Local Government Capacity Grant Program

Last Updated – 5/22/13

Together North Jersey staff are currently working with Local Government Capacity grant recipients to advance and fund grant proposals including the supplemental / elective activities that may create a demand for various forms of technical assistance support. Click here to view current proposed supplemental planning activities.

Some RFPs for Technical Assistance have been issued to firms on Roster #1 in select technical assistance categories. As referenced in the issued RFPs, follow-up questions must be submitted in writing to Together North Jersey. Copies of these questions, and any replies, will be made available on this Local Government Capacity webpage. The following questions and answers have been posted in response to inquiries about issued RFPs:

OVERVIEW

The TOGETHER NORTH JERSEY Local Government Capacity Grant Program (LGCGP) will provide financial and/or technical assistance to county and municipal members of the TOGETHER NORTH JERSEY Steering Committee to conduct outreach, analysis, coordination and planning activities that help build the capacity of local governments to support and materially advance the development of a Regional Plan for Sustainable Development for the 13-county North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) region. The Local Government Capacity Grant Program Notice of Funding Availability provides key information on the purpose of the program, eligible applicants, available funding, types of assistance and eligible program activities, submission deadlines, and the process and timeline for making funding decisions.

The TNJ project team made revisions to the Local Government Capacity Grant Program. A summary memo of these revisions can be downloaded here.

Click here if you’d like to see a clean version.
Click here if you’d like to see a version with track changes.

Final Full Proposals were due on January 11, 2013.

Types of Technical Assistance: In preparing their grant application proposals, eligible county and city grant recipients were expected to outline their scope of work, budget, schedule and staffing plan for addressing required and supplemental activities. Grant recipients were asked to specifically identify how they would like their technical assistance funds delivered: 1) to support in-house staff participation; 2) for work performed by pre-qualified consultant; 3) for work performed by self-retained consultant pursuant to HUD contract and procurement requirements; 4) for work performed by an intern and/or member of the Project Team; or 5) hybrid assistance – a mix of the above approaches.

Pre-Qualified Contractor List – “On-Call” Roster #1 for Local Planning Technical Assistance Services: Firms selected for On-Call Roster #1 may serve as prime contractors to provide local planning technical assistance services for the Local Government Capacity Grant Program (LGCGP) program. Firms have been pre-qualified in 10 technical assistance service categories. On an “as-needed” basis, TOGETHER NORTH JERSEY may issue “Requests for Technical Assistance” for specific local planning services. Pre-Qualified firms receiving a Request for Technical Assistance from TOGETHER NORTH JERSEY will be invited to prepare a proposal for individual assignments. Firms are reminded that there is no guarantee of work from selection to an “On-Call” Roster.

Rutgers-Bloustein is the administrative and fiscal agent for TOGETHER NORTH JERSEY and the HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant which is an important source of funding for the LGCGP program. NJTPA is leveraging federal USDOT funds to increase the total amount of funding for this program. Pre-Qualified Contractors selected for individual work order assignments under the Local Government Capacity Grant Program will enter into contracts with Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Firms may be selected for more than one LGCGP technical assistance work order assignment.

Contractors will only be reimbursed for work following the issuance of a formal Notice to Proceed from Rutgers. A formal Notice to Proceed and contract will only be issued after receipt and acceptance of Proposals that are fully responsive to the Request for Technical Assistance which will include a scope of work, cost proposal, staffing plan, and schedule of milestones/deliverables. A spreadsheet with the preferred format for the Cost and Hours Estimate Budget (Appendix A) can be downloaded here: Cost and Hours Estimate Budget

Reimbursement will be made for eligible activities authorized by Together North Jersey. Technical Assistance Contractors selected for individual work assignments will receive payments on a reimbursement basis following the completion of identified major milestones set forward in the agreement. Selected contractors must agree to submit a Quarterly Progress Report with sufficient information to support grantee and sub-grantee invoice processing and to prepare progress reports in formats provided by Together North Jersey.

Click to see: An example of the Draft Service Agreement for the Local Government Capacity Grant that will be signed between the selected contractor (or grant recipient) and Rutgers. The Terms and Conditions of the U.S. HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant will flow down to the selected contractor (or grant recipient).

Questions: Questions about the eligible activities, types of technical assistance, and submission requirements for the Local Government Capacity Grant Program should be directed to the TOGETHER NORTH JERSEY Project Team:

Scott Rowe, AICP, PP, CNU-A
Manager, Sustainability and Plan Development
North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority
srowe@njtpa.org
Phone: (973) 639-8425

David Aimen, AICP, PP
Assistant Director, Planning & Technical Assistance
Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
david.aimen@ejb.rutgers.edu
Phone: (848) 932-2855