Agenda - Council - 09/12/2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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OW t hi lon: To work together ko respotibiy grow oar community, and to provide quality, cost -affective, and efckent government tet does. CC Regular Session 7. 9. Meeting Date: 02/14/2017 By: Tim Gladhill, Community Development Information Title: Adopt Resolution #17-02-048 Approving Final Application to Resilient Communities Project Purpose/Background: The purpose of this case is to consider a formal application to the Resilient Communities Program. After a presentation by the program at the January 10, 2017 Work Session, City Council consensus was to proceed forward with said application. The attached documents are only a partial draft, the status at the time of publishing of this agenda. The Application is due Wednesday, February 15. Staff will forward the final draft on February 14 for review. Staff is simply seeking authorization to formally submit an application, with final details on the application populated prior to the application deadline. Each academic year (July 1 - June 30), one community is selected as the Partner Community and gains access to a broad base of knowledge and expertise from U of MN faculty, graduate students, and upper level undergraduate students and provide research and data supplementation to the City for project already in the queue. The intent is to supplement City Staff and assist in aspects of key projects to help bring to completion. The program attempts to match community identified projects with graduate and upper level undergraduate courses to complete the identified project(s). The application process for this program has been divided into two (2) components with the first step being a Letter of Intent (due by September 15, 2016). Based on the LOI submittals, selected communities will then be invited to apply to the RCP program (application due by February 15, 2017). The selected community's partnership would begin July 1, 2017 and would end June 30, 2018. The City was selected to proceed to the next stage. Observations/Alternatives: This program is based on projects identified by the Partner Community. As potential projects were identified, Staff focused on projects that are already in the Strategic Plan or an associated Advisory Board or Department Work Plan. Attached is a list of possible projects that were identified by Staff from all departments that may be a good fit for this program. There are multiple benefits to participating in the RCP. Most notably is the access to faculty and graduate/upper level undergraduate students from multiple disciplines, including architecture, planning, engineering, environmental sciences, public health and others to provide real value in work product that can be used in existing policy analysis. It provides an opportunity to advance projects that may otherwise never get off the ground. Furthermore, assistance is available for all stages of sustainability, which can include analysis, planning, design, implementation, and evaluation. The Partner Community would gain access to hundreds of hours of concentrated student work on projects the City has specifically identified. This would not replace the need for Staff, professional services, and other project management, but a supplement to our supply of resources that will make true progress towards completion. Staff has reached out to two (2) former Partner Communities to gauge their level of satisfaction with the program