TO: City Council DATE: August 10, 2026 DEPARTMENT: Parks and Recreation Department
PREPARED BY: Isaac Whippy, City Manager & Moneque Wooden Parks & Recreation Manager PRESENTER: Isaac Whippy, City Manager & Moneque Wooden Parks & Recreation Manager AGENDA TITLE: ADOPT A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING SUBMITTAL AND ACCEPTANCE OF A COMMUNITY RESILIENCE CENTERS ROUND 2 GRANT FOR C.V. STARR COMMUNITY CENTER PHASE III AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE RELATED DOCUMENTS
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommend that the City Council adopt the attached resolution:
Authorizing the City of Fort Bragg to apply for and accept, if awarded, a California Strategic Growth Council Community Resilience Centers Round 2 Planning or Implementation Grant for the C.V. Starr Community Center Phase III project, with the grant type determined based on project readiness and competitiveness; Designating the City Manager, or authorized designee, as the City’s Authorized Representative with authority to bind the City in connection with the application and any resulting grant award and to execute the grant agreement, amendments, certifications, payment requests, reports, and all other documents necessary to accept and administer the grant, subject to approval by the City Attorney as to form, when applicable; and Authorizing the Finance Department to establish or amend the corresponding grant revenue and expenditure appropriations consistent with the grant award and executed grant agreement
BACKGROUND
The Community Resilience Centers (CRC) Program is administered by the California Strategic Growth Council and provides funding to plan, construct, and improve community facilities that help communities prepare for and respond to climate-related emergencies. These emergencies may include extreme heat, wildfires, severe storms, flooding, poor air quality, and extended power outages.
Community resilience centers are intended to serve residents during emergencies while also providing accessible, year-round community programs and services. During an emergency, a center may provide heating or cooling, clean-air shelter, drinking water, food preparation and distribution, refrigeration for medications, device charging, communications access, and emergency-preparedness assistance. During normal operations, the facility may support recreation, education, workforce development, health services, food programs, community meetings, and other activities that strengthen community connections and long-term resilience.
The City has identified the C.V. Starr Community Center and its planned Phase III improvements as a strong candidate for the CRC Planning Grant. C.V. Starr is a City-owned, publicly accessible facility that already provides year-round recreation, aquatics, health, and community programming. Phase III creates an opportunity to expand the facility’s everyday community-serving functions while improving its ability to operate as a coordinated resilience center during emergencies.
The proposed Planning Grant would allow the City to develop a community-informed and financially feasible plan for Phase III. It would not approve a final design, authorize construction, or commit the City to a future Implementation Grant.
DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
Approximately $55 million is available statewide through Round 2 of the Community Resilience Centers Program. The funding is divided between two grant categories:
Planning Grants: Approximately $3 million is available, with individual awards ranging from $100,000 to $500,000. Applications are due September 4, 2026.
Implementation Grants: Approximately $52 million is available, with individual awards ranging from $1 million to $10 million. Applications are due September 25, 2026.
Staff initially evaluated the Planning Grant as the most appropriate funding opportunity. However, after further review of the CRC Round 2 Guidelines and the existing planning documents for the C.V. Starr Community Center, staff is also evaluating whether the City is sufficiently prepared to submit an Implementation Grant application.
The City completed a Phase III Master Plan in 2016 that includes conceptual site plans, floor plans, building elevations, preliminary programming, and cost estimates for an approximately 20,500-square-foot expansion of the C.V. Starr Community Center. Although these plans must be updated to reflect current building codes, construction costs, community priorities, and CRC requirements, they provide a substantial foundation for an Implementation Grant application.
The Implementation Grant may be particularly beneficial because Round 2 includes a funded Pre-Development Phase. Final construction documents, permits, and all project-readiness requirements do not have to be completed before the application is submitted. Instead, applicants must provide enough information to demonstrate that the proposed project is feasible and can become construction-ready during the grant’s Pre-Development Phase.
Implementation Grants have an approximately six-year term consisting of:
An approximately nine-month funded Pre-Development Phase, with up to one year available to complete all pre-development requirements; An approximately three-month administrative transition between pre-development and implementation; An approximately four-year Implementation Phase for construction, programs, and services; and An approximately one-year Evaluation and Closeout Phase.
Eligible Implementation Grant activities include:
Facility condition, accessibility, site, energy, and infrastructure assessments; Architectural and engineering design and preparation of final construction documents; Environmental review, permitting, and other preconstruction activities; Construction, renovation, and expansion of the CRC facility; Development or improvement of campus amenities that strengthen community resilience; Installation of solar, battery storage, backup power, broadband, potable-water, HVAC, clean-air, medical refrigeration, and emergency-communications systems; Commercial kitchen, food storage, and emergency food-distribution improvements; Emergency shelter, sanitation, shower, and community gathering facilities; Minor improvements to eligible Partner Sites;
Community engagement and collaborative governance activities; and Year-round programs and services that strengthen community preparedness, health, workforce development, education, and social cohesion.
The proposed C.V. Starr Phase III project could combine its existing recreation and community functions with emergency shelter, clean-air refuge, food preparation and distribution, medical support, potable-water storage, backup power, broadband, critical communications, workforce development, and community training functions.
An Implementation Grant application must propose activities that advance at least four of the following seven CRC strategies:
Energy resilience;
Water resilience;
Air quality and public health;
Nature-based solutions and food security;
Emergency preparedness and critical communications;
Mobility and access; and
Workforce development, education, training, and economic resilience.
Based on the existing Phase III concept and the proposed CRC improvements, the project has the potential to address all seven strategies. The final strategies, facility components, and programs would be refined through community engagement, partner coordination, technical analysis, and development of the grant application.
Figure 1 “The preliminary CRC space-programming concept included as Attachment 3 illustrates how the 2016 Phase III Master Plan could potentially be adapted to accommodate both year-round recreation and required emergency-resilience functions.
The Implementation Grant application has more extensive readiness and partnership requirements than the Planning Grant. Before the September 25, 2026 deadline, the City and its grant team will need to complete or substantially develop the following:
Draft floor plans identifying the proposed CRC functions and features, including emergency shelter capacity, seating, emergency-supply storage, food preparation, clean-air areas, medical support, sanitation, and backup-power systems; A preliminary project scope, budget, construction cost estimate, and schedule; A Project Site Analysis and Land-Use Analysis, prepared in consultation with emergency service providers; Identification of required permits and the anticipated environmental-review process; A draft Community Engagement Plan;
Documentation of prior community engagement that informed the proposal and additional engagement conducted during application development; A draft Community Resilience Plan identifying proposed programs, services, partners, and CRC strategies; Evidence of site control and the City’s ability to dedicate the facility to CRC use for the required period; At least two formal Partners in addition to the City, including at least one funded community-based organization; Signed Partner letters of commitment and a Collaborative Governance Worksheet; and An adopted City Council resolution authorizing the City to apply for and accept the grant and designating an authorized representative to bind the City and execute all grant-related documents.
The CRC Program now permits Implementation Grant applicants to describe qualifying prior community engagement conducted during the preceding five years. The City’s previous Phase III planning and engagement may therefore support the application. However, staff will conduct additional targeted outreach before the application deadline to confirm current community priorities, obtain input from vulnerable and priority populations, and demonstrate how public feedback is directly shaping the proposed CRC design, strategies, programs, and services.
During the funded Pre-Development Phase, an awarded applicant would be required to complete final floor plans, updated architectural and engineering documents, a current Facility Condition Assessment, final cost estimates, environmental review, permits, a final Community Engagement Plan, a Collaborative Governance Agreement, an operations and maintenance plan, and other project-readiness requirements before accessing construction funding.
If staff determines that the City cannot assemble a sufficiently complete and competitive Implementation Grant application by September 25, 2026, the City may instead pursue the Planning Grant by its September 4, 2026 deadline. A Planning Grant would support community engagement, technical studies, architectural and engineering design, cost estimating, environmental review, permitting, operational planning, and preparation for a future capital funding opportunity.
The proposed resolution authorizes the City Manager to pursue either a CRC Planning Grant or Implementation Grant based on the project’s readiness and competitiveness. It also authorizes the City Manager to accept the grant, bind the City in connection with the application and award, and execute all related documents, as required by the CRC Program.
Adoption of the resolution does not approve a final project design, award a construction contract, or authorize an unbudgeted General Fund contribution. Any future construction contracts, significant project modifications, or additional City funding commitments would be presented to the City Council in accordance with the City’s purchasing requirements and adopted budget.
FISCAL IMPACT/FUNDING SOURCE
Approximately $55 million is available through the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024, commonly known as Proposition 4 or the Climate Bond. Funding is divided as follows:
Planning Grants: Approximately $5 million statewide, with awards ranging from $100,000 to $500,000.
Implementation Grants: Approximately $50 million statewide, with awards ranging from $1 million to $10 million.
No local match is required. Staff intends to develop a planning scope and budget that can be fully supported by the grant award. Eligible City and Partner staff time may be reimbursed if included in the approved grant budget.
As a public agency, the City should anticipate administering the grant on a reimbursement basis. Planning Grant reimbursement requests may generally be submitted quarterly, and the State will retain five percent of the award until all grant obligations have been completed. The City will therefore need sufficient temporary cash flow to pay eligible costs before receiving reimbursement.
No expenditures incurred before execution of the grant agreement will be eligible for reimbursement. If awarded, staff will return to the City Council if the final grant scope requires a City contribution or creates a financial obligation beyond the authority provided by the resolution.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
Adoption of the resolution and authorization to submit a grant application do not constitute approval of a specific construction project and will not result in a direct physical change to the environment. Therefore, the proposed action is not a project subject to the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378.
If the City receives an Implementation Grant, the appropriate environmental review will be completed before approval of the final project and commencement of construction. The CRC Program requires Implementation Grant recipients to document CEQA compliance before completing the Pre-Development Phase and accessing construction funding.
STRATEGIC PLAN/COUNCIL PRIORITIES/GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY Planning for C.V. Starr Phase III as a Community Resilience Center advances the City’s hazard-mitigation and emergency-preparedness objectives and is consistent with the City’s 2024–2028 Strategic Plan, including:
Goal 1: Strengthen Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness; Goal 4: Enhance Public Places, Promote Recreation, and Cultivate Civic Pride; and Goal 7: Communicate Through Active Community Engagement.
The project also supports the City’s objectives of maintaining resilient public infrastructure, expanding recreational and community-serving facilities, and strengthening regional partnerships.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Meaningful community engagement and collaborative governance are central requirements of the CRC Program. The Planning Grant application must summarize engagement completed to date, identify initial Partners, and include a proposed approach for continued engagement throughout the grant term.
Staff have begun coordinating with potential partners and interested parties, including the Mendocino County Office of Emergency Services, local Tribal governments and representatives, Mendocino Coast Clinics, West Center, PG&E, CAL FIRE, community-based organizations, emergency-service providers, and other agencies serving the Mendocino Coast.
If awarded, outreach is expected to include:
Community workshops and listening sessions;
Stakeholder and partner meetings;
Surveys and online engagement;
Focused outreach to seniors, youth, people with disabilities, medically vulnerable residents, and other priority populations; Coordination with Tribal representatives and surrounding jurisdictions; and Regular updates to the Parks and Recreation Committee and City Council.
Community input will help determine the Phase III facility program, resilience strategies, emergency functions, year-round services, operating model, and long-term funding priorities.
ATTACHMENTS:
Resolution Authorizing the CRC Round 2 Planning Grant Application Community Resilience Center Strategies and Program Requirements
AGENDA ITEM NO. 8C
CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT