DATE: June 28, 2016
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT
Title
Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Negotiate and Execute a Memorandum of Understanding with California State University, East Bay to Establish the Sustainable City Year Program for a Total Amount Not to Exceed $75,000
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
That the Council authorizes the City Manager to negotiate and execute a Memorandum of Understanding between the City and California State University, East Bay to jointly establish and fund the Sustainable City Year Program. The total amount contributed by the City will not exceed $75,000.
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BACKGROUND
Originating at the University of Oregon in 2009, the Sustainable City Year Program has been adopted as framework for partnerships between cities and universities nationwide. Under the Oregon model, university classes complete projects related to sustainability - defined broadly to include resilience and economic development - in response to the needs of partner cities. The benefiting City pays the University a fee, which covers the cost of program coordination, supplies, and course support. For an overview and a short video about SCYP, please visit <https://sci.uoregon.edu/content/scyp-vs-epic-n>.
The concept has since been adopted by many universities across the country including the University of Minnesota, San Diego State, Fresno State, and Cal State Monterey Bay. A complete list of participating universities is available at <https://sci.uoregon.edu/content/epic-n-programs>.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working with Nico Larco, co-founder of the SCYP, to spread the model to other universities. As part of this effort, City staff has been in discussion with the EPA and faculty from CSU East Bay to explore a possible pilot program in Hayward. Jillian Buckholz, Director of Sustainability at CSUEB, came to the Sustainability Committee’s March meeting to give a brief introduction to the program. At that time, Committee Members expressed interest in learning more.
DISCUSSION
On April 6, 2016, staff met with CSUEB faculty and administrative staff at City Hall. In addition, Nico Larco from the University of Oregon and representatives from the EPA attended the meeting to provide technical support. Attendees discussed the possibility of forming a pilot program in Hayward for Academic Year (AY) 2016-17.
The proposed pilot will consist of no more than ten courses working on projects identified by City staff based on the City’s current needs. University faculty and City staff are working together to match faculty and courses to each of the projects. The assigned faculty will oversee the students’ work and the creation of final reports for the City. The program will conclude with a final event to showcase the completed projects.
The cost of the pilot program is projected to be $150,000 for AY 2016-17. CSUEB has proposed that the City and the University split the cost equally, each paying $75,000.
Each project will require a City staff member to spend approximately five hours per week managing and coordinating activities with the University. In addition, the City has designated a staff member to serve as the SCYP coordinator who will be expected to devote approximately five to seven hours per week to administering the project.
Staff from various City departments are currently identifying potential projects that are part of the City’s existing workload and could be well suited for a SYCP pilot. On May 11, 2016, City staff met with CSUEB staff and faculty to review potential projects and begin discussing course match-making with interested faculty. During that meeting and in subsequent discussions, several projects were identified as opportunities for collaboration. These included, but were not limited to:
• Creating a Master Art Plan
• Assessing broken bicycle and pedestrian linkages
• San Lorenzo Creek enhancement planning
• Outreach strategies to reduce littering
In addition to completing priority projects, the Sustainable City Year Program advances the following General Plan goal:
Policy ED-4.1 Town Gown and Communiversity Partnerships - The City shall collaborate with local colleges to develop strategic “town gown” or “communiversity” partnerships that enhance the Hayward community and economy, improve the overall educational experience of college students, and assimilate college students and graduates into the Hayward community.
FISCAL IMPACT
According to the project developers, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in most other geographic areas, the costs are borne fully by the municipal partner. However, in our project, the first year costs of no more than $150,000 for the Sustainable City Year Program will be split equally between CSUEB and the City. The $150,000 will cover the following expenses:
• One 0.5 FTE administrative position at CSUEB
• One lead faculty coordinator
• Course support (e.g., transportation for students to and from project sites)
• Final reports (including graphic design and writing)
• Costs related to the culminating event
The City’s share of the costs will be borne by the participating departments, allocated based on the number of courses related to their project(s), and will be without any increase to approved budgets.
NEXT STEPS
Upon Council approval, the City Manager will continue to work with CSUEB staff to negotiate and execute a Memorandum of Understanding between the University and the City and staff develop agreements and scopes of work for specific projects to begin in Fall 2016.
Prepared by: Erik Pearson, Environmental Services Manager
Laurel James, Management Fellow
Staff contact
Recommended by: Kelly McAdoo, Assistant City Manager
Alex Ameri, Director of Utilities and Environmental Services
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Approved by:
Fran David, City Manager
Attachments:
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Attachment I |
Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Negotiate and Execute a Memorandum of Understanding with California State University, East Bay |