Economic Recovery Program

Summary of Grants being pursued

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Grant Name: Federal Byrne Grant
Grant Type: Formula
Amount Applied For: $275,631
Administered By: Department of Justice
Application Status: Application Awarded
Grant Description: A Federal formula grant that provides funding for all components of the criminal justice system including multijurisdictional drug and gang task forces, crime prevention, domestic violence programs, courts, corrections, treatment, and justice information sharing initiatives.
Projects Funded by Grant:

Sheriff’s Office: fingerprinting software/equipment, license plate recognition equipment
City of Punta Gorda: digital video recording systems
Human Services: neighborhood accountability coordinator (Yr 2)
Court Admin: special pre-trial court coordinator (Yr 2)

Status: The application for this grant has been approved. The items associated with the grant are in the process of being implemented and purchased.

Grant Name: State Byrne Grant
Grant Type: Formula
Amount Applied For: $473,492
Administered By: Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Application Status: Application Awarded
Grant Description: A State formula grant that provides funding for all components of the criminal justice system including multijurisdictional drug and gang task forces, crime prevention, domestic violence programs, courts, corrections, treatment, and justice information sharing initiatives.
Projects Funded by Grant:

Sheriff’s Office: computer purchases and substance abuse prevention
City of Punta Gorda: tazers
Human Services: neighborhood accountability coordinator (Yr 1) and Going Home project
Court Admin: special pre-trial court coordinator (Yr 1)

Status: The application for this grant has been approved. The items associated with the grant are in the process of being implemented and purchased.

Grant Name: COPS Hiring Recovery Program
Grant Type: Competitive
Amount Applied For: $1,900,130
Administered By: US Department of Justice
Application Status: Application Not Awarded
Grant Description: A Federal competitive grant that provides funding directly to law enforcement agencies having primary law enforcement authority to create and preserve jobs and to increase their community policing capacity and crime-prevention efforts.
Projects Funded by Grant:
Funding was requested to allow the Sheriff's department to retain 10 deputies and cover the majority of their salaries for 3 years.
Status: The application for this grant was not awarded.

ENERGY

Grant Name: Federal Energy Efficiency & Conservation Block Grant
Grant Type: Competitive
Amount Applied For: $4,719,871
Administered By: Department of Energy
Application Status: Application Under Review
Grant Description: A Federal competitive grant that includes funding for renewable energy technologies on government buildings, material conservation programs, energy distribution programs; traffic signal and street lighting, residential and commercial building energy audits, technical consultant services, development and implementation of transportation projects, energy efficiency retrofits, reduction and capture of methane and greenhouse gases, building codes and inspections, and development of an energy efficiency and conservation strategy.

This grant is highly competitive with only 15–60 awards expected nation-wide.
Projects Funded by Grant:
Facilities submitted an application for the Charlotte County Jail Energy Efficiency and Conservation Project. The project includes implementing thermal storage, solar lighting and solar water. This project would significantly reduce energy consumption by up to 20% at the County’s most expensive facility to own and operate.
Status: The application for this grant has been submitted is currently under review.

Grant Name: State Energy Efficiency & Conservation Block Grant
Grant Type: Competitive
Amount Applied For: $984,000
Administered By: Florida Energy and Climate Commission
Application Status: Application Under Review
Grant Description: A State competitive grant that includes funding for renewable energy technologies on government buildings; material conservation programs; energy distribution programs; traffic signal and street lighting, residential and commercial building energy audits; technical consultant services; development and implementation of transportation projects; energy efficiency retrofits; reduction and capture of methane and greenhouse gases; building codes and inspections; development of an energy efficiency and conservation strategy.
Projects Funded by Grant:
Facilities submitted an application for 2 projects, which are: Solar Photovoltaic's at Fire Station 12 and Energy Efficient Sports Lights at 9 sports fields. Solar photovoltaic's would eliminate up to 100% of Fire Station 12's annual energy usage. Sports park lighting upgrades would save the County up to $30,000 per year in energy and maintenance costs.
Status: The application for this grant has been submitted is currently under review.

FIRE/EMS

Grant Name: Assistance to Firefighters Grant
Grant Type: Competitive
Amount Applied For: $794,000
Administered By: FEMA
Application Status: Application Under Review
Grant Description: A Federal competitive grant that provides funding for firefighter equipment related to public safety.
Projects Funded by Grant:
Public Radio System Upgrade. The County commission approved an upgrade to the radio system prior to the availability of this grant. The upgrade will extend the life of the current radio system for 5 - 10 years. If the grant is awarded $794,000 in funds budgeted for this project would be saved.
Status: The application for this grant has been submitted is currently under review.

Grant Name: Fire Station Construction Grant
Grant Type: Competitive
Amount Applied For: $718,500
Administered By: FEMA
Application Status: Application Not Awarded
Grant Description: A Federal competitive grant that provides funding for the construction and modification of fire stations.
Projects Funded by Grant:
Funding was requested for Renovations to Fire Station 6 that included: installing ADA compliant his and hers bathrooms, expanding the building by 1,000 SQ Ft, re-roofing the entire building, renovating the kitchen and making the building more energy efficient.
Status: The application for this grant was not awarded.

TRANSIT

Grant Name: Transit Capital Assistance – Section 5307
Grant Type: Formula
Amount Applied For: $2,139,379
Administered By: Federal Transit Administration
Application Status: Application Awarded
Grant Description: A Federal formula grant that provides funding for transportation improvement including: vehicle replacements, facilities renovation or construction, preventive maintenance and mobility management.
Projects Funded by Grant:
This grant funded the purchase of 5 green busses, bus equipment, tire change machines and a hybrid diesel diagnostic unit.
Status: The application for this grant has been awarded. Busses and equipment have been purchased and are in operation.

Grant Name: Transit Capital Assistance – Section 5311
Grant Type: Formula
Amount Applied For: $92,800
Administered By: Federal Transit Administration
Application Status: Application Awarded
Grant Description: A Federal formula grant that provides funding for transportation improvement including: vehicle replacements, facilities renovation or construction, preventive maintenance, and mobility management.
Projects Funded by Grant:
This grant funded the purchase and installation of a bus and truck lift as well as rural planning activities.
Status: The application for this grant is has been awarded. Equipment has been purchased and the mobility coordinator position has been filled.

HUMAN SERVICES

Grant Name: Community Services Block Grant
Grant Type: Formula
Amount Applied For: $117,543
Administered By: Administration for Children and Families
Application Status: Application Awarded
About the Grant: A State formula grant that provides funds to lessen poverty in communities. The funds provide a range of services and activities to assist the needs of low-income individuals including the homeless, migrants and the elderly. The State of Florida received $28,765,855 of which Charlotte County's formula portion is $117,543.
Projects Funded by Grant:
This grant is funding the following programs: after school care scholarships for ages 5 and up, financial literacy training, tax preparation and earned income tax credit workshops, and self-sufficiency programs such as GED classes and job training through vocational education.
Status: The application for this grant has been awarded. Start date for the funded programs was 10/1/09.

Grant Name: Youth Build
Grant Type: Competitive
Amount Applied For: $872,000
Administered By: Youth Build
Application Status: Application Not Awarded
About the Grant: Youth Build is a workforce training and leadership program for at-risk youth that addresses affordable housing needs of the community.
Projects Funded by Grant:
Grant would have allowed the County to develop a new Youth Build program to provide alternative education for youth in the ages of 16-24.
Status: The application for this grant was not awarded.

TRANSPORTATION

Grant Name: Tiger Grant
Grant Type: Competitive
Amount Applied For: $42,437,494
Administered By: US Department of Transportation
Application Status: Application Not Awarded
About the Grant: A Federal competitive grant that includes funding for capital investments in: highway or bridge projects, public transportation projects, passenger and freight rail transportation projects, and port infrastructure investments, including projects that connect ports to other modes of transportation and improve the efficiency of freight movement.
Projects Funded by Grant:
Economic Development submitted two applications for this grant. The first application wsa for the Charlotte Airport Commerce Park Intermodal Center. The proposed project included construction of a truck to rail transfer facility and improvements to the railroad ($36,493,179).

The second application was for a CRA Harbor Walk project, which would provide a regional intermodal trail along Charlotte Harbor that would connect two redevelopment areas and provide safe pedestrian and bicycle access across US 41. The project would also replace the Melbourne St. bridge which is structurally deficient ($5,944,315).
Status: Application not awarded. A total of $1.5B was awarded through this program. 1,380 applications totaling $56.5B were submitted nation-wide, including 115 applications totaling $4.2B submitted by Florida applicants alone. No funding was awarded to any applicants in Florida.

Grant Name: ARRA Surface Transportation Funding
Grant Type: Competitive
Amount Applied For: $2,261,344
Administered By: US Department of Transportation
Application Status: Applications Awarded
About the Grant: The Surface Transportation Program is an established program that received an infusion of funding through ARRA program. The program provides funding for a broad range of public transportation projects.
Projects Funded by Grant: FDOT selected the following six County projects to fund through this program:

Cape Haze Bridge Culvert Replacement
SR 776 - Coliseums Blvd Construction of Left Turn Lanes
Murdock Circle - Veterans Blvd Right Turn Lanes Addition
US 41 - Midway Blvd Left Turn Lane Additions
Murdock Circle - US 41 Left Turn Lane Addition
SR 776 - Oriole Blvd Left Turn Lane Extensions

FDOT will manage these projects from the bid process to the completion of construction. The only cost to the County will be the maintenance of the projects after the initial construction is complete.
Status: Projects selected by FDOT for funding. Contracts for each project have been awarded and construction will commence after design is complete.

BROADBAND

Grant Name: Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP)
Grant Type: Competitive
Amount Applied For: $126,134
Administered By: National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Application Status: Application Not Awarded
About the Grant: BTOP provides grants to support the deployment of broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas, to enhance broadband capacity at public computer centers, and to encourage sustainable adoption of broadband service. Federal eligibility criteria restricts funds to items associated with new computer centers. However, we were able to apply for new computers for our existing centers through the State Library’s application.
Projects Funded by Grant:
The State Library’s application included the purchase of 101 computer stations for the following Charlotte County libraries: Englewood, Mid County Regional, Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda.
Status: The State Library’s application for this grant was not awarded.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 (ARRA) is the program under which Economic Stimulus funds are introduced into the economy. This program was signed into law by President Obama in an effort to stimulate the economy, create jobs, improve healthcare and more. The ARRA program will admit a total of $787 billion into the economy. Of the $787 billion, approximately $280 billion will be made available to State and Local governments primarily through Grants, Loans and Bonds. The majority of the funding will be dispersed by the end of Fiscal Year 2012.

The purpose of this site is to inform Charlotte County residents about ARRA related opportunities that the County is pursuing. The County has developed specialized team to aggressively pursue economic stimulus funding pertinent to our area.

FUNDING OVERVIEW ARRA Main Areas
Total Funding Applied For: $57,912,318
Total Funding Approved: $5,360,189
Total Funding Associated with Applications Under Review: $6,497,871
Total Funding Associated With Applications Not Approved or Denied: $46,054,258

For more information, contact:

Jason Stoltzfus
Budget & Administrative Services Department
18500 Murdock Circle, Port Charlotte, FL 33948
Phone: 941.743.1582 - Fax: 941.743.1286