Submitted By
Bill McKenna, Village Engineer Tammie Grossman, Director of Development Customer Services
Reviewed By
LKS
Agenda Item Title
Title
A Resolution Approving the Village of Oak Park’s RainReady Grant Program in the Amount of $13,000 for Fiscal Year 2016 and Authorizing the Execution of the Applicable Grant Agreements
End
Overview
Overview
Many homeowners in the Village experience sewer backups, water seepage, or flooding of their property during large rainstorms. The Village currently has a sewer backup grant program, capital improvement projects, and other initiatives to reduce sewer backups. A RainReady Grant Program will compliment these efforts and provide an opportunity for homeowners to construct flood mitigation measures on their private property such as rain gardens, bioswales, permeable pavements, etc., to help reduce the risk of sewer backups and mitigate water seepage and flooding issues. The Public Works Department worked with the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) to develop the pilot grant program which would fund up to $1,300 at a 50% cost share for approved projects.
Body
Staff Recommendation
Approve the Resolution.
Fiscal Impact
The FY 2016 Water and Sewer Fund, Sewer Collection, Capital Improvements account no. 5040-43750-781-570707 provides $25,000 for the RainScape Grant Program. The Village entered into an agreement with the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) to develop and administer the program which leaves approximately $13,000 available from this account to fund the pilot grant program.
The recommended grant program would fund up to 50% of eligible approved project costs with a not to exceed grant amount of $1,300 per individual property.
The recommended FY2017 Budget includes funds for $25,000 in grant reimbursements as well as the costs for administering the program.
Background
The RainReady Grant Program will provide cost-share grants to homeowners to construct a variety of green infrastructure projects on their private property on the exterior of their homes to provide flood risk reduction experiencing non-sewer backup flooding. Eligible projects include rain gardens, bioswales, permeable pavements, cisterns, drywells, etc. These various green infrastructure projects will reduce the residential basement flooding, reduce the amount of storm water entering the Village’s combined sewer system, and compliment the Village’s other initiatives to reduce the severity and occurrence of private property damage from large storm events.
The Department of Public Works worked with the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) to develop and administer the Village’s RainReady program since CNT already administers a similar program in Cook County. CNT will be responsible for the outreach, applicant screening, home assessments, and developing the scope of work for the individual projects, as well as evaluating the program.
There is $13,000 remaining in the FY 2016 budget for this grant program to fund the initial pilot grant program. The recommended grant program would fund up to 50% of eligible approved project costs with a not to exceed grant amount of $1,300 per individual property. Although open to all single- family owner occupied households, the pilot grant program will seek homeowners who have already installed sewer backup protection but still experience other flooding issues.
The Neighborhood Services Division of the Development Customer Services Department will administer this grant program with assistance from the Engineering Division.
Alternatives
The alternative to this recommendation could be to delay action to gain additional information.
Previous Board Action
N/A
Citizen Advisory Commission Action
N/A
Anticipated Future Actions/Commitments
None at this time
Intergovernmental Cooperation Opportunities
None at this time
Performance Management (MAP) Alignment
This work is in alignment with the Governance Priority for the Department of Public Works for Infrastructure/Capital Programs.