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Home My WebLink About03/17/2026 - Meeting Minutes ATM www.SLC.gov 451 S State Street www.SLCMayor.com Salt Lake City,UT 84111 SLC FOOD MICROGRANT • COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES Tuesday, March 17 h 2026 The following members of the SLC Food Microgrant Selection Committee were present: In-Person Maria Schwarz, Chair Leesie Clegg, Vice Chair&Secretary Josh Rebollo Electronic Maria Romero Marifer Rivera James Hunter The following members were absent: Karina Villalba Minutes by: Leesie Clegg, Salt Lake City Sustainability Department Meeting Time: 2:30 p.m. I Time Adjourned: 3:55 p.m. 1. Welcome & Roll Call Chair Schwarz welcomed everyone and called role, mentioning that Committee Member Villalba would not be able to join the meeting this week. She thanked everyone for scoring the Home Food Production applications and ran through the meeting agenda. 2. Approve Meeting Minutes Chair Schwarz shared a draft of meeting minutes from March 03, 2026 and called for any adjustments, questions or concerns. There were no comments, so Committee Member Rebollo made a motion to approve with a second from Vice Chair Clegg. A second vote was called due to technical issues. All committee members voted to approve the minutes except Committee Member Romero who was in and out of service and unable to vote. 3. Review Home Food Production Grant Application scores/questions Chair Schwarz invited any general impressions about the Home Food Production Grant applications. Committee Member Rebollo commented that there were many returning applicants coming back to 0 www.SLC.gov 451 S State Street www.SLCMayor.com Salt Lake City,UT 84111 build on previous years' projects. Vice Chair Clegg noted that many of the projects were similar while Chair Schwarz pointed out the frequency of water-wise irrigation project proposals. Chair Schwarz updated the Committee on the status of applications reviewed: 146 reviewed, one was removed after communicating with them, which left 145 eligible applicants. She reviewed the budget, noting that the Committee will reserve enough funding for 100 Home Food Production grants. In addition to the Program Budget, there was about $8,600 from the Solar Stewards program to split between Home Food Production and Community Food grants or add to one or the other grant categories bringing the total funding for both categories to $55,911.83. The Committee discussed several Home Food Production Applications in which there were discrepancies in scores: • Application ID #10: Committee Members Hunter and Rebollo scored this application with a 2 out of 3 and Chair Schwarz gave it a 3 out of 3. Both Committee Members Hunter and Rebollo were concerned that using the funds to obtain a certification might not be as high of priority as food supplies and direct production. Chair Schwarz agreed and changed her score from a 3 to a 2. • Application ID #22: Chair Schwarz scored this application with a 2 out of 3 while Committee Member Hunter gave it a 1 out 3 and Committee Member Rebollo a 3 out of 3. Chair Schwarz felt the budget and scope of the project lacked clarity. Committee Member Hunter felt there was a lack of clarity on what the project would be doing and felt that there were cheaper ways to do indoor growing than hydroponic systems. Committee Member Rebollo wanted to change his score to a 2. • Application ID #29: Chair Schwarz gave this application a score of 1 because she didn't feel like planting a shade tree was the best use of these funds. Committee Member Hunter gave it a 3 because he assumed it had been a fruit tree and chose to change his score to a 2. Committee Member Rebollo changed his score from a 3 to 2 after the discussion. • Application ID #37: Committee Member Hunter gave this application a score of 2. Chair Schwarz gave this application a score of 1 because there was not enough information provided and the scope felt too large but decided to change her score to a 2 after discussion. Committee Member Rebollo suggested that the applicant may not be a native English speaker and felt the application aligned with the fund's objectives, however he changed his score to a 2 due to lack of clarity. 0 www.SLC.gov 451 S State Street www.SLCMayor.com Salt Lake City,UT 84111 • Application ID #40: The application that was removed from the Home Food Production Grant category due to a duplicate application in the Community Food Grant category. • Application ID #46: Chair Schwarz and Committee Members Hunter and Rebollo gave this application a score of 2. Committee Member Hunter felt there was a lack of clarity with the scope and budget. Committee Member Rebollo suggested that there were other City water utility assistance programs and wondered if that was the best use of Food Microgrant funds. Chair Schwarz increased her score to a 3 because after discussion felt the application was clearly aligned with the goals of the grant. • Application ID #49: Chair Schwarz and Committee Members Hunter and Rebollo gave this application a score of 2. Committee Member Hunter wanted confirmation from the property owner that the applicant had permission to build a community garden at their apartment complex. If Vice Chair Clegg could follow up and obtain those permissions, then Committee Member Hunter would be willing to move his score to a 3. Chair Schwarz agreed and also planned to move her score up to a 3 if permissions were obtained. • Application ID #55: Chair Schwarz gave this application a score of 1. Committee Members Hunter and Rebollo gave it a 3. Committee Member Hunter felt there was a lack of feasibility or planning in this application and moved his score to a 2. Chair Schwarz would have liked to see the applicant price out start up beekeeping costs but moved her score up to a 2. Committee Member Rebollo decreased his score to a 2 because the budget was unclear, but felt the project overall was aligned with the Microgrant's goals. • Application ID #61: Chair Schwarz gave this application a score of 1 while Vice Chair Clegg and Committee Member Villalba gave it a score of 2. All agreed that the application lacked enough information. • Application ID #69: Chair Schwarz gave this application a score of 1 while Vice Chair Clegg gave it a 3 and Committee Member Villalba gave it a score of 2. Vice Chair Clegg moved her score to a 2 after agreeing that the budget was too vague. • Application ID #88: Chair Schwarz gave this application a score of 1 while Vice Chair Clegg and Committee Member Villalba gave it a score of 3. Chair Schwarz felt the application had minimal information and sense of impact but agreed to move her score up to a 2. • Application ID #92: Both Chair Schwarz and Committee Member Villalba gave this application a score of 2 while Vice Chair Clegg gave it a 3. Chair Schwarz expressed hesitation about the mention of using funds for bird feeders. It was agreed that if they were funded, Vice Chair Clegg would clarify that this was not an eligible use of the funds and they would have to use the money for the rest of their project. 0 www.SLC.gov 451 S State Street www.SLCMayor.com Salt Lake City,UT 84111 • Application ID #120: Chair Schwarz and Committee Member Rivera gave this application a score of 2 while Committee Member Romero gave it a score of 1. Chair Schwarz suggested the lack of information might be a language barrier and pointed out that the funding is clearly intended for a garden, so she changed her score to a 3. Committee Member Romero raised her score to a 2 after this discussion. • Application ID #141: Chair Schwarz gave this application a score of 2 while Committee Member Rivera gave it a 3 and Committee Member Romero gave it a score of 1. Chair Schwarz changed her score to a 3 because she felt it was clear what they would be using the funds for even if there was not a lot of information. Committee Member Romero agreed and increased her score to a 2. • Application ID #148: Chair Schwarz and Committee Member Rivera gave this application a score of 2 while Committee Member Romero gave it a score of 3. Chair Schwarz changed her score to a 3 after expressing that she felt the application aligned with the Microgrant's goals but contained minimal information. • Application ID # 162: Chair Schwarz and Committee Member Rivera gave this application a score of 3 while Committee Member Romero gave it a score of 1. Committee Member Romero expressed concern about funding a propane cooking set up and wasn't sure if the fund should be used for cooking equipment. Chair Schwarz clarified that the Microgrant has funded food preservation equipment in the past and Committee Member Romero moved her score to a 3. Next the Committee discussed the different means of filtering applicants. After discussing and adjusting scores, there were 136 applicants with scores above 2.5. Chair Schwarz explained that the other means of filtering applicants was through Council District, Household Size and Income Level, and whether the applicant was a previous awardee or not. Chair Schwarz asked if there was one or more of these categories that felt more relevant than others. Committee Member Romero commented that using income level and then district number as second filter made the most sense for her. Council Members Rebollo, Rivera, Hunter, and Vice Chair Clegg agreed. Chair Schwarz calculated that there were 111 applicants who were at or below the Median Household Income (MHI) and 106 that were at or below MHI that had an average score above 2.5. There were 7 applicants with an average score above 2.5 who preferred not to disclose their income level. Chair Schwarz proposed that those with an average score of 2.5 and self-reported at or below MHI (including those who preferred not to indicate income)would be awarded the Home Food Production Grant which would result in 113 applicants being funded. This would result in $28,250 of the total funds going to Home Food Production grants, part of which would come from the Solar Stewards fund while the rest of the Solar Stewards fund would be used for Community Food Grants. 0 www.SLC.gov 451 S State Street www.SLCMayor.com Salt Lake City,UT 84111 Committee Member ReboIlo made a motion to fund those 113 applicants and Committee Member Hunter seconded the motion. The Committee voted unanimously in agreement. 4. Next Steps Chair Schwarz reiterated that Vice Chair Clegg and herself would clarify all applications mentioned earlier and then notify applicants within the coming week. The next steps for the Committee will be reviewing the 38 Community Grant applications by End of Day March 30th 5. Adjourn Committee Member Rivera made a motion to adjourn which Vice Chair Clegg seconded and was voted on unanimously by the Committee. ► 04/02/2026 APPROVED: Marb Sc arz(Apr 2,2026 14:15:21 MDT) DATE: