Title
Dept/ Agency: Administration/Office of Business Administrator
Action: ( ) Ratifying (X) Authorizing ( ) Amending
Type of Service: Application/Acceptance for Grant Funds
Purpose: To obtain funding for Newark Tree Canopy Initiative: Growing and Proud of It
Entity Name: The Nature Conservancy
Entity Address: 200 Pottersville Road, Chester, New Jersey 07930
Grant Amount: $671,000.00
Total Project Cost: $ 8,000,000.00
City Contribution: $0.00
Other Funding Source/Amount:
Grant Period: April 1, 2024 through April 25, 2029
Contract Basis: ( ) Bid ( ) State Vendor ( ) Prof. Ser. ( ) EUS
( ) Fair & Open ( ) No Reportable Contributions ( ) RFP ( ) RFQ
( ) Private Sale ( X ) Grant ( ) Sub-recipient ( ) n/a
Additional Information:
This Resolution authorizes the acceptance of the Urban and Community Forestry Program Sub-award from the Nature Conservatory in the Amount of Six Hundred Seventy-One Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($671,000.00) and the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding between The City of Newark and The Nature Conservancy.
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WHEREAS, the United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (“USDAFS”), through its Urban and Community Forestry Program has made grant funds available to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations; and
WHEREAS, the Mayor of the City of Newark (the “City”) and the Municipal Council are dedicated to promoting a healthy urban forest within the City; and
WHEREAS, the City was recently identified as a City experiencing the second worst heat island effect in the country, and the City’s limited tree canopy coverage materially impairs climate resilience, necessitating urgent action to reduce the City‘s heat island index; and
WHEREAS, the USDAFS’s Urban and Community Forestry Program, assists partner organizations in applying nature-based solutions to chronic and emergent economic, social and environmental challenges; and
WHEREAS, the City’s Newark Tree Canopy Initiative: Growing and Proud of It, aims to plant 2,700 new trees, create an Urban and Community Forestry Master Plan, develop a long-term maintenance program to optimize tree health, launch a green workforce development program to bolster the local economy, and measure anticipated benefits from trees planted, which will provide increased shade, air quality, and stormwater absorption that will benefit current residents and generations to come (“Project”); and
WHEREAS, on or about June 1, 2023, The Nature Conservancy (“TNC”), 200 Pottersville Road, Chester, New Jersey 07930, submitted an application, with various partners including the City, to the USDAFS, for a grant through the Urban and Community Forestry Program, for the implementation of the “Newark Tree Canopy Initiative: Growing and Proud of It” Project, as an additional resource to the City, to further address its heat island index needs (a copy of the 2023 Application is attached hereto and made a part hereof)(“Application”); and
WHEREAS, on or about March 25, 2024, TNC resubmitted the Application to the USDAFS, with requested budget adjustments and changes to the scope of the Project (a copy of the 2024 Application is attached hereto and made a part hereof); and
WHEREAS, on or about August 7, 2024, the USDAFS, through the Urban and Community Forestry Program, awarded TNC a grant in the amount of Eight Million Dollars and Zero Cents ($8,000,000.00)(“USDAFS Grant”) pursuant to the Inflation Reduction Act; and
WHEREAS, on April 1, 2024, the City was awarded a sub-award, from the USDAFS Grant, for the implementation of the “Newark Tree Canopy Initiative: Growing and Proud of It” Project in the amount of Six Hundred Seventy-One Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($671,000.00)(“Grant Funds”), which among other requirements, mandates the establishment of an Urban Community Forestry Master Plan, to serve as the foundational framework for the development of shade tree policy within the City; and
WHEREAS, these Grant Funds to the City will assist with the implementation of the Project and facilitate the following: (i) hire an Assistant Tree Superintendent, (ii) create an Urban Forest Inventory; and (iii) establish an Urban Community Forestry Master Plan (iv) grind tree stumps, (v) and supporting an Urban Forestry Workforce Development Training Program; and
WHEREAS, in order to obtain the Grant Funds, the City must execute a Subaward Agreement (“Agreement”) and a Memorandum of Understanding with TNC, to memorialize the obligations and responsibilities of TNC and the City, in accomplishing the Project (“MOU”); and
WHEREAS, the TNC shall enter into separate Memoranda of Understanding, with the various partner organizations identified in it’s Application, to which the City is not a party, in order to carry out the Project; and
WHEREAS, the Municipal Council of the City of Newark finds it in the best interest of the City to accept the Grant Funds from TNC pursuant to USDAFS Grant and execute the Agreement and MOU governing said Grant Funds; and
WHEREAS, no City funds are required for the acceptance of the Grant Funds.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, THAT:
1. The Mayor of the City of Newark and/or his designee, the Business Administrator, are hereby authorized to accept the a sub-award from to The Nature Conservancy (“TNC”), 200 Pottersville Road, Chester, New Jersey 07930, for the implementation of the “Newark Tree Canopy Initiative: Growing and Proud of It” Project in the amount of Six Hundred Seventy-One Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($671,000.00) with a Grant Period commencing on April 1, 2024 through April 25, 2029.
2. The Mayor and/or his designee, the Business Administrator, are hereby authorized to execute the attached Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Newark and TNC in order to carry out the Project for the implementation of the “Newark Tree Canopy Initiative: Growing and Proud of It” and facilitate the following: (i) hiring an Assistant Tree Superintendent, (ii) create an Urban Forest Inventory; and (iii) establish an Urban Community Forestry Master Plan (iv) grind tree stumps, (v) and supporting an Urban Forestry Workforce Development Training Program for a term commencing upon execution and terminating ten (10) years after execution.
3. The Sub-award in the total amount of Six Hundred Seventy-One Thousand and Zero Cents ($671,000.00), from the TNC, is hereby accepted (a copy of the Sub-award Letter is attached hereto and made a part thereof).
4. The Mayor of the City of Newark and/or the Business Administrator, is hereby authorized to enter into and execute such Grant Documents and Grant Agreements with TNC required to receive the Grant Funds.
5. The Mayor and/or his designee, the Business Administrator, are hereby authorized to receive and expend the Sub-award for the implementation of the “Newark Tree Canopy Initiative: Growing and Proud of it” Project with a Grant Period of April 1, 2024 through April 25, 2029.
6. The Mayor and/or his designee, the Business Administrator, are hereby authorized to execute the Memorandum of Understanding between City and TNC, in order to receive the Sub-award.
7. The Original Term of the MOU shall commence upon adoption by the Municipal Council and shall terminate ten (10) years thereafter.
8. No changes shall be made to the terms and conditions of the MOU or the Sub-award without prior Municipal Council approval.
9. No Municipal funds are required for the receipt or acceptance of the Grant Funds.
10. The Business Administrator shall file fully-executed copies of the Sub-award letter, the Grant Agreement and the MOU and any associated Grant documents with the Office of the City Clerk.
STATEMENT
This Resolution authorizes the Mayor and/or his designee, the Business Administrator to accept a sub-award from to The Nature Conservancy (“TNC”), 200 Pottersville Road, Chester, New Jersey 07930, in the amount of Six Hundred Seventy-One Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($671,000.00) for the implementation of the “Newark Tree Canopy Initiative: Growing and Proud of It” Project, with a Grant Period commencing April 1, 2024 through on April 25, 2029. This Resolution further authorizes the Mayor and/or his designee, the Business Administrator to enter into and execute a Memorandum of Understanding with The Nature Conservancy. No municipal funds are required for receipt or acceptance of this Sub-award.