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Home My WebLink AboutSS4A Scope (2) 617 W. 7th Street, Suite 1103 Los Angeles, CA 90017 (213) 489-7443 | altago.com altago.com April 15, 2025 Chris Gerry City of Palm Desert 73-510 Fred Waring Drive Palm Desert, CA 92260 cgerry@cityofpalmdesert.com Re: SS4A Cycle 4 Grant Writing Dear Mr. Gerry: On behalf of Alta Planning + Design (Alta), I am pleased to submit this proposal as an approved on-call vendor to assist the City of Palm Desert (City) in applying for Safe Streets for All (SS4A) Cycle 4 Implementation funding. This grant writing support task will leverage Alta’s role as the prime contractor for the ongoing Palm Desert Vision Zero Strategy along with its knowledge of the SS4A program to develop a competitive application in support of the City’s Vision Zero initiative. Alta will be responsible for completing one (1) SS4A application that the City of Palm Desert will submit to the U.S. Department of Transportation through its Valid Eval account to be eligible for Implementation funding. A scope of work and fee to complete this task is included with this letter. Should you have any questions or desire additional information please do not hesitate to contact me at 213.255.4643 or lesbrown@altago.com. Sincerely, Les Brown, AICP, RSP1, Senior Planning Associate | Project Director Alta Planning + Design, Inc. 617 W. 7th Street, Suite 1103 Los Angeles, CA 90017 (213) 489-7443 | altago.com altago.com Scope of Work Task 1. Project Management and Coordination Alta will meet with the City via phone/video throughout the application process to coordinate information, materials, and communicate application progress. Up to four meetings are anticipated from kick-off through application submittal. As feasible, Alta will conduct the kick-off meeting as a hybrid meeting on April 24, 2025 in conjunction with the in-person Palm Desert Vision Zero Strategy City Council working session. Otherwise, the kick-off meeting will be conducted virtually. Task 1. Deliverables • Up to four (4) coordination meetings Task 2. Updating High Injury Network The SS4A program heavily favors Implementation project selections located on a high-injury network (HIN). To capture a higher percentage of City roadway in the HIN, Alta will re-run the HIN process that was developed for the Palm Desert Vision Zero Strategy. This refinement of the HIN is anticipated to increase the number of projects eligible for competitive funding that may be included in the SS4A application. Currently, the HIN accounts for approximately 2% of Palm Desert roadways. The new HIN may account for up to 8% of Palm Desert roadways to increase project areas that will be competitive for Implementation funding while capturing a greater share of crashes that result in death or serious injury. Task 2. Deliverables • Updated HIN Task 3. Project Selection After the completion of the refined HIN, Alta will propose a set of projects that are most competitive for the SS4A application. In alignment with SS4A Cycle 4 grant criteria, these projects will be chosen based on their location along the HIN and within an Area of Persistent Poverty. Additionally, Alta will consider project potential to provide persistent reductions in roadway fatalities and serious injuries. Alta will coordinate with the City during the project selection process to ensure the City is compliant with mandatory SS4A Action Plan Project Strategy and Selection components. This may include modification or refinements to the list of prioritized projects developed for the Palm Desert Vision Zero Strategy Investment Strategy Memorandum, the assignment of timelines for project implementation, and the incorporation of a prioritized list of projects into the Palm Desert Vision Zero Strategy Data Dashboard that shall serve as the City’s Action Plan for the purpose of this grant application. 617 W. 7th Street, Suite 1103 Los Angeles, CA 90017 (213) 489-7443 | altago.com altago.com Task 3. Deliverables • List of proposed application projects • Project prioritization and Data Dashboard updates Task 4. Implementation Grant Eligibility Review Implementation Grant applicants may submit a pre-application to the USDOT that consists of the SS4A Self- Certification Eligibility Worksheet and links to the City’s Action Plan. For the sake of this grant application, the Palm Desert Vision Zero Strategy Data Dashboard will serve as the City’s Action Plan and will include links to the Draft SRTS Plan, Draft SRFOA Plan, LRSP, and Draft Investment Strategy. Alta will complete the Eligibility Worksheet for the City to submit to USDOT before the May 9, 2025 due date. This will include coordination with the City to address Action Plan deficiencies that limit eligibility and that may be resolved through simple actions such as updating verbiage. The USDOT may take up to three weeks to review the pre-application. During this time, Alta will continue work on the grant application. If the USDOT finds the pre-application submission is ineligible for the Implementation Grant, Alta will stop work immediately pending authorization to resume work from the City. If deemed eligible, but Action Plan deficiencies are flagged, Alta will incorporate this feedback in the Grant narrative to ensure the City’s SS4A Action Plan can be made fully compliant after the Implementation Grant is awarded. Task 4. Deliverables • Completed Self-Certification Eligibility Worksheet Task 5. SS4A Application Alta will assist the City in completing one (1) SS4A Implementation Grant application based on projects selected in Task 3. In addition to the infrastructure component of the SS4A application, Alta will also coordinate with the City and the consultant delivering the City’s current traffic safety campaign to develop grant narrative and cost estimates for the campaign’s continuation. Alta will complete the following sections of the SS4A Implementation Grant application: • Key Information Questions asked on Valid Eval • Application Narrative that meets the three applicable merit criteria (i.e., Safety Needs, Safety Impact, and Engagement and Collaboration). o To support measurement of the Safety Impact criteria, Alta will conduct an analysis of safety benefits for the selected improvements. For example, this may include an estimate of the economic benefits associated with crash costs averted through project implementation relative to project implementation costs. Alta will refine this method following the completion of Task 3 and recommend a method to the City commensurate with allotted resources. At minimum, Alta will document Crash Reduction Factors (CRF) and Crash Modification Factors (CMF) associated with 617 W. 7th Street, Suite 1103 Los Angeles, CA 90017 (213) 489-7443 | altago.com altago.com implementation of the selected countermeasures. Alta has budgeted approximately 32 hours for this effort. o Alta will provide the draft narrative for City review and address one (1) round of consolidated, non- conflicting comments. The final draft of the narrative will be formatted by Alta’s Creative Services team to ensure the application is visually appealing to evaluators and be reviewed by a copy editor to maximize readability. Where possible, Creative Services will use the existing Palm Desert Vision Zero Strategy plan templates and City graphic design guidelines to support consistent branding. Alta has budgeted approximately 16 hours for Creative Services support and 4 hours for copy editor support. • Map of Projects • Supplemental Estimated Budget o Alta anticipates this to include modifications from the cost estimates in the Palm Desert Vision Zero Strategy Investment Strategy Memorandum that will further detail costs related to project design and implementation. • Project Readiness Documents o Alta will detail a project readiness schedule to identify project phases including environmental, permitting, and approval processes. Alta has budgeted approximately 32 hours for engineering support to develop the supplemental estimated budget and project readiness documents. Alta will provide input to the City as requested in completing the following required forms: • Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424) • Budget Information for Construction Programs (SF-424C) Alta will compile the SS4A Implementation Grant materials and provide these to the City for final approval and submittal via the application website. Additionally, Alta will provide the City with a Letter of Support template that it can use to solicit support from stakeholders. The City will be wholly responsible for uploading and submitting the SS4A Application into its Valid Eval account prior to the application deadline (June 26, 2025). Task 5. Deliverables • Completed Key Information Questions • Completed Application Narrative • Complete Project Map • Complete Supplemental Estimated Budget • Letter of Support template 617 W. 7th Street, Suite 1103 Los Angeles, CA 90017 (213) 489-7443 | altago.com altago.com Schedule April 22, 2025 Notice to Proceed April 24, 2025 Kick-Off Meeting (Hybrid) May 8, 2025 Alta Delivers Final Implementation Eligibility Review Package for Submission May 12, 2025 Alta Delivers Draft Project Selections May 19, 2025 City Confirms Final Project Selections June 9, 2025 Alta Delivers Draft Application Package June 16, 2025 City provides feedback on Draft Application Package June 23, 2025 Alta provides Final Application Package June 26, 2025 City submits Application on Valid Eval before 5pm EDT / 2pm PDT