The California State Parks Statewide Park Program, Round 4 application guidelines require that the applicant's governing body, in this case the Yolo County Board of Supervisors, adopt a standardized resolution authorizing the submittal of an application for funding. The Board previously adopted a resolution (February 9, 2021) authorizing staff to submit the Knights Landing Community Park for consideration of funding in Round 4 of the Statewide Parks Program.  That funding application was submitted by staff on March 8, 2021.  In June 2021 California State Parks staff requested a modified resolution (see Attachment A) in order to determine the County's application complete.  The attached revised resolution utilizes position titles instead of named individuals, and authorizes the Deputy County Administrator (or his/her designee) to submit the application and authorize any changes to the application.  

Neither the resolution nor the submittal of the application commit the County to participating in the Statewide Park Program. Should the application be successful and a grant award offered to the County, staff will be required to return to the Board to request permission to enter into a contract with California State Parks.

Background
In August 2019, the County submitted an application for Round 3 of the Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization ("SPP") program funding to develop and construct a community park in the unincorporated community of Knights Landing. The California Department of Parks and Recreation ("State Parks") had $254.9 million available to award in Round 3.  A total of 478 applications were received by State Parks, requesting $2.3 billion in funding.  The County's application, seeking $7.8 million dollars, was not awarded funding.

State Parks opened Round 4 of the SPP in March 2021 with a total of $395.3 million available in this final round of funding. Several elements of the proposed project were modified, with community input from the Knights Landing Park Project Development Team, to reduce construction costs and make the County's funding application more competitive. For example, the soccer field will be constructed using grass instead of artificial turf, and the proposed water feature near the play ground structure has been removed. These modifications have reduced the total cost to $4.8 million.

The County submitted this revised application on March 8, 2021, to Round 4 of the Statewide Parks Program.  The revised resolution (see Attachment A) that is the subject of this item was requested by California State Parks staff in June 2021, in order to determine the County's application is complete. 

Project History
Since 2018, staff have been working collaboratively with the Woodland Joint Unified School District ("WJUSD") and members of the Knights Landing community (organized into a 10-member community project development team) to conduct robust public outreach and gather information on a desirable location and potential park amenities for the community. Through this community based approach, a park location site was identified: an unused 7+ acre parcel that is owned by WJUSD and is adjacent to WJUSD's Science and Technology Academy in the heart of Knights Landing (Location map and renderings provided as Attachment B). The Board approved a Memorandum Of Understanding and Land Use Agreement with WJUSD at the May 21, 2019, regular Board meeting. Finally, the Board authorized staff to submit the above referenced SPP Round 3 application and file a Notice of Exemption on July 9, 2019.  

Adoption of this resolution will allow staff to submit a $4.8 million funding request to State Parks for the development and construction of the proposed Knights Landing Community Park.

Recommended Action
Staff recommends the Board of Supervisors adopt the authorizing resolution (Attachment A).