More on this later.

19. Determine Size of Project Public Facilities Application Basics  Will your budget cover the cost of the project?  Do you need to scale back, or can you increase the scope of the project (# of streets, size of building, etc…)  Finalize your project.

20. Determine the Beneficiaries Public Facilities Application Basics  For Infrastructure – survey as Area Benefit.  Conduct door-to-door survey to count the number of people benefiting, and their low-mod status.  Surveys must be 90%, or a statistically valid random sample.

21. Determine the Beneficiaries Public Facilities Application Basics  For a Building – survey using Limited Clientele benefit.  Seniors at a Senior Center are categorically low-mod.  Nursing home residents are NOT categorically low-mod.  Who is going to use the building? Survey the user groups.

22. Determine the Beneficiaries Public Facilities Application Basics  If your low-mod percentage of residents is not at least 70%, STOP! Going any further is a waste of time!  Can you reconfigure the project area to get above the 70% threshold?

23. Tell the Story – Sell the Story Public Facilities Application Basics  DCA-4 Description of Need.  Describe the problem and how it affects the PEOPLE.  Keep the focus on the needs of the residents.

24. Tell the Story – Sell the Story Public Facilities Application Basics State how the identified need impacts LMI persons  If a community has cracked sewer lines, and the treatment plant is over capacity due to infiltration, how does this affect the residents? CDBG grants are to solve people problems, not municipal problems.

25. Tell the Story – Sell the Story Public Facilities Application Basics Quantify your need to the greatest extent possible “There are 46 households in the target area who are not served by City sewer and whose septic tanks are malfunctioning because of poor soil conditions and small lot sizes”

26. Tell the Story – Sell the Story Public Facilities Application Basics “According to the local Health Department the coliform counts in these wells has measured X which is a definite indication of contamination.”

27. Tell the Story – Sell the Story Public Facilities Application Basics “...the average income of these households is X and the high cost of drilling a deep well precludes these people from correcting the problem themselves. In addition, the lot sizes are so small that even if there were funds available to replace the septic tanks, that they would not work anyway.”

28. Tell the Story – Sell the Story Public Facilities Application Basics ALWAYS DOCUMENT YOUR NEED  Letters from residents  Letter from the Fire Chief  Letter from the Health Dept.  Know the difference between letters of documentation and letters of support

29. Tell the Story – Sell the Story Public Facilities Application Basics  Photos – quality photos are your best seller!  Identify location of photos (address, map)  News Reports  Mental Health Directors  AAA Directors  Building Inspectors  Reports and/or Consent orders from EPD

30. Tell the Story – Sell the Story  Keep the focus on people Public Facilities Application Basics

31. Tell the Story – Sell the Story  Make sure that your project proposal addresses the need identified! Public Facilities Application Basics

32. Tell the Story – Sell the Story  If the main problem is low water pressure, but resident letters also complain about quality, does the solution cover both problems? Public Facilities Application Basics

33. Tell the Story – Sell the Story  Avoid political pitfalls!  If the project overlaps jurisdictions, all sides must agree in writing to the application. Public Facilities Application Basics

34. Your Action Plan Public Facilities Application Basics  DCA-5 Description of Activities  Project Overview  A detailed description of each activity  Evidence of conformance with Comprehensive Plan & Service Delivery Strategy  Copy of Service Delivery Strategy map

35. Action Plan – Be sure to cover: Public Facilities Application Basics  ACQUISITION  PERMITS  TAP-ONS AND TAP-ON FEES  UTILITY RELOCATION  MAINTENANCE AND/OR OPERATION  CAPACITY  SITE  IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE  SECTION 3

36. Action Plan – Be sure to cover: Public Facilities Application Basics  Need for household plumbing  Abandonment of well and/or septic tanks  Design configuration must make sense  Drainage projects - downstream discharge area has sufficient capacity

37. Action Plan Public Facilities Application Basics  Identify design standards and justify their usage. 25 YEARS IS THE NORM. YOU MUST THOROUGHLY JUSTIFY ANYTHING ELSE!  Try to avoid low density population target areas.  Problems created by developers will not be viewed as a high severity of need.

38. Action Plan – Project Impact Public Facilities Application Basics  The impact the project will have on the problem.  Most importantly, the impact the project will have on the lives of the residents.

39. Financial Statements Public Facilities Application Basics  Document your sources for cash match and leverage with signed, original commitment letters.  For a new program, document sources of operational funding (staff salaries, equipment, etc.) LIKE A BUSINESS PLAN

40. PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING REPORT Public Facilities Application Basics  Amount of detail depends on complexity  Professional cost estimates required  Design Standard (25 or 50 year storm)  Unusual site conditions / higher costs

41. Public Facilities Application Basics  Engineer/Architect signature and stamp required.  Does Eng. Report agree with rest of application?  Viable alternatives - “No alternative” is not a good answer. Go into more detail. PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING REPORT

42. MAPS Public Facilities Application Basics  Scale, north arrow, legend  Proposed and existing activity location  Concentrations of minorities (numbers and percentages)  Concentrations of substandard housing  Concentrations of low-mod persons

43. MAPS Public Facilities Application Basics  Identify all houses in project area - all applications, not just Housing Applications  Location of photos  Existing infrastructure (water lines, sewer)  All street names - correct and legible

44. Maps Public Facilities Application Basics  Be sure to include a copy of your Service Delivery Strategy map, if possible.

45. REVIEW COMMENTS YOU WANT TO HEAR Public Facilities Application Basics  “Severity of need appears high.”  “Application is well documented.”  “Photos document the need as described.”  “Floor plan appears to be very suitable to the program being offered.”

46. REVIEW COMMENTS TO AVOID Public Facilities Application Basics  “Severity of need appears low”  “Lack of documentation”  “LMI benefit stated as 36%”  “Photos don’t document the need stated”  “Floor plan is not compatible with the program being offered”

47. REVIEW COMMENTS YOU WANT TO HEAR Public Facilities Application Basics  “LMI residents are the primary beneficiaries of the project.”  “Drainage outfall is addressed.”  “Required permits are addressed.”  “Program funding sources all identified and committed.”

48. Public Facilities Application Basics  “LMI residents do not appear to benefit”  “Site visit did not support severity of need as stated in the application”  “Drainage out fall not addressed” or “Required permits not addressed”  “Budget amounts vary from DCA-1 to DCA-7 to DCA-8” REVIEW COMMENTS TO AVOID

49. REVIEW COMMENTS YOU WANT TO HEAR Public Facilities Application Basics  “Pressure test used to document low water pressure.”  “Alternatives addressed, and best alternative selected for project.”  “Design standard for drainage identified.”  “All acquisition issues addressed.”

50. REVIEW COMMENTS TO AVOID Public Facilities Application Basics  “No admin included in the budget and no explanation”  “Program funding sources not verified”  “All funding sources not provided and documented”  “Existing water, sewer or street maps not included”

51. REVIEW COMMENTS TO AVOID Public Facilities Application Basics  “Architectural fees too high”  “No pressure test info provided to document claim of low pressure”  “No alternatives addressed”

52. REVIEW COMMENTS TO AVOID Public Facilities Application Basics  “Did not address maintenance”  “No architectural report included, cost estimates not professionally prepared”  “Ineligible program proposed”

53. REVIEW COMMENTS TO AVOID Public Facilities Application Basics  “Cannot determine cost per sq. ft.  “Existing building location not identified on map”  “Acquisition not addressed”  “DOT permits not addressed on state highway for sidewalks, curb & gutter”

54. REVIEW COMMENTS TO AVOID Public Facilities Application Basics  “Survey methodology questionable, not a random sample”  “10-inch water line to serve 165 appears to be larger than necessary--no justification provided.”

55. REVIEW COMMENTS TO AVOID Public Facilities Application Basics  “Abandonment or limiting use of wells not addressed (narrative &/or budget)”  “Application narrative refers to need for a new pump station but no $$ in budget”

56. REVIEW COMMENTS TO AVOID Public Facilities Application Basics  “Community center has no planned activities, appears to be more of a gathering place”  “Drainage study did not specify a design standard”

57. COMMON MISTAKES FROM LAST YEAR Public Facilities Application Basics  DCA-6 Issues:  Identify the number of households interviewed, not just the number of people.  Include a spreadsheet summary and copies of a few survey forms.

58. COMMON MISTAKES FROM LAST YEAR Public Facilities Application Basics  DCA-6 Issues:  We do not need to see a copy of every survey form.  Identify any vacant units or businesses on the spreadsheet summary and maps.

59. COMMON MISTAKES FROM LAST YEAR Public Facilities Application Basics  Be very clear in identifying leverage as either cash or in-kind.  All leverage must be identified as either cash or in-kind.  All leverage must be committed with a letter.

60. COMMON MISTAKES FROM LAST YEAR Public Facilities Application Basics  Make sure match letter commitment matches DCA-8 and project budget shown in cost estimate.  Please place match letter right behind DCA-8.

61. COMMON MISTAKES FROM LAST YEAR Public Facilities Application Basics  Buildings - If acquiring, a Purchase Agreement is needed.  Buildings - For a new service or group, we need a complete business plan. Identify the funding sources for the staff & activities. If staffed by volunteers, include their commitment letters. List hours of operation.

62. COMMON MISTAKES FROM LAST YEAR Public Facilities Application Basics  If narrative claims water damage to homes from flooding, include photos documenting the damage. Identify location of photos on map.  If application claims sewage in yards or backing up in homes, document with photos.

63. COMMON MISTAKES FROM LAST YEAR Public Facilities Application Basics  If application includes any letters written in Spanish, please include a translation as well.  We do not need to see procurement documentation for architect/engineers and administrators. A letter from the local government stating the firm has been selected is sufficient.

64. Public Facilities Application Basics