IV.7. Resolution Authorizing Application for Grant Navigation Support for the City; Kivett
CITY OF HOPKINS
Action Item 2025-166
To: Honorable Chair and Council Members
Mike Mornson, City Manager
From: Beth Kivett, Activity Center Program Coordinator
Date: November 18, 2025
Subject: Resolution Approving the Application for the LMC Grant Navigator
Application
_____________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDED ACTION
MOTION TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 2025-069 AUTHORIZING THE APPLCIATION
FOR GRANT NAVIGATION SUPPORT FOR THE CITY.
OVERVIEW
On July 15, 2025, City Council heard a presentation update from the Hopkins Digital
Access Initiative (HDAI). HDAI is a collaborative and community-driven effort to develop
the Hopkins Digital Access Plan with targeted, actionable and sustainable strategies
that strengthen digital access for all community members in Hopkins. The goal of this
initiative is to ensure Hopkins community members have the digital tools, skills and
support needed to thrive in today's connected world. This initiative is guided by a
steering committee comprised of representatives from the City of Hopkins, Hopkins
Community Education, and the Hopkins Public Library.
The Hopkins Digital Access Initiative is applying for the League of Minnesota Cities
(LMC) Grant Navigator funding. This funding supports grant writing and will be used in
partnership with ICA’s grant writing team, AmplifyDMC. AmplifyDMC will be writing
grants to support contract work to complete the Hopkins Digital Access Plan.
The initiative’s assessment phase is coming to an end on December 1, 2025 with the
conclusion of the community-wide survey. The next step in this process is to create a
detailed plan with actionable steps to ensure all Hopkins residents have the skills,
support and tools to thrive in today’s digital world.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the board adopt Resolution 2025-069 authorizing the support of
the League of Minnesota Cities Grant Navigator Application
SUPPORTING INFORMATION
• Resolution 2025-069
• League of Minnesota Cities Grant Navigator Application
Department
Community Services
CITY OF HOPKINS
HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA
RESOLUTION 2025-069
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING APPLICATION FOR GRANT NAVIGATION SUPPOR
FOR THE CITY
WHEREAS, the League of Minnesota Cities (“LMC”) has created a pilot Grants
Navigation Program (“Program”) in which LMC will provide grants up to $5,000 per city
to use with industry partners to ease the process of identifying matching funds to city
projects and aid in the grant application projects.
WHEREAS, the Program is limited to providing services to help obtain grant funding for
one project per city.
WHEREAS, the Program is limited to providing support in obtaining grant funding, and
LMC does not provide funds to implement projects.
WHEREAS, the City of Hopkins (“City”) wishes to apply to the Program to for support in
finding grant funding for Hopkins Digital Access Initiative (“Project”).
WHEREAS, the City recognizes that the if approved, any funds received through the
Program must be used in a manner consistent with the conditions above as well as all
other conditions or limitations of the Program.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of Hopkins
hereby
1. The City names Beth Kivett, Hopkins Activity Center Program Coordinator as its
fiscal agent (“Fiscal Agent”) for the purposes of applying to the Program on
behalf of the City.
2. The City authorizes the Fiscal Agent to act on its behalf when communicating
with LMC in all matters related to the Program application for the Project.
3. If the City is awarded a grant under the Program, it agrees to use the funds to
engage with industry partners who will aid in the grant matching and application
process consistent with the terms and conditions of the Program.
4. If a state, federal, foundation, or nonprofit grant match is not found, or is applied
to but not awarded, the City will seek feedback on why the project was not
eligible and report back to the LMC with these findings consistent with the terms
and conditions of the Program.
5. If a state, federal, foundation, or nonprofit grant is awarded, a project assessment
will be submitted to LMC within six months of the application's approval and then
periodically until after project completion consistent with the terms and conditions
of the Program.
Adopted by the City Council of the City of Hopkins this 18th day of November, 2025.
By:___________________________
Patrick Hanlon, Mayor
ATTEST:
_______________________________
Amy Domeier, City Clerk
=
LEAGUE OF MINNESOTA CITIES GRANT NAVIGATOR APPLICATION
SUBMITTED: November 12, 2025
Applicant Information
Name*
Beth Kivett
Title*
Hopkins Activity Center Coordinator
Email Address*
Phone*
Office Address*
Chief Administrative Officer*
Project Information
Briefly describe the project
The Hopkins Digital Access Initiative (HDAI) is a collaborative, community-based effort
to ensure all Hopkins residents have access to the affordable internet, devices, digital
skills, and ongoing support needed to thrive in today’s digital world.
The project is to create a community-wide digital access plan with the understanding
that digital access is foundational for individual, community, and economic vitality. The
result will be expanded digital learning opportunities, technology help, improved access
to affordable devices and internet connectivity, and stronger partnerships that make a
thriving digital ecosystem. This collaborative plan will strengthen Hopkins' digital access
ecosystem by ensuring community members can fully participate in economic,
educational, social, and civic life, while simultaneously building community capacity,
strengthening economic development, and enhancing the interconnected assets that
makes Hopkins thrive.
The project involves community and stakeholder engagement; qualitative and
quantitative assessment; collaborative planning for actionable and sustainable
strategies, implementation; and ongoing evaluation to measure effectiveness and
impact.
HDAI is a collaborative community-based effort supported by the City of Hopkins and
guided by a steering committee of representatives from the Hopkins Activity Center,
Hopkins Public Library, and Hopkins Community Education. Backbone operational
support is provided by the mission driven organization, Connecting to Thrive.
What is the project’s estimated cost?*
The project’s total estimated cost is $30,000 - $50,000. Key cost categories include:
Backbone organization and consultants: $ 35,000
● Connecting to Thrive, LLC
● Hannah Buckland, Digital Equity Consultant
● Media and Communications Consultant
Technology and Tools (CRM and Mapping tools): $3,500
Communications/Printing/Production: $1,500
Grant Writing/Grant Mapping (AmplifyDMC): $5,000 - $10,000
When do you expect to start and complete the project?*
The project is currently underway. The planned completion date is June 1, 2026.
At what point in development is the project currently? This includes phases such
as concept, feasibility study, preliminary engineering, committed project, etc.*
We are currently in the assessment phase, with ongoing stakeholder and community
engagement. The project has five overlapping phases: (1) community and stakeholder
engagement, which includes community member input, city-wide communications and
participation in local events; (2) qualitative and quantitative assessment, which includes
focus groups, input sessions, pop-ups and a community-wide survey; (3) collaborative
planning and development of the plan, which will include community meetings with
involvement from cross-sector stakeholders and community members to design
actionable strategies; (4) implementation of the plan, which will be determined based on
the strategies designed by the community; and (5) evaluation, which will use a
measurement tools and data identified at the beginning of the planning phase to
measure effectiveness and impact.
Community and stakeholder engagement began in March 2024 and is ongoing
throughout the entire project. Qualitative research also began in March 2024 and
continues through the assessment phase. The core of the quantitative assessment is a
community technology survey, deployed on October 10, 2025 and concluding
December 1, 2025.
Are there any grants you are currently pursuing or are there grants for which you
believe your project may be eligible? If so, what is the anticipated request?*
We are not currently pursuing any grants. Given the initiative's broad reach across
community and economic development, education, health, workforce development, civic
engagement, social connectedness, and the fact that it centers equity and inclusion by
ensuring all community members have access to the digital skills and tools needed to
navigate the digital landscape regardless of age, income, language, ability, or technical
experience, we believe there are numerous potential grant opportunities aligned with
HDAI's goals. We anticipate using a diversified funding approach to support different
aspects of the initiative.
Does the City Council support the project?
A city’s council must pass a resolution of support for the project to be eligible for
a League grant. This ensures the city is ready to move forward with the project if
they are awarded a grant. Applications will not be considered until a copy of that
resolution has been submitted to the League. You can find a sample copy of a
resolution here.
● Has the city council approved a resolution of support for the project?*
Who is working on this project?
Who are the primary city staff involved with the project? Please include names
and job titles.*
Beth Kivett, Hopkins Activity Center Program Coordinator
Is the city working with consultants on this project? If so, who?*
The mission driven organization Connecting to Thrive is working on this project.
Connecting to Thrive provides backbone support, which includes organizational support,
subject matter expertise, and project facilitation. Hannah Buckland, former Digital Equity
Program Lead with the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development, will provide
consulting services.
Have you engaged with an engineer, planning agency, architect, or financial
advisor to assess the overall cost of the project, funding options, and the
financial impact to the city? If so, who? What stage is the financial planning in?*
We have not engaged with a financial advisor. This project has no financial impact to
the city, as all project costs will be covered through grants and philanthropic support.
We are partnering with ICA, Food, Jobs, Housing, a local nonprofit that provides
essential social services to the Hopkins community. Our partnership with ICA allows us
to leverage the strengths and expand on the success of an existing community pillar.
Cost estimation and funding strategy are part of our planning process and will be refined
as we move through the community assessment and collaborative planning phases.
This refinement will be research-based and involve input from relevant experts. For this
application, we are developing the project budget in consultation with our planning
partner ICA: Food, Jobs, Housing and potential consultants.
Who are the consultants you expect to pay using the League grant? Only the
primary grant consultants are required. This may be the same consultant as listed
above. Cities should have a cost estimate from a consultant for the work to be
completed to apply for Grant Navigator funding.*
We expect to pay AmplifyDMC to provide grant writing and research services.
If using a consultant, have you received a quote or cost estimate for these grant
services, and how much are these services expected to cost? (This information is
needed for the Review Committee to assess the total Grant Navigator award.)*
AmplifyDMC has quoted us $5,000-10,000 for their services of grant writing to support
our project through to completion of the planning phase and into portions of the
implementation.
Project Readiness
Not all sections need to be marked “Yes” for your project to be eligible for a League
grant
Feasibility studies are a formal assessment of the practicality of a proposed plan
and are recommended to be conducted prior to committing resources and time.
Has a feasibility study been conducted for the project?*
No, we do not plan to conduct a feasibility study. Our iterative multi-phase planning
process incorporates feasibility assessment throughout. As part of community research,
stakeholder engagement, and collaborative planning we have been systematically
evaluating what is feasible and sustainable for Hopkins while building the stakeholder
engagement that is essential for successful plan implementation.
Is there a Capital Investment Plan (CIP) for the project?*
No
Has a local funding source been identified for the project (e.g., savings, bonds)?
If so, please briefly list the source.*
No
Are there any other regulatory approvals needed (e.g., county, state agency)?*
No