SEH recognizes that our clients need to maintain their infrastructure and provide for the needs of their communities while facing budget challenges. Our Community and Economic Development Team can help clients secure funding for city projects, from wastewater or water systems to trails to redevelopment projects.

Below is a list of current funding opportunities with short-term deadlines. Please call any of our CEDG staff, listed on the left, to learn more about these programs and how they could benefit your city.

Brownfields Funding

Reclaiming and redeveloping contaminated and blighted properties is essential for communities to remain vital and in the best possible position to attract new commercial, industrial and residential growth. And it can be some of the most challenging and expensive work for a community to undertake. As such, regional, state and federal agencies have various grant programs designed to offset the costs of contamination investigation and clean up. These programs have bi-annual grant rounds and their fall round is now open and applications are due November 1, 2011:

• The Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) Contamination Investigation & Clean Up Fund
  Helps communities pay for assessing and cleaning up contaminated sites for private or public redevelopment. Grants pay up to 75 percent of the costs to investigate and clean up polluted sites. Both publicly and privately owned sites with known or suspected soil or groundwater contamination qualify. Cities, port authorities, housing and redevelopment authorities, economic development authorities, or counties are eligible.

• Metropolitan Council Tax Base Revitalization Account (TBRA)
  Cities, counties, and local development authorities in the 7-county metro area are eligible to apply for funds to be used for the investigation and cleanup of various contaminants at sites that support redevelopment. In order to receive a TBRA grant, the city must be participating in Met Council's Livable Communities program.

• Ramsey & Hennepin Counties' Environmental Revolving Fund (ERF)
  ERF grants provide a variety of assessment and cleanup measures to businesses, non-profits, and municipalities for contaminated sites in each respective county.

Small Cities Development Program (SCDP)

SCDP representatives announced a new grant application timeframe at a recent SCDP implementation workshop. Pre-applications are due November 17 (replaces the early October deadline). Full application deadline is April 2012.

SCDP is a grant program that helps cities and counties with funding for housing, infrastructure and commercial rehabilitation projects that benefit people of low and moderate incomes. Projects must meet one of three objectives:

• Benefit people of low and moderate incomes - housing rehabilitation, new housing construction, public facilities such as water/sewer when the city has a 51% or higher population of low to moderate income persons
• Eliminate slum and blight conditions - commercial rehabilitation
• Eliminate an urgent threat to public health or safety - response to floods, tornados, etc.

Economic Development

The Department of Employment and Economic Development provides grants through various economic development programs:

• $2 million for the Redevelopment Grant
  The Redevelopment Grant Program helps communities with the costs of redeveloping blighted industrial, residential, or commercial sites and putting land back into productive use. Grants pay up to half of eligible redevelopment costs for a qualifying site, with a 50-percent local match. The highlight here is that the $2 million is from the state's general fund, not bond proceeds - this means the grant dollars do NOT need to be spent on publicly owned items. This is the way the program used to be; but for those who have submitted applications in the last few years, you know that it has been required that the grant be spent on publicly owned infrastructure. Applications are due January 3, 2012.

• $3 million for the Minnesota Investment Fund (MIF)
  MIF provides grants to help add new workers and retain high-quality jobs on a statewide basis. The program focuses on industrial, manufacturing, and technology-related industries to increase the local and state tax base and improve economic conditions.

• $4 million for the Greater Minnesota Business Development Public Infrastructure program (BDPI)The goal of the BDPI is to stimulate new economic development, create new jobs and retains existing jobs through investments in public infrastructure. It provides grants to cities of up to 50 percent of the capital costs of the public infrastructure necessary to expand or retain jobs in the area, increase the tax base, or expand or create new economic development.

• $5 million for the Innovative Business Development Public Infrastructure Grant Program
  The Innovative BDPI focuses on job creation and retention through the growth of new innovative businesses and organizations. An "Innovative Business" is defined as a business that is engaged in innovation through one of the following: using proprietary technology to add value to a product, process, or service in a high technology field; researching or developing a proprietary product, process or service in a high technology field; researching, developing, or producing a new proprietary technology for use in the fields of tourism, forestry, mining, transportation, or green manufacturing.

Iron Range Resources

The Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) has a variety of open grant programs for economic development and infrastructure improvements for communities located in the Taconite Assistance Area in northeastern MN. The current programs with approaching deadlines are:

• $4 million for the IRRRB Public Works Grants
  The Public Works Grants program provides funds for cities and townships that can be used for infrastructure, site work, or healthcare capital projects that support community and economic development. Applications due Monday, October 17, 2011, awards at the IRRR December 2011 board meeting. New this year - Collaborative (3 or more cities) projects can receive up to $500,000. Collaborative projects must be pre-approved by the IRRRB.

• $1 million for the IRRRB Community Redevelopment Grants
  Community Redevelopment funds are designated for the demolition and removal of commercial buildings or publicly-owned structures, or the cleanup of Brownfields sites. These projects should make way for potential new development. Brownfields are sites with the potential for development or reuse, but remain unused or underused because of known or suspected environmental contaminations. Applications are due Monday, October 3, 2011, awards in late November.

• Mineland Reclamation and Restoration Mineland Reclamation
  Community Grants support projects that reclaim, restore, enhance or develop areas of the Taconite Assistance Area that have been affected by mining. Additionally, these grants may support projects that further the Laurentian Vision Partnership's mission "...[to] mutually benefit both public and private interests by envisioning and promoting productive post-mining landscapes." Applications are accepted throughout the year for quality projects that meet their guidelines.

Do you have a project or an idea for a protect that protects, enhances or restores water quality in lakes, rivers and/or streams?

Check with your local Watershed District, Watershed Management Organization, or County Soil and Water Conservation District, many of these agencies have received Clean Water Grants to help fund these types of projects, such as pervious pavement, rainwater gardens, shoreline restoration/erosion control, and native seeding. You can also contact one of our water resources engineers:

Ron Leaf
rleaf@sehinc.com

April Ryan
aryan@sehinc.com

KUDOS!

SEH's CEDG staff helped to secure the following grants and/or low-interest loans to help jump start our clients' projects.

Safe Routes to School Grant

Hennepin County 2011 Community Works Corridor Planning Grant Program

Public Facilities Authority

Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Grant