City of Somerville, Massachusetts - File #: 22-0477

• File #: 22-0477
• Version: 1
• Type: Mayor's Request
• Status: Approved
• File created: 8/19/2022
• In control: City Council
• On agenda: 8/25/2022
• Final action: 9/16/2022
• Enactment date: 9/8/2022
• Enactment #: 214250
• Title: Requesting approval to accept and expend a National Park Service Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) grant of $750,000, with no new match required, from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA), Division of Conservation Services (DCS) to the Public Space and Urban Forestry Division for the renovation of Conway Park.
• Indexes: Finance-Assessing, Finance-Auditing, Finance-Budget, Finance-Grants Development, Finance-Procurement & Contracting Services, Finance-Treasury, SPCD-Public Space and Urban Forestry
• Code sections: Grant/Gift -

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result
9/16/2022	1	City Council	Mayoral Approval
9/8/2022	1	City Council	Approved	Pass
9/6/2022	1	Finance Committee	Recommended to be approved	Pass
8/25/2022	1	City Council	Referred for recommendation	Pass

Agenda Text
title
Requesting approval to accept and expend a National Park Service Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) grant of $750,000, with no new match required, from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA), Division of Conservation Services (DCS) to the Public Space and Urban Forestry Division for the renovation of Conway Park.

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Official Text
To the Honorable City Council:

The Mayor respectfully requests that this Council accept a grant of $750,000 from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA), Division of Conservation Services (DCS) to the Public Space and Urban Forestry Division, under the provisions of MGL Chapter 44, Section 53A. This grant does not require the commitment of new matching funds.

The purpose of this grant is to assist in the renovation of Conway Park, located at 550 Somerville Avenue, shown on Assessors’ Map in Map 45- Block B-Lot 14.
This is a reimbursable 50:50 grant requiring a minimum project expenditure of $1,500,00.00. The City Council approved the grant application on January 28,2021 (Docket no 211148) and approved the renovation funding for the park in the amount of $3,000,000 on 10/22/2020 (Docket #210645). Now with this request, we are seeking approval to accept the grant.
The City owns the land by virtue of a tax taking deed dated March 30, 1937, as recorded in the Middlesex County (Southern District) Registry of Deeds in Book 6109, Pages 478. Conway Park has been dedicated to open space and recreational use in perpetuity according to M.G.L. c. 45, §14.
The City submitted a LWCF application for the Conway Park project during the Notice of Funding Opportunity window that ended on July 31, 2021. The funding approval from the National Park Service was delayed, however the City was granted a Waiver of Retroactivity and therefore was able to continue with construction. The project has now been completed, and the park reopened.
Appropriate staf...