HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 3/2/2021 - Memorandum From Seonah Kendall And Blaine Dunn Re: Staff Report: Cares Funding Report Summary
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1 Kelly DiMartino, Deputy City Manager; Kyle Stannert, Deputy City Manager; Travis Storin, Interim Chief Financial Officer; Jacqueline Kozak Thiel,
Chief Sustainability Officer; Caryn Champine, Planning, Development and Transportation (PDT) Director; Jim Byrne, Emergency Preparedness and
Security Director; and Amanda King, Communication and Public Involvement Office Director.
Emergency Preparedness and Safety
300 Laporte Avenue
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.221.6505
970.224.6107 - fax
fcgov.com
MEMORANDUM
DATE: February 18, 2021
TO: Mayor and City Councilmembers
THRU: Darin Atteberry, City Manager
Travis Storin, Interim Chief Financial Officer
Jacqueline Kozak Thiel, Chief Sustainability Officer
Jim Byrne, Emergency Preparedness and Safety Director
Recovery Executive Team1
FROM: SeonAh Kendall, City Recovery Manager
Blaine Dunn, Interim Accounting Director
RE: Staff Report: CARES Funding Report Summary
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide City Council with an update summary of the Coronavirus Aid,
Relief, and Economic Security Act Coronavirus Relief Fund (CVRF ).
Background:
On May 18, 2020, Governor Polis signed Executive Order D2020 070, Directing the Expenditure of Federal Funds
Pursuant to the CARES
fund would reimburse costs to Counties, Municipalities and Special Districts. Through an intergovernmental
agreement with Larimer County, and other municipalities within the County, the City was allocated $9,015,692 to
respond and address COVID-19.
Some Areas of Focus Highlights:
Supporting Fort Collins Resident
o Stay in their homes through rental assistance, eviction prevention and utility late payment
assistance;
o Address childcare and remote learning challenges through Camp FunQuest and local nonprofit
partners such as Boys and Girls Club of Larimer County, Matthews House, Teaching Tree, Respite
Care and more; and
o Connect virtually while staying safe through VirtuVisit,
program and a partnership with Poudre River Public Library District to offer residents access to
Chromebooks for checkout.
Supporting Fort Collins Small Businesses
o Offset significant impacts due to temporary closures required to address public health. Example
expenditures that these businesses used the Small Business Assistance Program were: rent, utility
and employee retention;
o Navigate pandemic resources and information through a one-stop-shop website;
o Enhanced outreach, support and translation support for businesses that have traditionally been
underserved; and
o De-escalation training to support businesses build positive customer and employee interactions
throughout the pandemic public health crisis.
On December 28, 2020, City staff were notified by DOLA that the December 2020 Federal Consolidated Act had
CARES CVRF funds until December 31, 2021. Currently, the City
has an estimated $465,000 remaining that will be directed to support economic/business and social/residential
recovery. Projects approved and proposed include:
Additional funds for Utility late payment assistance,
Additional support of Legal Defense Fund (for eviction prevention),
Recovery data and planning and
A partnership with Mi Casa Resource Center to support underserved small businesses in the community.
Staff are continuing to work with community partners and internal City project managers to identify project needs.
Staff has included a report on CARES CVRF spending to-date that provides an overarching funding summary, as
well as project-specific highlights (Attachment 1)
Next Steps:
Staff is compiling a more robust report to document the CARES CVRF allocation process, project impacts, process
improvements and lessons learned. Additionally, staff is conducting audiovisual interviews with project managers,
nonprofits, and business owners to capture the impact of COVID-19, CARES CVRF and lessons learned. These will
be utilized to help inform the next round of funding and future recovery projects.
As the City wraps-up the CVRF process, staff is transitioning to the recovery phase and planning for the future
phases of COVID recovery funding (both state and federal). Th will involve analyzing existing
city plan(s), conducting a gap analysis, alignment with regional recovery efforts, and engaging the community on
what is most needed to build an equitable and resilient recovery plan for the City.
Attachment:
CARES CVRF Report through December 2020
cc: Erin Zimmermann, Grants Administrator
Sarah Meline, COVID Engagement Support