Mission Statement

Guide state and national actions that affect economic development in the region and adopt joint actions among member governments that enhance the regional economy.

Frequently Asked Questions: HUD Sustainable Communities Grant

What is REAP?

The Regional Economic Area Partnership (REAP) is a coalition of 37 cities and counties in South Central Kansas, formed in 1997 to work together on issues of common concern.  Our mission is to help guide state and national actions that affect economic development in the region, and to adopt joint actions among member governments that enhance the regional economy. 

What is the Regional Sustainability Council?

The consortium will be led by the Regional Sustainability Council, a standing REAP committee comprised of locally elected REAP members to ensure commitment and support.  The members of this REAP committee will be appointed by the REAP Chair.

What is the total amount of the grant and where do the funds come from?

Budget Proposal – The total budget for developing the Regional Plan for Sustainable Development is $2,141,177 to fund the three-year plan development process. The proposed cost share is 64 percent grant funds ($1,370,000) and 36 percent leveraged resources ($771,177), which results in a match of 56 percent as a percentage of the HUD share.

Local Match Requirement – The $771,177 in leveraged resources to be provided by the consortium members represent 36 percent of the project’s $2,141,177 total cost and 56 percent of the HUD share of $1,370,000.  The majority of the leveraged resources are in-kind contributions of staff time from the 43 professional staff to be assigned to the project; however, $60,000 in local cash contributions also will be provided. Each consortium member has signed a letter or agreement providing a firm commitment of the identified leveraged resources. The source of the leveraged resources is local, state, and federal governments; private sector; and community foundation.

What grant funds will be used for staffing?

Funding for the program manager will fund a part-time (20 hours per week) employee to be hired by the Hugo Wall School and employed for the duration of the three-year grant period. Funding for the consultant will pay the cost of a professional services contract with a multi-disciplinary consulting team that will be engaged to develop the regional plan for sustainable development per the scope of work described above. All of the leveraged funds come from existing employees whose time would be utilized to complete the tasks as assigned in the grant application.

The budget includes a line item and reference to consultant costs of $1.2 million.  Why are we spending money on consultants?

The $1.2 million request for consultants was a best guess for three years of work on a regional plan covering five counties that would utilize a consulting team.  The process for putting this plan together is expected to be labor intensive requiring extensive public participation, many meetings at various locations, and a large amount of preparation work. 

The consortium will seek, through competitive request for proposal process, a consulting team led by a primary consultant that will assemble a team of qualified experts in disciplines needed for developing the plan, such as planners, community engagement specialists, engineers, environmental specialists and topic experts. The consortium will rely on consultant expertise to assist in data analysis, engagement process, technical advice and plan development.

The limited time allotted to submit this application did not allow us to calculate precisely the work required to do this type of plan.  We were in undiscovered territory, hurrying to make a deadline and had to take our best shot at the cost.  Consortium members would develop a more concise budget if awarded funding.

What are the Sustainable Communities Six (6) Livability Principles that are mentioned in this application?

On June 16, 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) joined with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U. S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to improve access to affordable housing, more transportation options, and lower transportation costs while protecting the environment in communities nationwide. Through these livability principles the agencies would consider activities that coordinate federal housing, transportation, and other infrastructure investments to protect the environment, promote equitable development, and help to address the challenges of climate change.  The livability principles are as follows:

 

1) Provide more transportation choices. Develop safe, reliable, and economical transportation choices to decrease household transportation costs, reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil, improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and promote public health.

2) Promote equitable, affordable housing. Expand location- and energy-efficient housing choices for people of all ages, incomes, races, and ethnicities to increase mobility and lower the combined cost of housing and transportation.

3) Enhance economic competitiveness. Improve economic competitiveness through reliable and timely access to employment centers, educational opportunities, services and other basic needs by workers, as well as expanded business access to markets.

4) Support existing communities. Target federal funding toward existing communities—through strategies like transit oriented, mixed-use development, and land recycling—to increase community revitalization and the efficiency of public works investments and safeguard rural landscapes.

5) Coordinate and leverage federal policies and investment. Align federal policies and funding to remove barriers to collaboration, leverage funding, and increase the accountability and effectiveness of all levels of government to plan for future growth, including making smart energy choices such as locally generated renewable energy

6) Value communities and neighborhoods. Enhance the unique characteristics of all communities by investing in healthy, safe, and walkable neighborhoods—rural, urban, or suburban.

What is Healthy Community Design and why is it included in this application?

All of the other strategy areas deal with the built environment in one form or another. As a result, the consortium identified healthy community design as an additional strategy area that begins to tie all the strategies together. Having a community that sustains itself in a healthy way will affect whether it can develop and sustain itself economically, socially and environmentally. Our individual health is impacted by whether we have a decent job, decent affordable housing, transportation choices and a clean environment in which to live. For our region, healthy community design supports the sustainable development of the region.

The inclusion of healthy communities design is featured in our application to attract reviewers’ attention, making it stand out from the crowd.  Additionally, it also had the added benefit of bringing the Kansas Health Foundation into the partnership.

What is “built environment”?

The built environment can be anything that humans build: houses, factories, schools, churches, roads and other types of infrastructure and community facilities.  Our application suggested that a regional plan for sustainable development would address “healthy community design”.  How that would be defined for our region would be one of the outcomes of developing the plan.

Is climate change some environmental regulation being imposed on the region?

No, the issue of climate change was one of the required elements of discussion for planning purposes but does not impose regulations or restrictions.  This issue is controversial for our region as there are a number of diverse perspectives on what the actual implications would be. Over the next century the impacts of climate change could have a significant impact on the region’s environmental resources. However, with no regional discussion on this issue it is difficult to understand potential policy decisions that are beyond the control of our local jurisdictions.  Therefore, the region needs to engage in a community dialogue to better understand climate change, the anticipated impacts (whether that be climate or policy based changes), and evaluate what planning needs to occur to prepare.