We appreciate that you need more information (due to your impossibly busy schedules) to feel comfortable moving forward and applying for the CalSHAPE ventilation grants and awards program.
Below are questions and concerns we have helped other large districts navigate:
Ongoing auditing under CalSHAPE (AB841):
There is no formal auditing process for this program
You will not be required to fill out or regularly submit paperwork
You will not be subjected to ongoing programmatic auditing requirements
However, because you are getting grant money they could, for instance, make a visit to San Luis Obispo County and ask all the school districts to “tell us about your CO2 measurements over the last year”
or “give us numbers about your energy usage” over the last 3 months
LifeWings/KFI Engineers will help you gather that information as part of the grant
Internal workload issues and involvement for your team
The CalSHAPE program does not require any work from your team on the assessment activities
You don't have to do anything for the filter installation or CO2 monitor installation
You are not required to do any of the work for the contingency repairs and contingency adjustments that are all part of the funding package
Longer-term funding and other grants
We consider our firm to be your long-term funding partner for safer air activities and actions, HVAC equipment, and several other funding programs such as:
Phase 2 of CalSHAPE, which covers HVAC replacement funds
Accessing Vice President Harris’ underserved schools clean air program
Other state, utility company, and federally funded programs
Encumbering funds and processing grant payments
There is no paperwork to fill out for your CBO team – we only need a few contact names, a Tax ID number and some signatures
We manage the uploading of the funding-related documentation for the State Controller's Office,
We track the payment of the grants and the checks until they come to your bank account directly
We also want to confirm that there are ZERO matching fund requirements or out-of-pocket expenses for the district
Labor Compliance and Project Documentation
All project activities rigorously adhere to CA Dept. of Industrial Relations (DIR), PWC 100 labor compliance program
Excess fees, consulting fees, and project management fees are not allowed
There is no allowance for exceeding budgets or estimates that we put into the system
All spending and subsidies for different categories of work performed and repairs undertaken are documented as part of the program
All contractor work is fully documented, including:
Labor costs and labor hours
Parts and materials costs
All assessment activities and repair activities
The filter installation activities
The CO2 monitor installation activities
Every dollar spent must be documented, and
Every dollar spent must be accounted for and uploaded to the system before they will make the final payment
Payments and funding
Payments come directly to the district
In addition, you get progress reports from us as soon as we do the assessment that explain all of the equipment listed, documented equipment issues for your HVAC team, as well as the CO2 monitoring locations and where those monitors will be installed
All contingency repairs are listed and prioritized
Your team will decide what repairs you want to have done
Your team will choose which repairs to make
Your team will prioritize the repairs, adjustments, and mechanical fixes for every HVAC unit on each of your sites
Nothing will be done without your clearance and approval
Nothing will be done without your HVAC / Maintenance team knowing exactly what's happening
I trust that the information above has answered your questions. Keep in mind that demand for funding will be great in this final phase of CalSHAPE. If you have not “encumbered funds”, someone else will scoop up those funds. If we can get together for 10-15 minutes on a Zoom call with myself and Tom DeLapp we can review:
Typical interim engineering agreements and reporting documents
We can show you example reports of how the process works
We can offer you value derived from the CalSHAPE program
Sometimes grant funding can be complicated and onerous with ongoing demands for reporting and accountability. As I have explained above, CalSHAPE is different than other programs and with our assistance is designed to make the process as simple as possible with little negative impact on your financial bottom line or staff workload. I hope we can work together soon to resolve your concerns.
Schedule a FREE consultation today!