2022 05 17 City Council

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PUBLIC WORKS 
 
TO:  C. Seth Sumner, City Manager  
 
FROM:  Ben Burchfield, Public Works Director 
   
DATE:  May 5, 2022 
 
SUBJECT: Council Approval of Notice of Intent to Apply for Multi-Modal Access Grant 
 
The Public Works Department is requesting Council approval to submit a Notice of Intent to apply 
(NOI) and, if determined to be  eligible, submit a full application for Multi -Modal Access Grant 
(MMAG) funding to supplement the City’s ongoing capital improvement project for the Historic 
Downtown Transportation Alternatives (HDTA) project.  Considering that the project includes  
state routes throughout the proposed scope of work, it stands to reason that it will be extremely 
competitive in the selection process for funding. Being selected for funding would provide 
appreciable financial support in the construction of the project, as MMAG funding goes up to  1 
million dollars and is a 95/5 cost-share with the state covering 95% of the costs of the approved 
scope of work. Leveraging TDOT dollars to help cover a portion of costs of the project would allow 
local dollars to go further. 
 
The application window is tight  – the NOI must be submitted from April 27, 2022,  to May 17, 
2022. After the  NOI application window closes, TDOT will review all NOIs submitted and then 
notify eligible  applicants to submit a full application between June 1, 2022, and July 19, 2022. 
Awards would tentatively be announced in December 2022. Considering that there is some 
additional lead time in working with the HDTA project, as it is not as time sensitive as the City 
Park Transportation Improvement (CTI) project  for the new school , the City should still be able 
to proceed with the preliminary NEPA and design and not be subject ed to delays. Additionally, 
considering that we are already under contract with Sta ntec in accordance with TDOT RFQ 
requirements, and already have a defined scope of work,  these make the application and project 
eligibility for funding stronger. The Department had initially considered pursuing Transportation 
Alternatives Program (TAP) fu nding for the project, but MMAG  provides a much better match 
and historically allows for a quicker timeline from start to finish on projects.  For this reason, we 
are pursuing MMAG funding. 
 
If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me to discuss. 
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