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Home My WebLink About(03) BEDI GRANT UPDATE INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM TO: STEVE FITZGIBBONS, CITY MANAGER / FROM: DALE WATSON, DIRECTOR OF PLANNING ~fL DORIS GFr.I.. BROWNFIELDS MANAGER/ADMIN. ASST. PAUL BROWN, PLANNING DEPARTlVIENT SUBJECT~ BEDI GRANT UPDATE DATE: 06/16/05 It has been determined that we could not meet the requirements for submitting a Brownfields Economic Development Initiative grant application with the projects that we anticipated using this year. The program guidelines have changed since we made our previous application in 2003. The new guidelines require that the project be "ready to go," must create jobs, and that the project needed the BEDI and Section 108 funding to become a reality. In order to show that the project is "ready to go,' we must show that either the property was not contaminated - which would require a completed Phase I environmental survey and possibly a Phase II - or that the needed cleanup effort were known for property that is polluted. We must also document that a firm commitment had been made to purchase the property if the City did not already own it and that a business concern had made an irrevocable commitment to locate a specific enterprise on the property in question. Although the guidelines did not stipulate that a specific number of new jobs be created, they clearly indicate that the new business must create enough new jobs to make a demonstrable difference on the residents in the community. In order for us to show that the project could not move forward without the grant and Section 108 loan funds, we must require that the businesses provide capital and operating pro forma showing a need for the requested funding. Although we are not in the position to make an application this year, we believe that we can put together a submission for next year. With our new Brownfields assessment grant, the creation of the new Downtown Development Committee, and the planned acquisition of KCS property, we can assemble a multi- component project during the next year that meets the BEDI grant requirements.