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Lake County Council of Mayors Members,
The Full Council of the Lake County Council of Mayors will meet virtually at 9am on Thursday May 7, 2020. The meeting will be held virtually through Zoom, registration for the meeting is required to receive login information.
Click here to register for the May 7th Full Council Meeting
Please be aware that while not required, Zoom works best if participants download the application from https://zoom.us/download. Zoom has apps for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android. If you do not already have it installed, please allow fifteen minutes to do so prior to the 9:00 am meeting. If you are not able to download the app there is also an option to join in your web browser. We will be using screen sharing and polling to conduct the meeting.
If your computer does not have a camera or microphone, you can still login to the meeting through either the desktop or browser application to see the screen sharing and to vote on action items, and use a phone to dial in for audio.
We encourage everyone to use the Zoom app or browser client and only dial-in if they lack the ability to use the app for audio.
May 7th Full Council Meeting Agenda (PDF)
May 7th Full Council Meeting Full Packet (PDF)
We look forward to "seeing" you on May 7th,
Mike Klemens
Council Liaison
 News and Information
The Lake County Council of Mayors has issued a Call for Projects, open from January 30, 2020 through 5:00 pm on May 1st, 2020 for new STP projects to be funded in Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2021-2025. Made up of units of local governments located within Lake County, the Lake County Council of Mayors (LCCOM) is one of eleven regional Councils of Mayors in the Chicago metropolitan region that have been delegated STP programming authority. In addition to new projects, LCCOM will grandfather all previously awarded STP projects into the new FFY 2021-2025 Program. If you have questions about the call for projects please contact LCCOM staff.
All Lake County Council of Mayors members are eligible to apply for new projects. Sponsors that are not members of the LCCOM must have a member sponsor for their application.
All of the application materials are available on the LCCOM Website, click here.
At this time, we do not anticipate the development of the LCCOM's FFY2021-2025 STP Program to be delayed, the anticipation is still to have a staff recommended program available in June with a public comment period in July, Council approval in August and CMAP adoption in October of 2020.
 The RTA is launching a four-part webinar series in place of the Annual Planning Workshop due to the ongoing #COVID19 pandemic. The free, virtual sessions will allow attendees to hear lessons from experts, ask questions, and learn how to make their communities more transit accessible — all while staying safe at home.
The “Transportation Tuesday” series will take place from noon to 1:00 p.m. each Tuesday beginning May 12 through June 2 with RTA staff and regional leaders in transportation planning, community zoning and mobility services management leading discussions about the opportunities, challenges, and resources available to the Chicago region. #RTARideOnBlog
Participation is free, but registration is required. Descriptions and registration links to each of the four webinars are available here.
Grant Funding Opportunities
DECO grants to Support Local Governments in Infrastructure and Economic Development Projects. The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) issued three Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) for the following programs:
Public Infrastructure: The State has allocated $50,000,000 in Rebuild Illinois funds to the competitive Public Infrastructure (RIPI) component. A grant ceiling of $5,000,000 per project has been established. Grants for less than $250,000 will not be awarded. The objective of the Rebuild Illinois Public Infrastructure (RIPI) component of the Rebuild Illinois plan is to provide grants funding public infrastructure improvements that can provide an improved foundation for economic growth in Illinois communities. (NOFO | Guidebook) Applications are due June 30, 2020.
Regional Economic Development: The State has allocated $16,500,000 in Rebuild Illinois funds to the competitive Regional Economic Development (RIRED) component. A grant ceiling of $2,000,000 per project has been established. Grants for less than $250,000 will not be awarded. The objective of this program, in keeping with the Governor’s 5-year Economic Development plan, is to provide grants to strengthen local economies and encourage the development of regional industry clusters. (NOFO | Guidebook) No application deadline.
Shovel Ready Sites:The State has allocated $13,000,000 in Rebuild Illinois funds to the competitive Shovel Ready Sites (RISRS) component. A grant ceiling of $2,000,000 per project has been established. Grants for less than $250,000 will not be awarded. The Governor’s Five-Year Economic Development Plan recognizes there are sites across Illinois with great economic development potential that require additional investment in order to become “shovel-ready.” Redevelopment in infill locations can use vacant buildings, parking lots, empty schools, or other underused sites for new amenities and businesses near existing neighborhoods.The purpose is to provide funding for site preparation for underutilized properties that can transform into economic development opportunities across Illinois. (NOFO | Guidebook) No application deadline.
The Illinois Bike/Walk Virtual Learning Collaborative will support communities across Illinois in identifying projects and understanding what will be needed to successfully apply for Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program (ITEP) funds administered by the Illinois Department of Transportation. The Collaborative will engage communities statewide. Committed cross‐sector teams from up to 15 communities will form the learning collaborative cohort and will receive professional development, group technical assistance, and peer learning to build their capacity. Note: Grant‐writing and application submission assistance are not services provided through this collaborative. Participating teams will receive $500 per team in funding to compensate them for their time and contributions to the learning sessions, and/or any community engagement activities they would conduct to develop their project ideas. The anticipated time commitment is 4 hours per team member per month. Applications are due via email by 5:00 pm on Friday, May 8, 2020. Questions about the program and application should be sent to Sarah.Chusid@iphionline.org with the subject line “Illinois Bike/Walk Virtual Learning Collaborative Application”.
The RTA is accepting applications through Friday, May 8, 2020 for the 2020 Access to Transit Program. This program provides funding for small-scale capital projects that improve pedestrian and bicycle access to public transportation. New for 2020, there are two categories of projects being considered. Category A includes funding for construction costs between $150,000 and $1 million for crosswalks, pedestrian signal heads, sidewalk connections, wayfinding signage, ADA accessibility improvements, bicycle infrastructure, bus stop infrastructure, rail warming shelters, micromobility projects, and other innovative projects that support small-scale access improvements to transit. Successful applications will be packaged together and submitted by the RTA to CMAP during the next call for CMAQ projects. If selected for CMAQ funding, the RTA may provide 50 to 100% of the required 20% non-federal matching funds. Category B includes funding of $5,000 to $50,000 for Phase 1 Engineering only for projects that meet the Category A criteria.
For more information visit the RTA Access to Transit web page.
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) has two funding opportunities available:
DEADLINE EXTENDED: The Illinois Department of Transportation is requesting candidate projects for the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) that will be initiated in FY 2022. Applications for this funding program will be received through Friday, May 8th, 2020 June 12th, 2020 at 5:00 PM ET, and announcement of the selected projects for funding will be made during the week of July 27th, 2020 August 17th, 2020.
HSIP has a goal of achieving a significant reduction in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads. Fatal and serious injury crashes associated with roadway departures, intersections, and pedestrians are high priority emphasis areas based on the current Illinois Strategic Highway Safety Plan.
Strong consideration will be given to specific safety strategies that offer significant benefit to the reduction of fatal and serious injury crashes. The key is to identify the issue(s) contributing to the fatal and serious injury crashes and how the safety strategy will address these issues.
For more information and application materials, click here.
FHWA is accepting applications until Monday, August 3, 2020 for the FLAP. Public highway, road, bridge, trail or transit systems that are located on, are adjacent to, or provide access to certain Federal lands are eligible. An estimated $1M will be available for programming. Project applications must be sponsored and/or supported by the appropriate Federal Land Management Agency (FLMA) unit whose access would be enhanced by the proposed action. If selected, a 20% matching share is required.
The Federal application is available at https://flh.fhwa.dot.gov/programs/flap/il/. Completed applications should be forwarded electronically to the FHWA, Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division, Access Program Manager at EFL.planning@dot.gov. If you have any questions concerning the Federal Lands Access Program, please contact Stephane B. Seck-Birhame, IDOT Local Program Development Engineer, at 217-782-3972 or Bablibile.Seck@illinois.gov.
The US DOT released a Notice of Funding Opportunity for $1 billion in “Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development” or BUILD grants. This is a competitive program for infrastructure projects that will have a significant local or regional impact. Grants will be between $5M and $25M for construction ($1M min. in rural areas), and a 20% non-federal match is required. Highway, bridge, transit, passenger and freight rail, port, and intermodal projects are eligible. Primary selection criteria include improved safety outcomes, state of good repair (improving condition or resilience of existing facilities, economic competitiveness (efficient movement of people and goods), environmental sustainability, quality of life. Secondary criteria include innovation, partnership, and project readiness. No more than $100M will be awarded in any one state. Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. EDT on May 18, 2020. Funds must be obligated by Sept. 30, 2022. At least $15M will be awarded for planning, preparation, or design of eligible projects, including environmental analysis and feasibility studies.
More information, including a schedule of information webinars can be found on US DOTs BUILD webpage
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