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DATE: November 4, 2003
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBJECT: Providing for Seniors and Youth in East County

SUMMARY:
Today's action will allocate funding to the Salvation Army of El Cajon to provide Thanksgiving dinner to seniors, and to the Lakeside Boys and Girls Club to provide additional space for youth in their overcrowded facility.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Vice Chairwoman Dianne Jacob:

  1. Allocate $400 from the District Two Community Projects budget (org. 0262) to the Salvation Army of El Cajon to provide Thanksgiving meals to seniors on November 25, 2003.
  2. Find that the Lakeside Boys and Girls Club project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15301.
  3. Allocate $120,000 from the District Two Community Projects budget (org. 0262) to Boys and Girls Clubs of East County to add two modular rooms to the Lakeside Boys and Girls Club.
  4. Approve and authorize the reallocation of $120,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds to the new Lakeside Boys and Girls Club Addition Project.
  5. Authorize the Director, Department of Housing and Community Development, to execute any Request for Release of Funds and Certification following environmental processing and direct staff to transmit the request to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development upon completion of any mandatory waiting periods.
  6. Authorize the Director, Department of Housing and Community Development, to negotiate and execute, with County Counsel concurrence, any contract and/or amendment regarding the Community Development Block Grant Funds in items 4 and 5 above, and to take all necessary actions for the submittal and/or regulatory processing for implementation of the above project.
  7. Authorize the Chief Financial Officer to execute a grant agreement with the organizations in items 2 and 3 listed above, establishing terms for receipt of the funds described above.
  8. Find that all grant awards described above have a public purpose.

FISCAL IMPACT:
The fiscal impact of the proposed recommendation is $240,400. The funding source for $120,400 is FY 2003-2004 Community Projects for District 2. The funding source for the remaining $120,000 is Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Housing Development funds. The CDBG funds are included in the Housing and Community Development Multi-Year Project Budget, a special revenue fund. The total CDBG cost is $120,000 for fiscal year 2003-04. The funding source for CDBG funds is the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This action will result in the addition of no staff years and no future costs.

BACKGROUND:
Residents in East County communities can often be heard bragging about different aspects of where they live: it's beautiful, it's rarely cloudy, and it's a great place to raise kids. But one of the most noticeable qualities about East County is when the people come together to support a common cause or to help out their neighbors, young and old.

Every year, the Salvation Army of El Cajon hosts a Thanksgiving feast for seniors in the area. Approximately 200 seniors come to the table for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, complete with turkey, dressing, and pumpkin pie. They usually enjoy some entertainment by those who wish to sing or read poems while they receive full service treatment from the Salvation Army staff and volunteers who work hard on this event. The Thanksgiving meal brings seniors of El Cajon together as a family for a warm meal, possibly for the only time during the holiday season. Today's action will approve $400 to continue this important Thanksgiving tradition.

In Lakeside, the Boys and Girls Club has been working hard for over a year to find funding to build an addition to their existing facility behind Lindo Park Elementary School. The Lakeside facility is jointly used by the school and community, and is the only facility in Lakeside that provides services for elementary school-aged children.

A proposal seeking $374,000 for a modular building addition was not recommended for funding in the draft FY 2003-04 Annual Funding Plan for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and other related federal entitlement funds. A representative of the Boys and Girls Club addressed the Board at the March 11, 2003 public hearing, and explained that the proposed expansion had been downsized, reducing the project cost to $238,500. The Board directed that CDBG funds be identified to fund half of the revised project, around $120,000 if the Boys and Girls Club raised an equal amount of funds for the project.

Therefore, upon notification from the project sponsors that the funds have been raised, and upon review of the revised expansion proposal, today's action will approve funding in the amount of $120,000 from Community Development Block Grant funds, as well as a $120,000 match from District Two Community Projects funds, to add two modular rooms to the Boys and Girls Club in Lakeside. This expansion will better accommodate the more than 825 youth who use the Boys and Girls Club, adding 1,440 square feet to the existing 4,320 square-foot facilities.

I urge your support!

Respectfully submitted,

DIANNE JACOB
Vice Chairwoman, Second District