Title
Climate Showcase Communities Grant Program (NB)
The City of Gainesville/Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) requests approval to submit an application to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Climate Showcase Communities Grant Program.
Explanation
The Climate Showcase Communities grant program is funded through the U.S. EPA. EPA will fund projects that will extend EPA's capacity to share with the public best practices that can serve as living laboratories of innovation and education. Projects funded are intended to build capacity within their own communities to create lasting change and serve as models for local and tribal governments across the nation who can learn from and adapt successful strategies as needed for their own communities. The Climate Showcase Communities grant will assist local and tribal governments in developing plans, conducting demonstrations, and implementing projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions while achieving additional environmental, economic, public health, and/or community benefits. The overall goal is to create replicable models of sustainable community action that generate cost-effective and persistent greenhouse gas reductions while improving the environmental, economic, public health, or social conditions in a community. EPA anticipates awarding approximately 20 to 30 cooperative agreements from this round of Climate Showcase Communities grants. Up to five awards will be made up to $100,000 and 19 to 25 awards will be made from $300,000 to $500,000.
The City of Gainesville/GRU) has developed two projects to submit to the Climate Showcase Communities grant program. These are:
1. Developing a plan to deploy and finance public combined heat and power (CHP) facilities to serve downtown Gainesville and nearby medical and educational institutions with distributed chilled water or thermal storage systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
2. Deployment of facilities and public policies to accommodate the recharge of electric vehicles not only in homes but through publicly accessible charge points. In particular, the application of smart grid technologies and parking control and management to enhance the feasibility of electric vehicles will be addressed.
Climate Showcase Communities grant applications are due to EPA by July 22, 2009.
Fiscal Note
The grant application will request up to the $500,000 maximum award allowed by the grant. A 50-percent match is required, which can be in the form of cash or in-kind contribution. Match amount and type will be determined as part of the application process.
Recommendation
The City Commission: 1) approve staff's request to submit an application to the Climate Showcase Communities grant program; and 2) authorize the General Manager to execute the grant application, award document, and related documents pending approval by the City Attorney as to form and legality.