7B Motion to Direct Staff to Apply for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Transportation Enhancements Funding

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TRANSPORTATION ENHANCEMENTS POLICIES FOR THE 2009 AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT 1.TE funds are available to all Minnesota state agencies, the Metropolitan Council, other transit providers, Indian tribal governments, the seven counties, all cities and towns within the Twin Cities seven county region, and the ten Regional Park System Implementation agencies. Other local or special governmental agencies and private groups are also eligible, but must have a public agency sponsor. The agency sponsor is the local unit of government of record. The local unit of government is responsible for making arrangements with the project proposer to ensure all project requirements of the local unit of government are met. An Agency Agreement is written between Mn/DOT and the local unit of government. The local unit of government will administer the project using the State Aid for Local Transportation (SALT) Delegated Contract Process (DCP) for federal aid projects. 2.Generally, TE funds are available for the activities listed under #1 of the Qualifying Criteria and incidental activities associated with them if the incidental work does not constitute more than 30% of the project costs. See Qualifying Criterion #1 for a description of what is meant by “incidental activities”. 3.Generally, for projects that involve the construction of facilities, the TAB will provide TE funds for project construction and materials, right of way, and land acquisition. For TE- eligible projects that do not involve construction (e.g., bicycle and pedestrian safety education activities), the TAB will provide TE funds for program implementation and related activities. TAB will not provide TE funds for study completion, preliminary engineering, design, construction engineering, or other similar costs. 4.A TE construction or reconstruction project must be a permanent improvement having independent utility. Temporary construction is defined as work that must be essentially replaced in the immediate future (within five years). Staged construction is considered permanent rather than temporary so long as future stages build on, rather than replace, previous work. All projects must comply with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Reconstruction of a bikeway/walkway facility is eligible as long as the facility is beyond its useful life. 5.TAB will not award more than $1,300,000 in TE funds for a specific project. TAB reserves the right to partially fund any project. 6.Projects will be added to the TIP only as a result of the TAB approval in response to this and subsequent solicitations. 7.Projects listed in the region’s draft or adopted TIP are assumed to be fully-funded and to have independent utility from other projects. 8.The Technical Advisory Committee shall prepare an annual report on the implementation of regionally solicited TE projects for the review and approval of the TAB. This report,the Annual Implementation Report shall include updated program, system and project information. The TAC shall include such findings, recommendations and additional information, as it deems appropriate. 9.If a project is added to the TIP, the entire project is included even though a portion of that work extends beyond the period for which submittals were requested provided that a significant portion of the work is scheduled for letting within the request period. 10.Project approvals for projects in the TE element of the TIP are specifically limited to the federal fund amount identified in the Annual Implementation Report for purposes of plan