REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Approve Acceptance of $24,000 of California Public Library Broadband Grant Funds for Purchase of Computer Network Equipment Enabling a High-Speed Broadband Internet Connection at the Sunnyvale Public Library
Report
GRANT SUMMARY
The City Manager applied for, and on April 17, 2015 the City’s Department of Library and Community Services (LCS) was awarded, grant funds in the amount of $24,000 to partially pay for computer network equipment upgrades. The total cost of the project is $30,295. The grant requires the City to pay the $6,295 balance, which will be absorbed in the FY 2015/16 Library operating budget. The network equipment will enable the Sunnyvale Public Library to connect to the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC) broadband network and provide a high-speed 1gbps Internet connection for the public, a significant improvement from the 30mbps Internet connection that Library patrons utilize today. CENIC is a non-profit organization with the goal of advancing education and research throughout California. CENIC operates the California Research and Education Network (CalREN), which is a high-capacity fiber network that serves the California K-12 system, California community colleges, California State Universities, California’s public libraries, Universities of California, Stanford, Caltech and USC.
The Library Division in the Department of Library and Community Services will be responsible for management of the grant.
Granting Agency
The granting agency is the California State Library. The Southern California Library Cooperative (SCLC) is the administrative and fiscal agent for the California State Library for this grant program.
EXISTING POLICY
Council Policy 7.1.5 Donations, Contributions and Sponsorships:
The city manager may apply for grants of any dollar amount, but shall notify the Council when grants are being pursued pursuant to Council Policy 7.1.1 (Fiscal -Long Range Goals and Financial Policies), B.4. (Grants and Intergovernmental Assistance). The city manager may accept and appropriate grant funds up to $100,000 that do not require a local match or obligate the City to any ongoing expenses, through an administrative budget modification. Any grants of $100,000 or more, or that require a local match or obligate the City to ongoing expenses, shall require Council approval of a budget modification before funds can be expended by staff. The budget modification shall include the use to which the grant will be placed; the objectives or goals of the City that will be achieved through use of the grant; the local match required, if any, plus the source of the local match; any increased cost to be locally funded upon termination of the grant; and the ability of the City to administer the grant.
This grant does not meet all of the criteria to be administratively appropriated by the City Manager due to the local match requirement and additional ongoing expenses. The City Council is asked to accept the grant. No budget modification is necessary because the grant will be administered by SCLC and matching funds provided by the City are available in the FY 2015/16 operating budget.
Council Policy 6.2.1 Library - Goals and Policy:
Goal 6.2B: Provide library services to help community residents find and use the materials and information they need.
Goal 6.2E: Use new technology to optimize the development and delivery of library services.
Policy 6.2E.1: Serve as an access point in the distribution of information in digital formats and other formats that evolve in the future.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This activity does not require environmental review because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that it may have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3).
FISCAL IMPACT
As the administrative and fiscal agent for the California State Library for this project, SCLC will receive the $24,000 and process the order for the equipment on behalf of the City of Sunnyvale. Therefore, no formal appropriation of grant funds is needed by the City, however City Council Policy requires that Council authorize acceptance of the Grant.
Funding Source
The General Fund is the source for the matching funds associated with this grant.
Required Local Match
Grant awards and match requirements for the California Public Library Broadband grant project were determined based on local income per-capita (LIPC). Libraries with an LIPC between $50 and $99.99 were eligible to receive a maximum grant award of $24,000 with a 25 percent local match. With an LIPC of $54.05, Sunnyvale Public Library was awarded the maximum amount of $24,000 with a local match requirement of $6,000. The total cost of the networking equipment needed to connect the Sunnyvale Public Library to CENIC’s CalREN network is $30,295. Sunnyvale’s contribution is therefore $6,295, which will satisfy the match requirement. The $6,295 cost will be absorbed in the FY 2015/16 LCS operating budget.
Increased Cost to City After Grant Funds are Expended
There will be an annual cost of $11,500 for Cisco SMARTnet support for the equipment beginning in FY 2016/17. LCS staff will identify a corresponding reduction in the department’s operating budget for FY 2016/17 so that there is no net impact to the General Fund.
Sunnyvale Public Library is a member of the Califa group, a non-profit library consortium representing 220+ libraries in California. Califa aggregated the equipment needs for libraries throughout California for this project and negotiated discounted rates for equipment and service required for the CalREN network program. As a result, AMS.net was selected as the vendor and provided discounted rates of 65% on hardware and 35% on Cisco SMARTnet support.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Council agenda on the City's official-notice bulletin board outside City Hall, at the Sunnyvale Senior Center, Community Center and Department of Public Safety; and by making the agenda and report available at the Sunnyvale Public Library, the Office of the City Clerk and on the City's website.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Approve acceptance of $24,000 of California Public Library Broadband Project Grant Funds for purchase of computer network equipment enabling a high-speed broadband internet connection at the Sunnyvale Public Library.
Staff
Prepared by: Liz Hickok, Supervising Librarian
Reviewed by: Anne Cain, Interim Director, Department of Library and Community Services
Reviewed by: Dave Jensen, Director, Department of Information Technology
Reviewed by: Grace K. Leung, Director, Department of Finance
Approved by: Deanna J. Santana, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
1. Grant Award Letter
2. Draft Purchase Requisition 2015-014810