Livable Communities Act program changes

The Metropolitan Council approved two important changes to the Livable Communities Act (LCA) at its meeting on June 25, 2008 -- one that affects cities who may be late in submitting their decennial comprehensive plan update and another that clarifies requests for second extensions to existing grants.

No execution of LCA grants for communities with late comp plan submittals

The decennial comprehensive plan updates are due to the Council on December 31, 2008. For LCA grants awarded after December 31, 2008, the Council will not execute an LCA grant award with any city that has not submitted a comp plan update that is complete for review.

Although an administrative extension to the comp plan due date is available under certain circumstances, the restriction on executing LCA grant awards applies even if an extension has been granted. This decision does not affect the grant award decision; it affects only the execution date for the grant and thus affects the grant fund availability date. Please note that this decision does not apply to Fall 2008 TBRA grants, which will be awarded in early January 2009.

New criteria for second grant extensions

All LCA grants are eligible for a one-time, administrative amendment to extend the grant expiration date by one year. If an additional extension is needed, the grantee must submit evidence of unavoidable delay and present reasonable assurances that the grant-funded project will be completed in a timely manner.

All requests for a second extension must be made in writing no later than 45 days prior to the expiration date of the grant and will require that the grantee present its case to the Council's Community Development Committee. Final decisions on second grant extensions are made by the full Council. All amendments must be fully executed prior to the expiration date, and grantees are encouraged to give as much notice as possible for any amendment request.

To be considered for a second extension, the grantee must demonstrate unavoidable delay by:

Offering adequate information to support its position that the delay is the result of decisions and/or actions by another public body or entity that were outside the control of the grantee; OR
Offering as adequate justification that the delay is the result of decisions and/or actions made by another project partner, participant or other entity and that these decisions and/or actions were outside the reasonable control of the grantee, such as the loss of site control, a developer's failure to perform, or changes made by another project participant to the staging of the project that delay the grant-funded activity; AND

The grantee must also provide reasonable assurances of timely completion by:

Identifying how other investments have occurred in the project area or to support the project; AND
Submitting a resolution from the grantee's governing body requesting the second one-year extension that affirms that a development agreement is in place and the developer has site control; AND
Submitting a reasonably detailed schedule for completion of grant-funded activities within the second one-year extension period.