Title
a. Receive a presentation on the Sustainability Program’s recent grant submission to the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Energy Pilot Program Grant Program in the amount of $2 Million for a project at the King City Courthouse to construct a parking lot with electrical capacity for Electric Vehicle Charging Stations, solar photovoltaic panel carports, and to provide an electrified resilient cooling hub for King City residents;
b. Recommend that staff advance the proposed project to the Budget Committee for consideration; and
c. Provide direction to staff on how to further integrate Sustainability Program efforts into Capital Improvement Committee’s priorities.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Capital Improvement Committee:
a. Receive a presentation on the Sustainability Program’s recent grant submission to the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Energy Pilot Program Grant Program in the amount of $2 Million for a project at the King City Courthouse to construct a parking lot with electrical capacity for Electric Vehicle Charging Stations, solar photovoltaic panel carports, and to provide an electrified resilient cooling hub for King City residents;
b. Recommend that staff advance the proposed project to the Budget Committee for consideration; and
c. Provide direction to staff on how to further integrate Sustainability Program efforts into Capital Improvement Committee’s priorities.
SUMMARY:
The Board authorized staff to apply for the United States Department of Agriculture Renewable Energy Pilot Program (REPP) on7/15/2022. Sustainability Program subsequentially submitted a complete application on 7/18/2022 for funding of $2,000,000. This project would be at the King City Courthouse and will provide the following benefits: a repaved parking lot, publicly available electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS), solar carports, and an electric resilient cooling center for King City residents in times of extreme heat or power outage. Staff is presenting the project in advance of funding awards that will be announced Fall 2022, so that the County is prepared to implement the project and to determine the best method for financing the project.
This project was created to leverage federal funding to complete an existing capital improvement project: Project 2019:19 King City Parking Lot Repaving. The Capital Improvement Committee and the Budget Committee recommended this project be included on the short list for funding in FY 22-23; however, the project was not funded during the annual budget process. As a majority of the installation cost of EVCS is the underground electrical trenching, this project bundles the parking lot repaving into a larger climate action project.
DISCUSSION:
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a notice of funding opportunity for the Renewable Energy Pilot Program (REPP) on January 19, 2022. Sustainability Program staff identified the unfunded King City Courthouse Parking Lot Repaving, (project number 2019:09 in the Capital Improvements Plan), for this grant opportunity. The vision for this grant application and project expands beyond the parking lot repaving to provide solar photovoltaic panels (PV) mounted on carports to provide shading and renewable energy to the facility as well as electric vehicle charging stations. This renewable energy source allows for the electrification of the building and the installation of battery storage so that the courthouse may function as a resilient cooling center for the community during times of extreme heat. The Summer of 2022 saw record-breaking heat waves across the nation; as average temperatures rise, resilient cooling centers are increasingly important for protecting vulnerable residents. Once this project is complete, King City residents will have access to a resilient cooling center that can be used during emergencies and power outages as a place of refuge as well as publicly available electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS), which will also benefit the Sheriff’s Office King City Substation as the County transitions to Electric Vehicles. This project is a good candidate for the REPP grant because most of the cost of installing EVCS is the underground trenching and concrete work, and it is beneficial to accomplish this wiring when parking lots are initially created or repaired, because it results in only a marginally increased cost; this grant funded project would decrease the overall cost of the repaving to the County by 55-100%.
Once the Sustainability Program staff identified the project opportunity, staff partnered with Engie Inc., who has experience with similar projects in South County, to submit the application to apply for this grant. This grant application was submitted on 7/18/2022 and is attached to this staff report.
As part of the competitive application criteria, staff committed to presenting the project concept to the Capital Improvement Committee and the Budget Committee in advance of the final grant award this fall in order to provide a comprehensive understanding of the project’s benefits as well as to determine the best method for financing this project. This increased the competitiveness of the grant proposal, as implementation speed is a criterion used to score applications.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
County Public Works, Facilities and Parks Department. The King City Parking Lot Repaving project is Project 2019:19 in the Capital Improvement Plan, is unfunded, managed by the County Public Works, Facilities, and Parks Department, and was identified as critical in the 2015 Facility Assessment Report. The Capital Improvement Committee and the Budget Committee recommended this project be included on the short list for funding in FY 22-23; however, the project was not funded during the annual budget process. This grant application was prepared in coordination with ENGIE, Inc.
FINANCING:
The total REPP grant award is $2,000,000 and the estimated project cost is $2,845,000. While there is a 20% match component of this grant, ENGIE Inc is modeling project financing of the renewable energy system to provide this match without using additional appropriations; this project financing is similar to the Zero Net Carbon Project currently underway. ENGIE Inc. will have these financial models finalized in advance of the 9/28/2022 Budget Committee meeting. Should additional revenues and appropriations be required to accept funding for this grant opportunity, the County Administrative Office will present a Budget Augmentation to the Board through their Budget Committee for consideration and approval. If the County needs to provide the 20% match of $400,000, this grant funding would still reduce Project 2019:09’s cost of $907,310 by 55% and provide a suite of benefits for the local community. Additionally, the Judicial Council of California is interested in completing the parking lot project, and staff will enter into conversation with the Council to reimburse the County for its fair share of the project. Sustainability Program staff are exploring options for EVCS revenue to be directed to community members as an equity-oriented component of the grant.
Mark a check to the related Board of Supervisors Strategic Initiatives
Economic Development
X Administration
X Health & Human Services
X Infrastructure
Public Safety
Prepared by: Cora Panturad, Sustainable Infrastructure Analyst
Approved by: Nick Chiulos, Assistant County Administrative Officer
Attachments:
Full REPP Application
CIP Project 2019:09 King City Parking Lot Repaving