The Contra Costa County Fish and Wildlife Committee (FWC) requests that the Internal Operations Committee (IO) consider an out-of-cycle Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund (Fund) grant request from the Contra Costa Resource Conservation District (CCRCD) for $10,343.00 to contribute to the expenditures for the 7th Quadrennial Contra Costa County Creek and Watershed Symposium.
The FWC is requesting that the IO Committee consider the funding recommendation and make their own recommendation for consideration by the full Board of Supervisors (Board). This memo provides background on the grant program, explains the review process performed by the FWC and documents the FWC’s reasons for recommending grant funding for the project.
Summary of Attached Request
The Symposium will be on October 26, 2023 and held at the Pleasant Hill Community Center in Pleasant Hill, California. The theme for this year's Symposium is Intergenerational Watershed Stewardship, which will be focused on intergenerational watershed stewardship to open a dialogue between established watershed advocates and the emerging generation of watershed stewards. Organizers anticipate that 250 to 300 people representing a wide variety of organizations and perspectives will attend to learn about significant issues regarding the health of creeks and watersheds in the County.
The program will include presentations from speakers discussing interesting and relevant topics that will help educate, inspire, and celebrate the people doing watershed work in Contra Costa County. The program will also feature a poster session, Q&A sessions, panel discussions, an awards ceremony, refreshments, a catered lunch, and an evening reception. A field trip day is planned for October 27th, during which attendees will have the opportunity to visit some of the restoration sites and projects they learned about during the Symposium.
The Symposium's primary sponsor is the Contra Costa County Flood Control & Water Conservation District. The Flood Control District has allocated $70,000 for the event. The general admission fee for the event is $45 with discounts for early bird and student registrations. The ticket price includes admission to the event; Symposium Welcome Packet; a light breakfast; a catered lunch and refreshments; an evening reception; and admission to field trips on October 27, 2023. The ticket price does not cover all costs. A Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund grant would be used to cover the venue rental fee, printing of programs, signage, name tags, and a commemorative reusable cup for each attendee as part of the welcome packet; rental equipment; and refreshments provided by a local indigenous-owned restaurant. Expenses not covered by tickets sales and a Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund grant if approved, will be funded by the Flood Control District and sponsors (some of the committed sponsors include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Partners Program, the California Department of Water Resources, the East Contra Costa County Habitat Conservancy, Save Mount Diablo, and Restoration Design Group). Everyone is invited to the symposium regardless of ability to contribute financially. A Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund grant will help keep the event ticket prices down making the event accessible to more people.
II. Reason for Recommendation/Background
Since 1996, the Fish and Wildlife Committee (FWC) has implemented a structured process for reviewing funding requests. The intent of this structured review process was to replace case-by-case decision-making with a grant process that enables comparative and efficient review of applications.
Occasionally, the Committee receives requests for funds outside of the regular grant cycle. These proposals must meet all the regular requirements of applications as well as justify why the funding request should be considered outside the regular cycle.
On May 21, 1997, the FWC approved the following criteria for reviewing grant requests outside the normal grant review cycle:
The majority of projects will be reviewed simultaneously once per year. Projects can be reviewed individually, outside the annual review cycle if:
- the project is a FWC-initiated project;
- delaying review of the project until the annual review cycle would cause substantial harm to the fish and wildlife resources of the County;
- the project cannot be performed at all unless funding is received from the Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund sooner than would be possible under the annual review cycle; or
- the project has substantial matching funds which will expire unless funding is received from the Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund sooner than would be possible under the annual review cycle.
The Fish and Wildlife Committee helped launch the first Creek and Watershed Symposium in 1999, and has generously supported each quadrennial symposia since then, so in some respects, it can be considered a Fish and Wildlife Committee initiated project.
Due to the FWC’s requirement that project budgets be itemized in grant applications, CCRCD did not apply for a grant in the normal 2023 grant cycle. Though symposium planning and related expenses had been anticipated for some time, the actual itemized costs were not available until the spring of 2023.
In order for CCRCD to ensure that they have materials in time for the October event, they already purchased commemorative cups and made a deposit to reserve the venue. They may need to purchase other items on the itemized budget before a determination about the grant is made, therefore they are requesting a waiver of policy to permit reimbursement for eligible project costs incurred prior to award of funds.
The Fish and Wildlife Committee discussed the CCRCD out-of-cycle grant application at their May 17, 2023 meeting and unanimously approved the following recommendations:
- Appropriate $10,343.00 to Contra Costa Resource Conservation District to cover certain costs for the Contra Costa County Creek and Watershed Symposium including: venue, printing of programs, signage, name tags, and a commemorative reusable cup for each attendee as part of the welcome packet; rental equipment; and refreshments provided by a local indigenous-owned restaurant, Cafe Ohlone.
- Approve a waiver of policy to permit reimbursement for eligible project costs incurred prior to award of funds.
- Further, the FWC also recommended that within one year of grant funding approval, or within one month of project completion, whichever comes sooner, recipient must submit a final project report which includes invoices and receipts documenting how funds were spent and the results of the project. Details will be outlined in the grant award packet if funding is approved.
[7 ayes/0 noes]
Ayes: Nicole Balbas, Roni Gehlke, Susan Heckly, Kathleen Jennings, Brett Morris, Daniel Pellegrini, and Cass Rogers; Noes: None; Absent: Madhan Gunasekaran; Abstain: None
Staff recommends that the grant awardee may request modifications to the budget allocations described in their grant application in writing and those requests may be approved by the Fish and Wildlife Committee or the Department of Conservation and Development Director or his designee.
|