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PROPOSED CONTRACT AMENDMENT
Department(s): Department of Resource Management
Vendor: Friends of the Forest Preserves, Chicago, Illinois
Request: Authorization for the Forest Preserves of Cook County (the “Forest Preserves”) to increase contract
Good(s) or Service(s): North Branch Conservation Corps Program
Original Contract Period: 1/9/2018 - 12/31/2019; Board Extension 1/1/2020 - 12/31/2021; Administrative extension 1/1/2022 - 12/31/2022
Proposed Contract Period Extension: N/A
Total Current Contract Amount Authority: $600,000.00
Original Approval: 1/9/2018, $300,000.00
Previous Increase(s): 12/17/2019, $300,000.00
This Increase Requested: $180,000.00
Estimated Fiscal Impact: FY 2022 $180,000.00
Accounts: Professional Services 51031.520840; Grant and Mitigation 51010.521444 and 51010.520840
Contract Number(s): #74000004350
Concurrences:
The Chief Financial Officer has approved this item. Final amendment is subject to legal review and approval.
District(s): 9, 10, 12, 13, 14
Summary: The Forest Preserves is requesting an increase in the overall authority for this program to accommodate State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (“SLFRF”) allocated to Cook County through the federal American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”) for workforce development. These additional funds will supplement and expand capacity for this program for fiscal year 2022.
The North Branch Conservation Corps Program engages three participants, one crew manager, and one assistant crew manager in hands-on ecological restoration activities including invasive species control, herbicide application, seed collection and dispersal, and prescribed fire. Participants receive the training and technical expertise necessary to pursue a long-term career in ecological restoration and related fields. The North Branch Conservation Corps Program is administered by Friends of the Forest Preserves through a contract which was originally approved by the Forest Preserves of Cook County Board of Commissioners on 1/9/2018 (Board Item No. 18-0113), and subsequently amended on 12/17/2019 (Board Item No. 19-0497) to extend the program for an additional two-year term ending in 2021. An administrative extension has the program ending on 12/31/2022. The Forest Preserves now seeks to add $180,000.00 in authority and to bring the total program costs to approximately $780,000.00 over five years. Conservation Corps programs provide youth and young adult participants with paid environmental education and job skills training within the conservation field, with a focus on ecological restoration in the Forest Preserves.
The Forest Preserves intends to issue through its public solicitation process a Request for Proposals for additional Conservation Corps opportunities to bring to the Forest Preserves of Cook County Board of Commissioners for approval later in 2022.
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