Multi-Purpose Community Facility Projects Program

Multi-Purpose Community Facility Projects Program is sponsored by Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (FloridaCommerce). Supports the creation and expansion of community centers with broadband internet access to promote digital literacy and education.

# MULTI-PURPOSE COMMUNITY FACILITY PROJECTS The Florida Office of Broadband (Office), housed within the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO), will establish a subgrant program to provide Capital Projects Fund (CPF) funds to eligible communities to construct or improve Multi-Purpose Community Facilities (MPCF).

The primary objective of the MPCF Program is to provide funds to subrecipients for the construction of or improvements to buildings designed to jointly and directly enable work, education, and health monitoring, located in eligible communities with an identified critical need for the project.

Subrecipients will be required to partner with the CareerSource Florida Local Workforce Development Board (LWDB) serving that area to identify and provide services at no cost to those seeking to enter or re-enter the job market. CareerSource Florida is a state sponsored and funded employment agency covering the entire state and offering services to job seekers through LWDBs.

Employment services may include needed trainings and certifications and other employment related services. MPCFs must also provide a location from which job seekers can search for and apply for jobs, take continuing education classes, or receive training in digital skills, resume writing, and how to interview for a position and other skills.

The facilities will also be required to provide a public location for access to digital devices for educational opportunities, such as digital literacy classes or other online learning experiences. Other educational services may include high school equivalency programs, classes offered by accredited colleges, or vocational training.

MPCFs must include private areas where citizens can access their telehealth appointments or meet with healthcare providers. Subrecipients will be required to provide evidence that investments funded using CPF funds will provide services for at least five years after the completion of the project. Subrecipients must make the facility available to anyone in the community.

Subrecipients must ensure that any facilities constructed or improved using CPF funds meet all accessibility requirements established by state and federal law. Subrecipients will be required to provide evidence of how the community identified the critical need and how the project addresses the need.

Evidence of community support will also be required, such as letters from citizens and community organizations, interviews with community members, and documentation of existing facilities providing similar or identical services to the proposed project within the community.

Subrecipients may choose to consider any available data, including, but not limited to, federal and/or state collected data, such as the American Community Survey or the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Qualified Census Tracts.

As part of the demonstrated need for the project, the subrecipient will be required to gather data related to Internet use, device ownership, income, poverty, health, education, and employment in the area to be served by the project. To maximize use of CPF funds, subrecipients will be encouraged to submit projects that combine other functions. Other functions may include recreation, such as basketball courts or exercise areas.

Facilities may also house other community services such as police, fire, or other municipal services. Communities will also be encouraged to use existing facilities wherever feasible. Eligibility Communities eligible to apply for CPF MPCF funding include counties, municipalities incorporated under Florida law, and identifiable census designated communities.

Preference will be given to rural communities with demonstrated economic distress factors identified in section 288.

0656(2)(c), Florida Statutes, including low per capita income, low per capita taxable values, high unemployment, high underemployment, low weekly earned wages compared to the state average, low housing values compared to the state average, high percentages of the population receiving public assistance, high poverty levels compared to the state average, and a lack of year-round stable employment opportunities.

This includes the 29 Florida counties within three Rural Areas of Opportunity designated by the governor under section 288. 2656(2)(d), Florida Statutes, a county under section 288. 0656(2)(e), Florida Statutes, or a community designated as rural under s.

288. 0656(2)(e)(4), Florida Statutes. Applicants must also include all information used to determine the critical need of the project and how the proposed project address the identified need.

The Office will publish a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) identifying eligible communities, amounts available, maximum awards, and other requirements. The application and scoring matrix will be included in the NOFO. Eligible communities will be able to apply for funding during an open application window of no less than 30 days.

During this time the Office will offer applicants technical assistance in completing and submitting their applications. Applicants will be required to provide evidence that they will retain ownership of the facility, conduct eligible activities for a minimum of 5 years after completion of the project, and have a plan in place to fund ongoing operations and maintenance of the facility.

CPF funds may not be used for operations and maintenance. Applicants will be required to submit detailed timelines for the project including permitting, mobilization date of commencement, and proposed completion date. All construction must be completed by December 31, 2026.

During the application review phase, applicants preliminarily determined eligible will undergo a financial and programmatic risk assessment to determine the financial stability, resources, and expertise of each applicant to ensure their ability to complete the project, and operate and maintain the new construction or improvements. Applicants will be given a specific period to cure any defects in the risk assessment.

This will be a new grant program under the CPF umbrella which includes broadband Internet infrastructure programs and digital connectivity programs. DEO has extensive experience designing, implementing, and administering construction grant programs, including the Rural Infrastructure Fund under section 288.

0655, Florida Statutes, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), and various disaster resiliency and mitigation projects through HUD. DEO plans to issue a procurement for contracted support for financial and performance auditing services for monitoring and compliance of state and federal requirements for the CPF programs.

The DEO Project Manager will ensure the Programs meet federal program requirements, reporting requirements, and awarded projects are reviewed efficiently and accurately in accordance with Federal law, rule, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury Guidance.

Monitoring will include verifying subrecipient compliance with federal labor and procurement regulations and law including Part 2 CFR 200, Davis-Bacon compliance, and strong labor practices. The Office will acquire 5 additional staff to support and complement the knowledge, skills, and ability of the existing Office staffing.

One of the additional staff members will act as the Team-Lead and Capital Projects Fund subject matter expert and the remaining new hires will be grant managers responsible for maintaining direct liaison with awardees to ensure projects progress on time, on budget, and in accordance with the Subrecipient Agreements. It is anticipated between 50-60 grant awards will be made under the CPF program.

Depending upon response for this program, workload may be adjusted to account for the anticipated 80 Subrecipient Awards under the Broadband Opportunity Program. Charge codes have been initiated to appropriately account for time worked under each of the programs.

DEO plans to issue a procurement for contracted support for management consultant services for intake, initial review for applicant and project eligibility, and system of record document management for all applications received for this program.

DEO Plans to issue a procurement for contracted services to develop a public facing application portal to be used by CPF, Broadband Opportunity Program and the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program with costs allocated appropriately across each of the programs. This portal will interface with existing systems at DEO and serve as system of record for all applications and subsequent awards.

Local Technology Planning Teams (LTPTs) will assist communities with identifying critical needs and identifying eligible projects. LTPTs are familiar with the local communities and are acutely aware of the challenges and barriers faced by Florida’s small capacity constrained communities. LTPTs can provide more accurate and relevant information on the needs of the communities they serve.

This close level of communication will continue throughout the performance period and provide the Office with direct communications with subrecipients.

Eligible projects within this program are those to construct or improve buildings that are designed to jointly and directly enable work, education, and health monitoring and will include the following:  Workforce Education Broadband Infrastructure and Connectivity Projects o Broadband Internet construction, operation, and maintenance jobs are in high demand and offer high-quality job and career opportunities to workers.

In addition, other industry sectors in high demand need broadband Internet infrastructure and connectivity to build the talent pipeline of the future.

o Constructing or improving buildings that provide workforce training or career counseling services to community members to provide them with the knowledge and skills needed to engage work in:  Broadband Internet construction, operation, and maintenance  Nursing and Critical Health Professions  Information Technology Programs o Eligible subrecipients: municipalities, county governments, non-profits, or private entities, Broadband Internet training institutions, law enforcement academies, nursing and critical health profession programs, information technology programs  Community Libraries Infrastructure and Connectivity Projects o Constructing or improving libraries that provide public access to the Internet for purposes including work, education, and health monitoring.

o Eligible subrecipients: libraries.  Community Health Infrastructure and Connectivity Projects o Constructing or improving community health centers that, in addition to engaging in health monitoring, provide a broader range of service to the communities they serve, including activities such as access to job counseling and employment services.

o Projects must deploy broadband Internet infrastructure for purposes of improving access to community health services. o Projects promoting digital connectivity technology projects that include the purchase and/or installation of devices and equipment to facilitate broadband Internet access where affordability has been identified by the recipient as a barrier to broadband Internet adoption and use.

o Grants will be awarded to healthcare facilities, multi-purpose community centers, community anchor institutions, or other entities, for purposes of deploying broadband Internet infrastructure or purchasing digital health devices and equipment to enable access to telehealth services. o Projects will include the build out of broadband Internet infrastructure for communities across the state.

o Projects must show partnerships between the local governments and the broadband Internet service providers and describe sustainable measures to ensure current and future service needs are provided to residents, businesses, and anchor institutions. o Eligible subrecipients: municipalities, county governments, non-profits, or private entities (such as Internet Service Providers), co-operatives, and electric utilities.

The Office will ensure program performance is measured in a robust manner, measuring outputs and outcomes for projects and programs, through a program evaluation plan. Grant applications will include sufficiently detailed data, aggregated and anonymized appropriately, which will be useful for the Office’s planning efforts as well as for the evaluation of the service area proposed for the funded project.

The funding application scoring system will include weighting factors that will result in selection of grantees most likely to achieve the specific program goals. The Office, supplemented by a qualified contractor will have sufficient contract management expertise to monitor subrecipients’ progress toward fulfillment of grant requirements during and upon completion of projects.

Such monitoring includes field verification of work in progress and upon completion. Agreements will include provisions for regular reporting to the Office with data necessary to track project progress and evaluate the extent to which identified goals are met as a result of the project. All agreements with subrecipients will be cost reimbursement.

Required Performance Indicators and Project Data Project Use Code 1C – Multi-Purpose Community Facility Projects • Physical address of each Multi-Purpose Community Facility funded by the Project (Planned/Actual) • Investment type o New construction, to include acquisition of property for development o Renovation/expansion of existing structure, to include acquisition of existing structures for renovation/expansion • Type and number of features in the Multi-Purpose Community Facility (Planned/Actual): o Other (with explanation) • Total square footage funded by CPF dollars (Planned/Actual) • Total number of individuals using the capital asset (Actual) • Does the Multi-Purpose Community Facility have proximate access to public transportation?

(Y/N) The Office will develop and publish a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) within 30 days of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s approval of the plan. An application and scoring matrix are currently under development. The Office will award all funds before December 31, 2024, and ensure all projects are completed by December 31, 2026.

Phase Duration Anticipated Completion Date Submission of Application 60 days after Release of Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) <<DEO to insert completion date>> Application Review 30 days <<DEO to insert completion date>> 10 days after Application Review and Approval Complete <<DEO to insert completion date>> Contract Awarded 1 day <<DEO to insert completion date>> Project Milestones Projects will be broken down by percentage of completion with specific target dates based on 20 percent, 40 percent, 60 percent, 80 percent, and 100 percent completion.

Progress towards milestone will be monitored by site visits and regular reports attested to by the professional engineer in charge of the project. It is anticipated that most projects will be awarded within 30 days of the close of the application window. Notice of commencement for each project is expected no later than 30 days from award.

All construction must be completed and all CPF funds obligated by December 31, 2026. PROGRAM BUDGET – Multi-Purpose Community Facility Program Program Administrative Costs 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2a. Administering the CFP funds (by the recipient) $68,682 $670,399 $670,399 $670,399 $670,399 2b.

Technical Assistance to potential subrecipients $21,227 $223,466 $223,466 $223,466 $223,466 2c. Complying with grant administration and audit requirements $10,614 $111,733 $111,733 $111,733 $111,733 $10,614 $111,733 $111,733 $111,733 $111,733 2.

Total Program Administrative Costs (not to exceed amounts listed in source funding) $106,137 $1,117,331 $1,117,331 $1,117,331 $1,117,331 $21,733,439 $21,733,439 $21,733,439 $21,733,440 $21,733,439 $21,733,439 $21,733,439 $21,733,440 No Pre-Award costs requested