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Home My WebLink AboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 11/16/2021 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 156, 2021, MAKING S Agenda Item 13 Item # 13 Page 1 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY November 16, 2021 City Council STAFF Drew Brooks, Director of Transit Aaron Guin, Legal SUBJECT First Reading of Ordinance No. 156, 2021, Making Supplemental Appropriations and Appropriating Prior Year Reserves to Purchase Eight Electric Buses and Associated Charging Equipment. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this item is to appropriate discretionary grant revenue Transfort has been awarded by the Federal Transit Administration (“FTA”), as well as prior year reserves to satisfy the local match requirement. Transfort applied for and was awarded $3,523,210 in competitive grant funding to purchase eight battery electric buses (“BEBs”) to replace end-of-life Compressed Natural Gas (“CNG”) vehicles. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading. BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION On June 25, 2021, the FTA announced approximately $182 million in funding for low - and no-emission buses and the facilities that support them. This program helps contribute to the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by the end of the decade. The competitive Low or No Emission Vehicle Program (“Low-No”) provides funding to state and local governmental authorities for the purchase or lease of zero-emission and low-emission transit buses as well as acquisition, construction, and leasing of required supporting vehicles. Transfort was awarded $3,523,210 in Fiscal Year 2021 Low -No grant funding that requires a local match of $330,000, which will be paid for from Transit Services Fund reserves. Transfort plans to utilize the Low-No award to leverage other grant funding that currently is submitted for appropriation through Offer 19.9 in the 2022 Budgeting for Outcomes (“BFO”) pro cess. Offer 19.9 requests appropriation of $4,366,593 in Federal funding, $200,000 in State funding, and $500,000 in Community Capital Improvement Program (“CCIP”) funds. The local match required for the Federal and State grant portion of the funding in Offer 19.9, totaling $457,797, will be paid for from the $1,200,000 “Local Match Fund” that was appropriated earlier this year as part of Ordinance No. 073, 2021. The BFO Offer would fund the purchase of five BEBs and associated charging equipment. This agen da item is presented with the assumption that BFO Offer 19.9 will be funded, and that the Low-No award of $3,523,210 and the $330,000 local match will leverage that funding to increase the BEBs purchase from five buses to eight buses and three chargers. The City adopted aggressive climate action goals and aims to become carbon neutral by 2050. To align with these goals, Transfort began implementing a transit fleet electrification plan and ordered its first two BEBs in 2020 and has secured funding to order a third in 2021. Overall, this plan will allow for continued electrification of the revenue fleet by funding the cost to replace a total of eight end -of-life CNG transit buses with BEBs, plus associated depot charging infrastructure. Agenda Item 13 Item # 13 Page 2 The Low-No Program allows for partnerships to successfully execute grant projects and allows an exception for competitive procurement. Transfort is partnering with the Center for Transportation and the Environment (“CTE”) to provide the expertise necessary to help Transfort mitigate risks associated with BEB deployments. CTE has provided technical and management support to more than 70 transit agencies that have either deployed or will soon deploy more than 300 BEBs. Additionally, Transfort will partner with GILLIG bus manufac turer for the purchase of these BEBs. GILLIG is the leading supplier of heavy-duty transit buses to cities throughout the United States. GILLIG brings to market the most comprehensive, advanced BEB by using Cummins electrified powertrain technology, which provides the benefit of full local services support with hundreds of service centers throughout the country. CITY FINANCIAL IMPACTS This Ordinance will appropriate $3,523,210 in unanticipated federal grant revenue and a local match of $330,000 from Transit Services Fund reserves. This request assumes 2022 BFO Offer 19.9 will be approved, and that the Low-No grant funds will be used to leverage the funding being appropriated through that Offer. New Funding Included in this Appropriation Request Funding Source Amount Low-No 5339c Grant Award (New Revenue) $ 3,523,210 Required Local Match (Transit Services Fund Reserves) $ 330,000 Total $ 3,853,210 Total E-Bus Project Funding Including 2022 BFO Offer 19.9 Funding Source Amount FY2021 Low-No 5339c Grant Award $ 3,523,210 FY2022/2023 CMAQ $ 4,366,593 FY2022 CDOT FASTER $ 200,000 CCIP $ 500,000 Total Local Match $ 787,797 Total Project Budget $ 9,377,600 -1- ORDINANCE NO. 156, 2021 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS MAKING SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS AND APPROPRIATING PRIOR YEAR RESERVES TO PURCHASE EIGHT ELECTRIC BUSES AND ASSOCIATED CHARGING EQUIPMENT WHEREAS, the City of Fort Collins has adopted aggressive climate action goals and aims to become carbon neutral by 2050; and WHEREAS, to align with these goals, Transfort began implementing a transit fleet electrification plan and ordered its first two battery electric buses (“BEBs”) in 2020, and has secured funding to order a third in 2021; and WHEREAS, on June 25, 2021, the Federal Transit Administration (“FTA”) announced approximately $182 million in funding for low- and no-emission buses and the facilities that support them to contribute to the current Administration’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by the end of the decade; and WHEREAS, the competitive Low or No Emission Vehicle Program (“Low-No”) provides funding to state and local governmental authorities for the purchase or lease of zero- emission and low-emission transit buses as well as acquisition, construction, and leasing of required supporting vehicles; and WHEREAS, Transfort applied for and was awarded $3,523,210 in Fiscal Year 2021 Low-No grant funding that requires a local match of $330,000, to be paid for from Transit Services Fund reserves; and WHEREAS, Transfort plans to utilize the Low-No award to leverage other grant funding that currently is submitted for appropriation through Offer 19.9 in the 2022 Budgeting for Outcomes (“BFO”) process; and WHEREAS, BFO Offer 19.9 requests appropriation of $4,366,593 in Federal funding, $200,000 in State funding, and $500,000 in Community Capital Improvement Program (“CCIP”) funds; and WHEREAS, the local match required for the Federal and State grant portion of the funding in Offer 19.9, totaling $457,797, will be paid for from the $1,200,000 “Local Match Fund” that was appropriated earlier this year as part of Ordinance No. 073, 2021; and WHEREAS, BFO Offer 19.9 was approved as part of the 2022 Budget and accordingly $457,797 in local match funds was appropriated as part of the Annual Appropriation Ordinance; and WHEREAS, the Low-No award of $3,523,210 and the $330,000 local match will leverage that funding to increase Transfort’s BEBs purchase from five electric buses to eight electric buses and three chargers; and -2- WHEREAS, Transfort’s overall plan will allow for continued electrification of the revenue fleet by funding the cost to replace a total of eight end-of-life CNG transit buses with BEBs, plus associated depot charging infrastructure; and WHEREAS, this appropriation benefits public health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Fort Collins and serves the public purpose of furthering the transit fleet electrification plan in alignment with the City’s climate action goals; and WHEREAS, Article V, Section 9, of the City Charter permits the City Council, upon recommendation of the City Manager, to make supplemental appropriations by ordinance at any time during the fiscal year, provided that the total amount of such supplemental appropriations, in combination with all previous appropriations for that fiscal year, does not exceed the current estimate of actual and anticipated revenues and all other funds to be received during the fiscal year; and WHEREAS, Article V, Section 9 of the City Charter permits the City Council, upon the recommendation of the City Manager, to appropriate by ordinance at any time during the fiscal year such funds for expenditure as may be available from reserves accumulated in prior years, notwithstanding that such reserves were not previously appropriated; and WHEREAS, the Interim City Manager has recommended the appropriation described herein and determined that this appropriation is available and previously unappropriated from the Transit Services Fund and will not cause the total amount appropriated in the Transit Services Fund to exceed the current estimate of actual and anticipated revenues and all other funds to be received in that fund during this fiscal year. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That the City Council hereby makes and adopts the determinations and findings contained in the recitals set forth above. Section 2. That there is hereby appropriated from unanticipated grant revenue in the Transit Services Fund the sum of THREE MILLION FIVE HUNDRED TWENTY-THREE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED TEN DOLLARS ($3,523,210) for expenditure from the Transit Services Fund to complete the purchase of eight electric buses and associated charging equipment. Section 3. That there is hereby appropriated from prior year reserves in the Transit Services Fund the sum of THREE HUNDRED THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS ($330,000) for expenditure from the Transit Services Fund to complete the purchase of eight electric buses and associated charging equipment. -3- Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 16th day of November, A.D. 2021, and to be presented for final passage on the 7th day of December, A.D. 2021. __________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _______________________________ Interim City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading on the 7th day of December, A.D. 2021. __________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _______________________________ Interim City Clerk