REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Approve and Authorize the City Manager to Execute an Amended Application for the State of California Proposition 68 Per Capita Program Grant to Change the Project from Maywood Park Playground Rehabilitation to Henry Schmidt Park Playground Rehabilitation and Approve Related Budget Amendments
Report
BACKGROUND
On November 17, 2020, the City Council approved Report to Council 20-908 (Attachment 1) and adopted Resolution No. 20-8903 (Attachment 2) authorizing the City Manager to submit an application for Proposition 68 Per Capita Program Grant (Grant) for the Maywood Park Playground Rehabilitation Project (Maywood Project). The City subsequently entered into two grant agreements (Attachment 3 to 5) with the California Department of Parks and Recreation, Office of Grants and Local Services (OGALS) and was awarded a total of $256,622 in grant funding.
The Proposition 68 Per Capita Program provides funding for rehabilitation of existing park infrastructure and improvements that address deficiencies in neighborhoods lacking access to outdoor parks and recreation spaces. The grant performance period expires on June 30, 2028 (Attachment 6 and 7), and all grant-funded work must be completed before that date.
Since the award of the original grant application, the Department of Parks and Recreation has continued implementation of its Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and refined project schedules based on design progress, funding availability, and construction timeline. Based on the current project schedule, the Maywood Project is no longer anticipated to be completed within the grant performance period. As a result, staff evaluated alternative eligible CIP projects that could be completed before the grant deadline and meet the Grant’s objectives.
Staff determined that changing the grant project from the Maywood Project to Henry Schmidt Park Playground Rehabilitation Project (Henry Schmidt Project) will allow the City to fully utilize the available grant funding while remaining in compliance with the State's grant requirements. The Henry Schmidt Project is currently under construction and is anticipated to be completed by the summer of 2027. As a result, the project is eligible for the grant funding and can be completed within the grant performance period.
DISCUSSION
The Grant requires grantees to obtain governing body approval for grant applications and designate an Authorized Representative to administer the Grant. The City's original authorizing resolution delegated authority to the City Manager to administer the approved Grant and execute documents necessary for Grant administration.
Because the original grant application was submitted for the Maywood Project, staff recommends that the City Council approve and authorize the City Manager to sign and submit the amended grant application changing the project to the Henry Schmidt Project, in substantially the form shown on Attachment 8, and to authorize the City Manager to execute any amendments, agreements, certifications, payment requests, or other documents required by the California Department of Parks and Recreation to implement the amendment, subject to State approval. Staff has also contacted the California Department of Parks and Recreation OGALS and confirmed that a project amendment request is permitted under the Grant.
The Grant requires development projects to be capital improvement projects for recreational purposes, be consistent with the City's park and recreation planning efforts, supplement rather than supplant existing local revenues, meet applicable matching requirements, and provide accessible improvements. The Henry Schmidt Project meets these requirements as a CIP project that includes utility, landscaping and irrigation upgrades; an expanded playground that increases capacity; new group fitness stations; pathway, parking lot and lighting improvements; and other park amenity improvements.
The Grant requires a 20% local match for projects that do not serve a severely disadvantaged community. A grant amount of $256,622 requires a minimum local match of $64,156, which the Henry Schmidt Project exceeds with its existing local funding.
Approval of the proposed amendment will preserve the City's grant funding by applying it to an eligible project that is expected to be completed before the grant deadline. The grant award amount will remain unchanged at $256,622, and the amendment will not increase the City's financial obligation under the grant agreement.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The action to amend the grant application and related budget is not a project under California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as defined in CEQA Guidelines, section 15378, because it has no potential for resulting in either a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.
The project for which the grant funds will be used, the Henry Schmidt Project, was determined to be categorically exempt from CEQA by the City Council at the November 28, 2025 City Council meeting pursuant to Section 15301(c) “Existing Facilities”.
FISCAL IMPACT
The Maywood Park Playground Rehabilitation Project is fully funded with a current FY 2026/27 budget of $5.3 million, including $256,622 from the Proposition 68 Per Capita Program Grant, with the remaining funding provided by Quimby Act and Mitigation Fee Act (MFA) fees.
The Henry Schmidt Park Playground Rehabilitation project is fully funded by a combination of MFA fees in the Parks and Recreation Capital Fund and Measure I General Obligation Bond funds in the Measure I General Obligation Bond Projects Fund. The majority of the project funds were encumbered in FY 2025/26. In FY 2026/27, $2.2 million funded by MFA fees is budgeted in the Parks and Recreation Capital Fund.
Approval of the Amended Application for the State of California Proposition 68 Per Capita Program Grant will require proposed budget amendments to reallocate the $256,622 grant funding from the Maywood Project to the Henry Schmidt Project in the Parks and Recreation Capital Fund. In addition, $256,622 of MFA funding currently allocated to the Henry Schmidt Project would be reallocated to the Maywood Project. These proposed budget amendments would maintain the existing total budget for each project by offsetting the reallocation of grant and MFA funding between the two projects.
The recommended budget actions are summarized below.
Budget Amendment
FY 2026/27
|
|
Current |
Increase/ (Decrease) |
Revised |
|
Parks and Recreation Capital Fund |
|
|
|
|
Other Agencies Revenue |
|
|
|
|
Maywood Park Playground Rehabilitation |
$256,622 |
($256,622) |
$0 |
|
Henry Schmidt Park Rehabilitation |
$0 |
$256,622 |
$256,622 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ending Fund Balance - Mitigation Fee Act Fees Maywood Park Playground Rehabilitation |
$3,020,493 |
$256,622 |
$3,277,115 |
|
Henry Schmidt Park Rehabilitation |
$2,158,376 |
($256,622) |
$1,901,754 |
COORDINATION
This agreement has been coordinated with the Finance Department and the City Attorney’s Office.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Council agenda on the City’s official-notice bulletin board outside City Hall Council Chambers. A complete agenda packet is available on the City’s website and in the City Clerk’s Office at least 72 hours prior to a Regular Meeting and 24 hours prior to a Special Meeting. A hard copy of any agenda report may be requested by contacting the City Clerk’s Office at (408) 615-2220, email clerk@santaclaraca.gov or at the public information desk at any City of Santa Clara public library.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
1. Approve and Authorize the City Manager to execute and submit an amended Proposition 68 Per Capita Program grant application, changing the approved project from Maywood Park Playground Rehabilitation to Henry Schmidt Park Playground Rehabilitation subject to de minimis changes and review and approval as to form by the City Attorney;
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute and submit any amendments, agreements, certifications, payment requests, and other documents required by the California Department of Parks and Recreation to implement the amended grant, subject to State approval; and
3. Approve the following FY 2026/27 budget amendments in the Parks and Recreation Capital Fund to decrease the Other Agencies Revenue estimate for the Maywood Park Playground Rehabilitation project by $256,622 and increase the Other Agencies Revenue estimate for the Henry Schmidt Park Playground Rehabilitation Project by the same amount. In addition, increase the use of Ending Fund Balance - Mitigation Fee Act fees for the Maywood Park Playground Rehabilitation project by $256,622 and decrease the use of Ending Fund Balance - Mitigation Fee Act fees for the Henry Schmidt Playground Rehabilitation project by the same amount (majority affirmative Council votes required).
Staff
Reviewed by: Damon Sparacino, Director, Parks & Recreation Department
Approved by: Jovan Grogan, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
1. Report to Council 20-908
2. Resolution 20-8903
3. Agreement C9801654 Executed
4. Agreement C9802332 Executed
5. Maywood Project Scope & Cost Estimate
6. Amended Contract C9801654 and Provisions
7. Amended Contract C9802332 and Provisions
8. Amended Application - Henry Schmidt Project