December 5, 2023
Community Development
DATE: December 5, 2023
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Lina Velasco, Director of Community Development
Beatriz Guerrero, TCC Project Coordinator
Subject:
Sole-Source Agreement with The Regents of the
University of California for Project Evaluation for the City of Richmond’s Transformative Climate Communities
(TCC) Implementation Grant
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The City and its Co-Applicants were awarded a $35M Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) Round 4
Implementation Grant. The evaluation work will be
funded by the TCC grant awarded to the City and is a
required component of the grant. Account string:
15061219-400201-16G24
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
October 3, 2023, September 19, 2023, December 20,
2022, June 21, 2022
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
On October 27, 2022, Richmond and its Co-Applicants
were awarded a $35M Transformative Climate
Communities (TCC) Round 4 Implementation Grant by
the California Strategic Growth Council (“SGC”).
Richmond’s project, Richmond Rising: Healthy,
Connected, and Climate Strong, focuses on projects
serving the Iron Triangle, Santa Fe, and Coronado
neighborhoods. The TCC Grant agreement is between
SGC and City of Richmond. City staff is requesting
approval of a Service Agreement between the City and
The Regents of the University of California, a California public corporation, on behalf of its Center for Global
Healthy Cities (“CGHC”) at its Berkeley campus to
document and evaluate the City’s TCC program
processes as well as outputs, outcomes, and impacts.
AGENDA
REPORT
December 5, 2023
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
APPROVE a sole-source service agreement with The
Regents of the University of California, a California public corporation, for a total amount not to exceed $1,070,000, to document and evaluate program processes as well as
outputs, outcomes, and impacts of the City’s
Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) Round 4
Richmond Rising Project focused on serving the Iron
Triangle, Santa Fe, and Coronado neighborhoods, with a
term beginning October 1, 2023, through June 30, 2029 – Community Development Department (Lina
Velasco/Beatriz Guerrero 510-620-5450).
DISCUSSION:
On June 21, 2022, the City Council authorized an application for a Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) Round 4 Implementation Grant for the Richmond Rising project. The City’s proposal included five Co-Applicants: Groundwork Richmond, GRID Alternatives, Rich City Rides, Trust for Public Land (TPL), and Urban Tilth. On October 27, 2022, Richmond’s application was awarded a $35 million Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) Round 4 Implementation Grant by the California Strategic Growth Council. Richmond’s project titled Richmond Rising: Healthy, Connected, and Climate Strong focuses on projects serving the Iron Triangle, Santa Fe, and Coronado neighborhoods. The ten key projects included in the Richmond Rising project are:
1. Neighborhood Complete Streets: walking and biking improvements on Harbour Way, Ohio Avenue, and some AC Transit bus stops. – City CIP will be the subproject lead.
2. Richmond Wellness Trail, Phase 2: walking and biking improvements to connect with Phase 1 connecting the Richmond BART and central neighborhoods with the waterfront and ferry terminal. – TPL will be the subproject lead.
3. E-Bike Lending Library: long- and short-term e-bikes access for free to target neighborhood residents to improve carbon-free mobility options. – Rich City Rides will be the subproject lead.
4. Resilient Homes for Healthy Communities: residential solar panel installations and home energy efficiency and health and safety upgrades at no cost to income-qualifying residents. – GRID Alternatives will be the subproject lead.
5. Basins of Relations: residential greywater systems and rainwater capture systems at no cost to income-qualifying residents, installed by local youth who receive training in watershed stewardship and installation. – Urban Tilth will be the subproject lead.
6. Bosque del Barrio: tree planting throughout the project area to create a healthy urban forest. – Groundwork Richmond will be the subproject lead.
7. ADA Accessible Garden: edible and pollinator garden at Unity Park with specially designed planting beds so seniors and wheelchair users can
December 5, 2023
comfortably participate in gardening and community activities. – Urban Tilth will be the subproject lead.
8. Orchard for ALL!: creating a distributed orchard through fruit tree giveaways, with tree care and harvest support offered in exchange for a share of the harvest, which will be distributed at free farm stands and in veggie boxes. – Urban Tilth will be the subproject lead.
9. Veggie RX: prescription veggie boxes in partnership with the local health clinic, to provide free fruits and vegetables as preventative care along with community health workers and programming to support change to a more sustainable diet. – Urban Tilth will be the subproject lead.
10. E-Bike Share: the project will bring 5 new bike share access points, 70 new E- bikes, and targeted outreach and engagement to the Project Area. – City Transportation Division will be the subproject lead.
In addition, the Richmond Rising project includes three Transformative Plans outlining Community Engagement, Workforce Development, and Displacement Avoidance policies and programs. For more information on the Transformative Climate Communities Grant Awardees visit: California Awards $96 Million for Climate Projects in 10 Frontline Communities | California Governor.
The TCC Implementation grant requires indicator tracking and the outputs, outcomes and impacts to be evaluated by a Third Party. The Round 4 TCC Guidelines specify that, “applicants awarded Implementation Grants are required to allocate a minimum of 3% of awarded grant funds towards the hiring of a pre-qualified, third-party Evaluation Technical Assistance Provider to assist with data collection and indicator tracking throughout grant implementation.” (p. 60) TCC Grantees can select and hire a pre- qualified third-party Evaluation Technical Assistance Provider or select and submit a new evaluation provider for SGC approval. The list of approved Third-Party evaluators were mostly located in Southern California and the City desires a local partner with greater understanding of the City’s past and current work around resiliency and health.
The City of Richmond worked collaboratively with Center for Global Healthy Cities (“CGHC”) at UC Berkeley to develop a community driven Health in All Policies (HiAP) strategy and ordinance after two years of research, planning and input from residents, community-based organizations, and city staff. CGHC worked more recently with the City to evaluate its HiAP work and the health perception of residents via the bi-annual resident survey. On April 7, 2023, CGHC was approved as an SGC Evaluation Technical Assistance Provider. Therefore, City staff is requesting approval of a Service Agreement between the City and The Regents of the University of California, a California public corporation, on behalf of its Center for Global Healthy Cities (“CGHC”) to be the City’s third-party evaluator for the TCC implementation project.
As lead evaluator for Richmond’s TCC implementation grant, the UC Berkeley CGHC will document and evaluate program processes as well as outputs, outcomes, and impacts. The process evaluation will explore procedural equity. The output, outcomes,
December 5, 2023
and impacts evaluation will focus on distributive equity. CGHC will document and analyze different types of measures, using qualitative, quantitative and spatial data.
Therefore, staff is recommending a sole source service agreement with The Regents of the University of California, a California public corporation, for a total amount not to exceed $1,070,000 to document and evaluate program processes as well as outputs, outcomes, and impacts of the City’s Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) Round 4 Richmond Rising Project focused on serving the Iron Triangle, Santa Fe, and Coronado neighborhoods, with a term ending June 30, 2029.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – TCC Grant Award Letter Richmond
Attachment 2 – SGC Approval Email for UCB CGHC as Third-Party Evaluator Attachment 3 – UC Berkeley Service Agreement
Attachment 4 – Sole Source Form