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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPIN2019instructionsnewreviewprocess July 2018-June 2019 PROGRAM FOR IMPROVING NEIGHBORHOODS APPLICATION, EVALUATION, PAYMENT, AND MONITORING PROCESS ************************************************************ TIME SCHEDULE March 30, 2018 (Friday) - 5:00 PM - Grant applications due to Office of Neighborhood Services (electronic or hard copies accepted.) April 11, 2018 (Wednesday) Tentative - 5:30 PM - Neighborhoods present their PIN applications to the City Staff. April 20, 2018 (Friday) – Results of City Staff recommendation for funding is forwarded to applicants. May 4 2018 (Friday) – Applicant deadline to request an appeal of decision. May 9, 2018 (Wednesday) - 5:30 PM – Neighborhood Council reviews appeal request and decides if changes will be requested to the staff recommendation. May 25, 2018 (Friday) – 5:00 PM – Staff response forwarded to all grant applicants. Week of June 11, 2018 – Memo developed from Neighborhood Council to the City Council regarding funding appropriation for PIN grants. July 1, 2018- Funds available for projects. INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING APPLICATION Complete one application form for each project proposal. Please print clearly in ink or type directly on either document. Each block should be responded to as completely as possible. If a block is not applicable, indicate "NA". If additional pages are necessary to respond to a question, please number the additional pages and label with the corresponding block question found on the application. EXAMPLE: "What are the goals of this program and why is it needed?" Instructions for Blocks within Application Form A. Briefly describe the activities (meetings, newsletters, events, participation in the Neighborhood Council, email or social media posts, etc.) of your neighborhood association over the past 12 months. This information can include social events, board meetings, steering committee meetings, etc. This information provides some indication of past history of the neighborhood. B. Describe the project briefly and how this project will meet a need of the neighborhood that has been determined by the neighborhood association. Include problems that currently exist and will be addressed by the project. Present information from studies, reports, etc. to show the need for the project. Demonstrate why the neighborhood association should be the group to implement this project C. Indicate the steps that will occur during the project implementation and approximately when they are expected to occur. Detail if the project will be or could be phased over a number of years. Also indicate if this project is a continuation of previously funded PIN grants. Note* Neighborhoods are discouraged from submitting applications that would rely exclusively on PIN Grant funds to continue to operate for more than one year. D. Detail the organizations, individuals, or other resources that have been contacted and expressed a financial or volunteer commitment to the project. It is important to have researched all available resources to assist in this project prior to application. Please indicate, if available, the time commitment or financial resources that have been offered. City Staff time cannot be considered a volunteer or cash resource but should be documented to detail that all necessary staff have been contacted. E. Detail the process involved in soliciting neighborhood input into this PIN grant request. Be explicit about who was involved, how many responded, how the process occurred and describe the results. F. If applicable, describe how this project will benefit low income, elderly, youth or disadvantaged youth. Describe how low-income benefit has been determined and why these groups have been selected as the focus of the project. G. If you were not to receive PIN funding this year, will you still receive other proposed funding listed in Block C? How would these funds be utilized? H. There may be the need to allocate less funding than requested. Please describe how the scale of the project can be reduced and if alternative funds would be available to enable to project to occur. General comments: • It is important to document that the project has been thoroughly thought through, what activities will occur, and that the project is feasible. • It is not necessary to receive written bids for any materials or equipment involved in the grant application but a reasonable estimate should be determined. • It is necessary to determine what other forms of assistance (financial, volunteer or consultant) are available from other sources prior to grant submission. • Keep those priorities identified in the Ranking Criteria in mind as the application is completed. EVALUATION PROCESS A staff member from each of the following departments will make up a PIN Grant Review Committee: Parks and Recreation, Neighborhood and Development Services, Public Works, and City Manager’s Office. Staff will be provided with copies of all submitted applications and reviewed during at the Neighborhood Council meeting identified in the Schedule. Staff will use the Ranking Criteria to determine their final recommendations. that according to the Ranking Criteria. Staff will also recommend a funding level for each application based on the outcome of the ranking. These results will be sent to all PIN grant applicants as well as all other Neighborhood Council representatives for their review and approval according to the Schedule. If there is the interest by an applicant to appeal the decision of the staff committee, a Neighborhood Council meeting can be scheduled to discuss that appeal if the majority of neighborhood representatives involved in the review process support that appeal request. The staff recommendation can be adjusted upon majority support by those neighborhoods involved in the appeal discussion. The staff review committee will be notified of any change to their initial recommendation. When a final appropriation of grant funding has been approved by both staff and neighborhood association representatives, a memo to the City Council will be drafted by the Neighborhood Council explaining the process and final funding appropriation before the end of June of each funding year. PAYMENT PROCESS Funds will be available from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019. The work must be verified as complete by the Office of Neighborhood Services to receive payment. To obtain funds for work that has been completed, an invoice must be submitted to the Neighborhood Outreach Coordinator from the contractor/supplier. Invoice must be made out to the City of Iowa City. It is possible to make payment for partially completed work or provided materials although it would be helpful to limit the number of such payments if possible. Payment cannot be made directly to the neighborhood association or its board members unless it is reimbursement for costs already paid for and receipts are provided. At the time that the invoice is submitted, please arrange a time with the Neighborhood Outreach Coordinator to inspect and verify that the work is completed. It may be necessary to have the work inspected by various staff people dependent upon the project. Invoices submitted by any Thursday will be paid on the Friday of the following week. The checks will normally be mailed out unless otherwise indicated. Materials can be paid for only if they have been utilized or installed as detailed in the grant application. The completed work must be acceptable to the neighborhood and City for payment to be made. GRANT MONITORING AND CLOSEOUT The Neighborhood Council will act as a monitoring body for the PIN projects throughout the year by asking for periodic updates on the progress by the responsible neighborhood association. The Neighborhood Council may wish to visit the project site (if applicable). In order to confirm that all PIN funding will be expended within the funding year, neighborhoods must present written verification of intentions to expend all funds by January 2018. At that time, if it is apparent that all funds will not be expended during the funding year, the Neighborhood Council may choose to reallocate funds to unfunded PIN grant requests based on original ranking. If a neighborhood association chooses not to utilize the funds, the next ranked grant applications will be offered the opportunity until all funds are committed. The Staff Review Committee will be requested to approve any reallocation of funds. Substantial changes or amendments that are seen as necessary during the grant implementation period must receive the approval of the Neighborhood Council and Staff Review Committee and relayed to the City Council. Neighborhood Associations should allow for the time necessary for the Neighborhood Council to review any amendments.