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Agenda Report
May 20, 2024
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Department of Housing
SUBJECT: AUTHORIZATION TO ENTER INTO A GRANT AGREEMENT WITH THE
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS AT
TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH; AMEND THE HOUSING
DEPARTMENT'S FISCAL YEAR 2024 OPERATING BUDGET BY
RECOGNIZING REVENUE OF AND APPROPRIATING $275,000
RECOMMENDATIONS:
It is recommended that the City Council:
1) Find that the recommended actions are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines per Section 15061 (b) (3), the "common sense" provision that CEQA only applies to projects that may have an effect on the environment;
2) Authorize the City Manager to enter into a grant agreement with the County of Los Angeles for the receipt of homeless services funding for capital improvements at Trinity Lutheran Church in the amount of $275,000; and 3) Approve a budget amendment by recognizing revenue and appropriations in the amount of $275,000 in the Other Housing Fund (238) to the Housing Department's Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Operating Budget.
BACKGROUND:
After a three-year closure related to the pandemic, the Bad Weather Shelter reopened on January 15, 2024 at Trinity Lutheran Church and operated on a weather-activated basis through April 30. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bad Weather Shelter was operated by Friends In Deed for over 30 years at a different location but lost its long- time lease of that space in March 2020. City staff conducted extensive outreach to locate an alternative location for the shelter, including issuing an initial Request for Information (RFI) in July 2022 and a second RFI in March 2023, which garnered two responses from local churches. After a review of the available information, staff concluded Trinity Lutheran Church was the more conducive of the two possible sites to host the shelter for the 2023-2024 winter season and beyond.
MEETING OF 05/20/2024AGENDA ITEM NO.3
Homeless Services Funding for Capital Improvements
May 20, 2024
The Bad Weather Shelter operates in Trinity Lutheran Church's Fellowship Hall, which requires certain capital improvements in order for the shelter to operate at full capacity.
These improvements are primarily related to commercial kitchen upgrades required to meet health and safety codes, fencing, and fire safety upgrades such as sprinkler and fire alarm systems. Absent these improvements, the Bad Weather Shelter was only able to serve up to fifty-four clients per night and was not able to utilize the kitchen, requiring a costly food delivery service throughout the recently concluded winter season. These improvements will allow the shelter to serve up to seventy people per night and also to rely on donated food prepared by volunteers which will reduce operating costs in future seasons. Trinity Lutheran Church has a large facility but a small congregation that cannot manage to pay for the required improvements.
On December 4, 2023, Council authorized an amendment to the Housing Department's FY 2024 operating budget to appropriate $275,000 of General Fund to cover the costs of the capital improvement project at Trinity Lutheran Church and authorized entering into a contract with Trinity Lutheran Church in said amount to undertake the project. In order to expedite the opening of the shelter, the Department's Municipal Assistance, Solutions and Hiring (MASH) program utilized $34,140 of the funding to complete certain improvements that were necessary for the shelter to open.
Since the opening of the shelter, Los Angeles County Supervisorial District Five has agreed to provide $275,000 to fund capital improvement costs in order to expand the Bad Weather Shelter's current capacity by the next winter season. Staff now anticipates that the project's total cost will exceed $275,000 due to the addition of necessary renovations to the facility's restrooms to the project's scope of work and general construction cost increases. Trinity Lutheran Church is in the process of collecting updated bids for the capital improvements. Once the project's total budget is updated, staff will return via a budget clean-up item to un-appropriate any of the remaining General Fund that is no longer needed for the project.
COUNCIL POLICY CONSIDERATION:
These actions are consistent with the City Council's goal to support and promote the quality of life and local economy. The purpose actions are in accordance with the Pasadena Continuum of Care Homelessness Plan, General Plan Housing Element, Five-Year Consolidated Plan, and Five-Year Public Housing Authority Plan.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
The actions proposed herein are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines Section 15061 (b)(3), the "common sense" provision of CEQA which applies to projects which may have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. Authorizing a grant agreement for hlomeless Services Funding for Capital Improvements
May 20, 2024
capital improvements will not have a significant effect on the environment and, hence, are not subject to CEQA.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Approval of the recommended actions will increase the Housing Department's FY 2024 Operating Budget by recognizing revenue in the amount of $275,000 in the Department's Other Housing Fund (23816049-668900-51056) and appropriating the same amount in account (23816049-811400-51056) for the capital improvements at Trinity Lutheran Church.
Respectfully submitted,
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for WILLIAM K.HUANG
Director of Housing
Prepared by:
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Jennifer O'Reilly-Jon^s
Program Coordinator III
Approved by:
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UT</ MIGUEL MARQUE^
City Manager
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