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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution 09-14RECORD OF RESOLUTIONS Dayton Legal Blank. Inc., Form No 30045 09 -14 Resolution No. Passed _ 1 20 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE REQUEST FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT INNOVATION FUND (LGIF) GRANT FOR THE PURPOSE OF DEVELOPING A DUBLIN RESILIENCE ZONE PILOT PROJECT WHEREAS, the City of Dublin's dynamic local economy is the direct result of its dynamic business community; and WHEREAS, the City of Dublin's planning and services have been developed to create a forward leaning and business focused place to live, work, grow and thrive; and WHEREAS, the City of Dublin strives to maintain, and continuously improve a comprehensive ecosystem of business services which create a competitive advantage for businesses in the city to grow and prosper; and WHEREAS, occurrences of extreme weather events will stress the Dublin business ecosystem due to damage and disruptions to normal business operations; and WHEREAS, the City of Dublin desires to establish and conduct a "Resilience Zone" pilot project in order to explore concepts to harden and protect businesses against extreme weather events in order to assist businesses and the City to mitigate, respond to and recover from such events; and WHEREAS, the City of Dublin economic development staff seeks to provide value -added services, such as the possibility of a Resilience Zone, to Dublin businesses as part of its retention, expansion and attraction strategies; and WHEREAS, Dublin City staff has secured the commitment of the Franklin County Public Health, Franklin County Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, and the Dublin Chamber as collaborators on the development of such a Resilience Zone concept; and WHEREAS, The Ohio Development Services Agency sponsors the Ohio Local Government Innovation Fund which offers communities financial assistance to create more efficient and effective service delivery projects designed to facilitate improved business environments and promote community attraction with their plan for efficiency, collaboration, or shared service; and WHEREAS, the City of Dublin will apply for a grant of $50,000 from the Ohio Local Government Innovation Fund in order to study and develop a pilot project establishing a "Resilience Zone "; and WHEREAS, the establishment of such a pilot project will also help to inform other communities and businesses about the merits of a Resilience Zone. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Dublin, State of Ohio, of the elected members concurring: Section 1 . That Dublin City Council hereby authorizes the City Manager to seek funds from the Ohio Local Government Innovation Fund for the purpose of establishing and studying the merits of a "Resilience Zone" pilot project in the amount of $50,000. Section 2. That the City of Dublin authorizes the City Manager to execute all necessary documents and to take such actions as the City Manager may deem RECORD OF RESOLUTIONS Da yton Le @ Blank Inc., Form N o J 30045 Resolution No. 09 -14 P a sse Pag 2 of 2 — 20 necessary or desirable in connection with this Resolution and the Local Government Innovation Fund Grant Application. Section 3. That this Resolution shall take effect and be in force on the earliest date permitted by law. Passed this ,� day of &rU rV, , 2014. ayor- Presiding &icer r_r■94-35 Clerk of Council L 0 I cityof Dublin Office of the City Manager 5200 Emerald Parkway • Dublin, OH 43017 -1090 Phone: 614 - 410 -4400 • Fax: 614 - 410 -4490 To: Members of Dublin City Council From: Marsha I. Grigsby, City Manager'Cr Date: February 6, 2014 Initiated By: Dana L. McDaniel, Director of Development Memo Re: Resolution No. 09 -14 — Ohio Local Government Innovation Fund Grant Background Staff desires to obtain a $50,000 grant from the Ohio Development Services Agency, Ohio Local Government Innovation Fund in order to establish and conduct a " "Resilience Zone" pilot project to explore concepts to harden and protect businesses against extreme weather events and assist businesses and the City to mitigate, respond to and recover from such events. Dublin, Ohio is a location of choice for businesses and residents. City planning and services have been developed to create a forward leaning, business focused place to live, work, grow, and thrive. Dublin works very hard to maintain and continuously improve a comprehensive ecosystem of business services, which create a competitive advantage for businesses in the city to grow and prosper. Extreme natural and manmade events can and will continue to stress the Dublin business ecosystem. In particular, weather is a most likely chance for an extreme event. In the same year, extreme weather can cause higher rainfall and snowfall events, extended and hotter heat waves, tornados and supercell thunderstorms, stronger hurricanes, high winds and potential droughts. Extending Dublin's business services to creating market support for resilience will help investors and businesses protect assets and their competitive edge as they plan for, adapt to, and reboot after extreme weather. "A Resilience Zone is a de- risked location of choice" (district, neighborhood, or corridor), which creates a market foundation for private and public investments in engineered solutions and land use strategies, which minimize risk and support rapid rebounds. Working through and getting back to business after an extreme weather event will provide a competitive advantage to prepared businesses. Creating an economy of scale and zone wide solutions will create opportunities to improve the area's function, amenities and economic performance. A resilience zone plan works collaboratively with businesses, land owners, and public utilities to identify localized risks and to design solutions which are practical, fundable investments in the future. Solutions may include infrastructure hardening, building system upgrades, strengthening environmental systems, managing greater volumes of rainwater with green infrastructure, creating redundancy for critical equipment and services, and developing programs and processes to assess damages, repair equipment, and reboot operations. The Memo re Resolution No. 09 -14 — Ohio Local Government Innovation Fund February 6, 2014 Page 2of3 zone can then support innovative financing including Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) directed resilience investments. In 2012, extreme weather events in the United States caused $110 billion in economic losses. During 2012, almost 15% of the U.S. was affected by Superstorm Sandy; 80% of the lower 48 states was affected by drought; 1/3 of the country experienced 100 degree temperatures for 10 days or more; and there were 11 extreme weather events that resulted in a billion dollars in damages per event. The direct costs of extreme weather include damage to structures and public infrastructure, modes of transportation, homes, and business interruption costs. The indirect costs include business losses from office closures, reduced productivity of employees, lost tax revenues, cancelled travel, lost wages from closed businesses, inability to obtain goods due to disruptions in the supply chain, and often failure of businesses to reopen. Small businesses are especially vulnerable to extreme weather events. The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety estimates that 25% of small businesses never reopen after an extreme event. As a recent example, five months after Hurricane Sandy, 20% of affected businesses remained closed, which resulted in a tax revenue decline of $160 million. The resilience zone pilot project will: • Define the resilience zone pilot project area (likely Metro Center, Blazer Parkway, Historic Dublin); • Develop several extreme weather scenarios and case studies on how this would affect the zone; • Conduct workshops with local stakeholders, lenders, insurance professionals, utility representatives and City staff to discuss how businesses could individually and collectively be affected during the scenarios, develop local adaption and mitigation strategies, and investigate financing sources; • Create a report, which will be a blueprint for investment -based responses and land use adaptions to extreme weather risks that could impact the resilience zone. Dublin is the home of some of the most innovative businesses in America. It is a place where ideas are born, problems are solved, and value is created. Dublin's businesses employ nearly 70,000 Central Ohio residents and are the heart of a strong economic engine. The resilience zone and de- risking strategies will help Dublin's businesses weather the storm so that they can keep working. Implementation of resilience zone recommendations will preserve or increase the insurability of businesses within the zone. Insurance and other risk management strategies are essential for the maintenance of business and property values and for the financing of recoveries after property is impacted. Memo re Resolution No. 09 -14 — Ohio Local Government Innovation Fund February 6, 2014 Page 3 of 3 Dublin looks forward to creating a model for Ohio communities to develop strategies, solutions, and financing tools to help businesses adapt to and rebound from extreme weather. Recommendation Staff recommends Council pass Resolution No. 09 -14, authorizing the City Manager to apply and execute the necessary documents and take such actions as the City Manager may deem necessary or desirable to receive funds, if successful, and execute the pilot project. Should the City be successful in receiving the grant from the Ohio Local Government Innovation Fund grant program, staff will engage TRC Solutions to assist with the execution of the project. Please address any questions to Dana McDaniel.