As spelled out in the Policies & Project Descriptions for the Transportation Safety & Investment Plan:
- The purpose of this program is to increase transportation services for seniors and persons with disabilities to support their ability to live independently in their homes and communities.
- This program will fund non-profit transportation to support seniors and persons with disabilities.
- This program provides the following benefits:
- Give seniors more transportation options
- Support independent travel by people with disabilities
- Provide safer and more reliable senior transportation services
The intent of this program is to fund projects, programs and operations that meet these goals.
The Transportation Agency received five grant applications as noted in the summary. Staff determined that all five applications were complete and in compliance with the Program Guidelines requirements.
A grant review committee composed of members of the Oversight Committee and Transportation Agency staff conducted an initial review of the application materials and met to draft a list of follow-up questions for the newly required on-site field visits. While a one-hour on-site visit had been scheduled with applicants, only two visits (ITN Monterey County, Partnership for Children) were conducted before the shelter-in place order was issued for Monterey County on March 18, 2020 due to COVID-19. The remaining on-site visits (Alliance on Aging, Kernes Memorial Pool, North County Recreation and Park District) were conducted as interviews via conference call.
After the interviews were conducted, the grant review committee ranked the applications using the scoring criteria noted below. The Cycle 2 Program Guidelines (web attachment) provide a detailed breakdown of the application questions and corresponding scoring criteria.
Final Rankings
1. ITN Monterey County
2. Alliance on Aging
3. Partnership for Children
4. Kernes Memorial Pool
5. North County Recreation and Park District
Scoring Criteria
- Program Benefits
- Feasibility
- Geography Equity
- Cost Effectiveness
The total request of $1,879,670 came in $379,670 above the $1.5 million Measure X funds available for Cycle 2. A summary of the proposals, final ranking, and average ranking is attached to this report.
The grant review committee found that the North County Recreation and Park District's proposed program was not well defined and all reviewers ranked the Park District's application the lowest. As such, Agency staff recommends that the lowest ranking applicant not be funded, bringing the total requests to $1,691,250 which is $191,250 above the $1.5 million Measure X funds available for Cycle 2.
To date, approximately $271,590 has not been claimed from Cycle 1 funds. A summary of the remaining Cycle 1 funds is included as a web attachment. Current grantees have until June 30, 2020, to expend the funds, with the final claim documentation due by July 31, 2020. Staff expects some funds to carry over but not the full amount. As such, staff recommends awarding Measure X Cycle 2 funds to the top three applicants with the option to fund Kernes Memorial Pool with funds leftover from Cycle 1.
The review committee's final ranking and funding recommendation was presented to the Measure X Citizens Oversight Committee on May 5th, 2020.
Staff will work with grant awardees to execute grant agreements.