RECOMMENDATIONS:
Ordinance approving and authorizing submission of a grant application to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a grant to fund assessment, remediation, redevelopment, and continued support of the Brownfield Redevelopment Program (BRP); declaring the City’s eligibility for such grant; and authorizing the Director of Houston Public Works (HPW) to act as signatory on grant applications for an estimated project period of 60 months. HPW also requests City Council authorize the Director or his designee to act as the City’s representative with the authority to accept and expend the grant funds if and as awarded, and to accept and expend all subsequent supplemental awards, if any, and to extend the term and/or budget and project period and to authorize the Mayor to execute all related contracts, agreements and documents with the approval of the City Attorney in connection not to exceed five years.
SPECIFIC EXPLANATION:
Historically the City of Houston BRP has received grant funds from the EPA for twenty years. Through grant funding awarded to the City of Houston, the BRP has been able to provide assessment and remediation support for City owned properties, private entities, as well as nonprofit organizations. Since 2005, Houston's BRP has assisted in redeveloping over 75 sites and restoring more than 3,000 acres of City land to beneficial use. As the result, more than $5 million in tax revenue has been generated, over $800 million in investment for cleanup and redevelopment has been leveraged, and over 4,000 new jobs have been created or retained.
Brownfield's redevelopment projects in the City include Minute Maid Park, Discovery Green, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, and the Downtown Aquarium. Other notable projects include senior housing complexes, townhomes, Wildcat Golf Course, Sunnyside Landfill Solar Farm, St. Elizabeth's Hospital, neighborhood parks, and commercial mixed use or industrial properties. In 2014, the City was awarded two (2) EPA Brownfields Assessment grants totaling $400,000 and in 2018, was awarded a $300,000 Assessment grant. Grant funding has been used for a brownfields area-wide inventory, due diligence property assessments, cleanup planning, and community outreach activities in the City's Greater East End and Fifth Ward areas.
The BRP seeks to assist in the revitalization of economically distressed neighborhoods in Houston's urban core, catalyze economic growth, and ensure a safe and clean environment. Continued funding would assist in the City's mission to restore urban land, natural resources, and historically significant landmarks into valued community assets.
HPW will seek a grant totaling $500,000.00. The EPA Brownfield Assessment Grant program does not require a local funding match.
Fiscal Note: No Fiscal Note is required on grant items.
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Carol Ellinger Haddock, P.E.
Director
Houston Public Works