Title
Adopt a Resolution to Approve and Authorize the City Manager to Accept a Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation- Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program Grant, to Execute a Grant Agreement, and to Appropriate $244,545 into a Newly Created Grant Account for the Project.
Staffreport
COUNCIL PRIORITY
• Quality of Life
SUMMARY
The Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation - Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program awarded the City and its partners a $244,545 planning grant to develop a Western Alameda County Tree Partner Network. The project aims to foster resilience to extreme heat through community-led tree planting and other greening efforts in San Leandro and surrounding unincorporated areas.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution to:
• Accept the Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program grant; and
• Authorize the City Manager to execute the related grant agreement; and
• Appropriate $244,545 into a newly created grant fund account to implement the project.
BACKGROUND
In April 2024, the City submitted a grant proposal to the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation - Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program for funding to support the development of a Western Alameda County Tree Partner Network. A grant in the amount of $244,545 was awarded. The project’s goal is to establish a diverse coalition within San Leandro and unincorporated Western Alameda County to expand urban forestry efforts through collaboration, education and planning efforts.
Analysis
The project is a regional collaboration among the City of San Leandro, the Student Conservation Association, Hayward Area Recreation and Park District, and Alameda County. A facilitator will be contracted to produce a comprehensive community partner map identifying organizations involved in tree planting, workforce development, education, maintenance, and outreach.
Deliverables include:
• A mapped network of partner organizations;
• A capacity-building work plan;
• Ecosystem and asset mapping;
• Stakeholder engagement efforts;
• A community-led educational series.
This work directly supports the City’s Tree Master Plan and will strengthen the community’s ability to mitigate extreme heat impacts through targeted greening strategies.
The 30-month project includes six distinct tasks:
• Task 1: Regional Research & Stakeholder Engagement
• Task 2: Asset Mapping & Tree Education
• Task 3: Ecosystem Mapping
• Task 4: Partner Network Training
• Task 5: Tree Planting Network Workplan
• Task 6: Project Management
The project budget supports consulting services, City staff time, nonprofit contracts for community involvement, and development of outreach materials.
Applicable General Plan Policies
• Policy OSC-7.10 Open Space and Carbon Emissions. Continue to implement street tree planting and urban forestry programs, recognizing the potential for trees to sequester carbon
• Policy CD-7.1 Greening San Leandro. Promote drought-tolerant landscaping, tree planting, and tree preservation along San Leandro streets as a means of improving aesthetics, making neighborhoods more pedestrian-friendly, providing environmental benefits, and creating or maintaining a park-like setting.
• Policy CD-7.2 Tree Maintenance. Encourage tree maintenance practices that contribute to the long-term health and appearance of the City’s urban forest.
• Policy EJ-1.3: Urban Greening. Develop local urban greening initiatives focused on areas where roadways interface with sensitive land uses (parks, residential, schools) to limit exposure to tailpipe emissions
Financial Impacts
This grant funded project will require Council appropriation of $244,545 for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 into a newly created Grant Fund (Fund 150) account. Revenues from the grant will be received on a reimbursement basis.
ATTACHMENTS
A: Draft Resolution for the Extreme Heat Grant
B: Draft Grant Agreement
PREPARED BY: Jennifer Auletta, Parks and Landscape Manager, Recreation and Parks Department