title
PROPOSED RESOLUTION
SUBRECIPIENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY AND CIS COOK, LLC FOR CLIMATE RESILIENCY PLANNING, PHASE II
WHEREAS, on March 11, 2021, the federal government authorized the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”), which includes $1.9 trillion in federal stimulus funds to hasten the United States’ recovery from the economic and health effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; and
WHEREAS, specifically, the federal government has authorized and allocated a federal award of approximately $1,000,372,385.00 of ARPA funding to Cook County to assist the County in its recovery from the economic and health effects of COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, on June 24, 2021, the Cook County American Rescue Plan Act Framework (the “ARPA Framework”) was presented to the Cook County Board of Commissioners; and
WHEREAS, the Cook County Board of Commissioners via Resolution 21-3654 accepted the ARPA federal award allocated to Cook County to assist the County in its recovery from the economic and health effects of COVID-19 in the amount of approximately $1,000,372,385.00; and
WHEREAS, Resolution 21-3654 further authorized the Cook County Budget Director and Comptroller to create and implement a Special Purpose Fund for the ARPA award and other accounting measures to track the acceptance and spending of the federal award; and
WHEREAS, the Cook County Board of Commissioners authorized the Chief Financial Officer, Budget Director, Chief Procurement Officer and applicable using agencies to issue grants, contracts and agreements for ARPA programs approved via Resolutions 22-3657 and 22-0637; and
WHEREAS, Resolution 22-0637 further authorized ARPA funding for Sustainable Community programs; and
WHEREAS, to further the goal of climate resiliency, the County has allocated approximately $16M of the ARPA funds to NT015: Climate Resiliency Planning for Communities, a two-phase project; and
WHEREAS, on October 19, 2023, the Cook County Board of Commissioners approved DES to enter into a contract with a consultant for Phase I of the program, consisting of community engagement and development of climate resiliency plans for the five participating communities of Bellwood, Franklin Park, Justice, Lynwood, and Markham; and
WHEREAS, the County has allocated approximately $14,078,987.19 of the ARPA Funds for the purpose of implementing Phase II, climate resiliency solutions, informed by community participation and climate resiliency plans developed in Phase I of the program; and
WHEREAS, CIS Cook, LLC (“CIS”) is an established climate and infrastructure consulting agency, which has extensive experience and expertise in providing innovative infrastructure solutions to address critical environmental challenges and deliver social and economic benefits to underserved communities; and
WHEREAS, on April 12, 2024, DES posted an open call for subrecipients to serve as program administrators for Phase II of the Climate Resiliency Planning for Communities program and a review panel selected CIS’s proposal as the strongest approach to the program; and
WHEREAS, Resolutions 22-3657 and 22-0637 provided that any grants issued regarding ARPA programs in an amount over $1 million shall require the approval of the Cook County Board of Commissioners.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Cook County Board of Commissioners hereby authorizes DES to utilize ARPA funding for multiyear terms through Fiscal Year 2026, subject to annual appropriation by the Board, for Phase II of the NT005 Climate Resiliency Planning initiative, to enter into a Subrecipient Agreement with CIS Cook, LLC, in the amount of $14,078,987.19 to administer Phase II, Implementation of the Climate Resiliency Planning for Communities Project; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Cook County Board of Commissioners recognizes that time is of the essence and authorizes the Director of DES to negotiate and enter into the various agreements that outline the specific metric and impact data, and compliance with all ARPA reporting and monitoring requirements with the Subrecipient listed above to implement the above program; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Cook County Board of Commissioners hereby authorizes the Director of DES or its designee to modify the agreements and funding allocations to the Department of Environment and Sustainability’s selected Subrecipient based upon need and utilization.end