Sponsor: Emergency Management & Homeland Security
Title
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Grant Agreement with the Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology for the Ramsey County Urban Heath Island Sensor Network, Safety and Mitigation Project
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Recommendation
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1. Ratify the submittal of the grant application to Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology in the amount of $747,450 for Ramsey County Urban Heat Island Sensor Network, Safety and Mitigation Project.
2. Accept a grant award and approve a grant agreement with Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology for Ramsey County Urban Heat Island Sensor Network, Safety and Mitigation Project for the period of October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2028 in the amount of $747,450.
3. Authorize the County Manager to enter into agreements and execute amendments to agreements in accordance with the county’s procurement policies and procedures, provided the amounts are within the limits of the grant funding.
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Background and Rationale
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The Ramsey County Urban Heat Island Sensor Network, Safety and Mitigation Project is a strategic investment in public safety, racial equity, and community well-being. Funded through Congressionally Directed Spending administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the initiative will improve the county’s ability to identify, communicate, and respond to extreme heat while supporting long-term investments that reduce heat-related risks. Approximately 184,000 Ramsey County residents live in areas likely affected by urban heat islands, including approximately 123,000 residents living in communities identified as disadvantaged by the federal Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool. These communities can experience temperatures 10 to 15 degrees higher than official weather readings, creating health and safety risks that may not be reflected in regional heat alerts. Accepting this grant award will advance Ramsey County’s Racial & Health Equity and Shared Community Power.
The project will establish a network of Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) and air quality sensors in known and suspected urban heat islands. Real-time and historical data will help county and municipal agencies, first responders, employers, community organizations, and residents better understand local conditions and take timely action to protect people from extreme heat. The information will also support more targeted and effective planning, emergency response, worker safety, and future investments in climate resilience.
Equity and community engagement are central to the initiative. Targeted heat health education will focus on neighborhoods experiencing greater vulnerability, while residents and community organizations will have access to local data to help inform community-led solutions and mitigation efforts. By directing information and resources toward communities experiencing greater environmental and socioeconomic disparities, the initiative will help address inequities in exposure to extreme heat and its health impacts.
The investment will create lasting value beyond the grant period by establishing a countywide capability for environmental monitoring, public health protection, emergency management, and climate adaptation. The resulting data, partnerships, and community engagement will help Ramsey County make better-informed decisions about future investments, strengthen neighborhood resilience, improve livability, and reduce the impacts and costs of extreme heat.
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County Goals (Check those advanced by Action)
☒ Well-being ☒ Prosperity ☐ Opportunity ☐ Accountability
Racial Equity Impact
By expanding access to localized environmental information, improving heat health awareness, and supporting equitable resilience planning, the project will help reduce disproportionate heat-related risks and improve community well-being. Extreme heat disproportionately burdens underserved and vulnerable communities, and approximately 123,000 of the 184,000 Ramsey County residents living in likely urban heat island neighborhoods are in federally identified Disadvantaged Communities. This project advances racial equity by establishing localized, continuous WBGT monitoring and prioritizing heat-health education in high-vulnerability neighborhoods, providing the county and community partners with the data needed to identify disparities in heat exposure and target emergency response, public health, and future climate mitigation investments where they are needed most. The resulting public data will also strengthen equitable access to information and support communities, local governments, and organizations in developing informed strategies to reduce heat-related risks and improve neighborhood resilience.
Community Participation Level and Impact
Ramsey County defines the communities engaged in this project as residents, community-based organizations, local governments, employers, and other partners serving communities throughout the county, with particular attention to neighborhoods experiencing elevated heat vulnerability. Community input has informed the project through a joint county/community-based organization tabletop exercise focused on collaboration during extreme heat events and through ongoing Resilience Hub joint planning efforts, a community-driven approach to building neighborhood resilience. These partnerships have helped shape the project’s focus on coordinated response, accessible cooling resources, community education, and neighborhood-specific resilience strategies.
Going forward, the county will continue to engage community-based organizations and residents through community meetings, workshops, needs assessments, train-the-trainer activities, multilingual and culturally responsive outreach, and Resilience Hub planning. Community partners will also have access to the project’s localized heat and air quality data to support their own preparedness, advocacy, and mitigation efforts, creating an ongoing feedback loop between community experience, county operations, and future resilience investments.
☒ Inform ☒ Consult ☒ Involve ☒ Collaborate ☒ Empower
Fiscal Impact
Funds are not currently included in the Emergency Management approved 2026-2027 budget; acceptance of the federal CDS grant will require a budget adjustment to recognize $747,450 in federal revenue and corresponding expenditures for the grant period of October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2028. This grant has no impact on the levy. No county match is required and grant funds will support equipment, supplies, contractual services, travel, data management, outreach, and other project costs.
Emergency Management staff administer the grant as part of their regular duties; this represents a significant increase from the approximately $5,000 previously spent by the county using Public Health grant funds for the pilot site. Ongoing costs for sensor maintenance and data hosting are anticipated after the grant period, but the amount and funding source for these future expenditures have not yet been determined and will be addressed through future budget processes.
Last Previous Action
None.
Attachments
1. Notice of Award