Using eGMS

How do I find legislator district numbers? 

• Using Find My Legislator, enter an address and a list of elected officials, as well as a map of their districts, will populate. Find the Senate or House District number under the name of each legislator listed.

What is the project address? 

• This is the street address of the project location. For example, if the project is a community center the project address would be the street address of the community center building. If the project includes the wastewater treatment plant, the project address may be the plant or the applicant (Town/City Hall, Commissioner’s Office). If the project includes multiple streets or buildings, please use the address of the applicant (Town/City Hall, Commissioner’s Office).

What does “NO Justification” mean? 

• This is an abbreviation for National Objective Justification. This field is the justification for the National Objective selected in the previous field.

What does “NO Census %” mean?

• This is an abbreviation for National Objective Census Percentage. This field is the Low-Moderate Income (LMI) percentage for the project.

How do you enter multiple tracts within block groups? 

• Enter the number of each tract separated by a comma. For multiple block groups, list the tracks for each block group together.

What is the character limit for the Narrative sections?  

• Each Narrative section has a character limit of 8,000 characters. The Summary of Work has a character limit of 2,000 characters

What are best practices for the Narrative sections? 

• OCRA encourages grant administrators to write applications in a separate word processor app prior to copying and pasting the final narrative into eGMS.
• Check that all narrative sections were properly copied to the text field – anything over 8,000 characters will not be included when you copy/paste from your original document.
• Review the text field to make sure line breaks are included in the proper places after pasting.

What is the Summary of Work field?

• The Summary of Work is where the “media blurb” for the application is to be included. If the application is awarded funds, what should OCRA share about the project? Grant Administrators should include a short narrative, less than 2,000 characters, describing the proposed work included in the project. This should not be a bulleted list.

Why does the screen flash when I enter information into the budget table? 

• As data is entered into each field, eGMS updates and runs calculation formulas within the table. The flash is simply another table update.

All fields are marked with a required asterisk, do I need to provide dates for both public hearings at proposal? 

• No – the first public hearing fields are required at proposal. Placeholder information will need to be included into the second public hearing fields during the proposal stage. Both public hearings are required at application. Placeholder information will need to be removed and second public hearing information added before submitting the final application.

What do we do if we have a CEST project?  

• CEST projects only need to contact DNR-DHPA (SHPO), DNR-DFW, and IDEM. Enter the date 1/1/1800 in all other fields for CEST projects.

What do we do if we do not contact/do not receive a response from an agency?  

• Non-responses should be submitted as 1/1/1800.

What do we do if we receive multiple agency responses (tribes)? 

• In this case, enter the date of the last response received.

Why is the grant administrator signing off for the engineer/architect and/or attorney?

• The grant administrator is marking complete sections that have been signed off by the engineer/architect and/or attorney on the signature page, which will be uploaded.

What do we mean by Environmental Documentation?

• Environmental information relating to the project. Do not upload agencies responses at this time. If there is no environmental information that needs to be included in the proposal/application, upload a PDF that states “no environmental documentation”.

What do we mean by Site Control Documentation?

• Site Control Documentation means any information that should be included in the proposal/application as it relates to the project. If there is no additional site control documentation to provide, upload a PDF that states “no site control documentation”.

Do we have to use the detailed budget template?

• It is not a requirement to use the detailed budget template, however OCRA strongly encourages using the template.

How do you reference uploads in the application narrative?  

• It is helpful to reference uploads by the document name, rather than the section they are uploaded to. Grant reviewers do not have the same section format that grant administrators do, so clearly referring to the name of the document referenced guides reviewers to the right place.

Do you need to re-submit uploads? 

• Uploads submitted during proposal will be automatically carried over to the application for that round. Uploads from prior rounds will not carried over to future proposals or applications.

Are the required files the only ones I can upload to a proposal/application? 

• No. Additional uploads may be included, and are encouraged, for a robust proposal/application.

Where can I find the detailed budget template?

• The detailed budget template can be found here.

Where can I find the signature page? 

• The signature page can be found on OCRA’s CDBG website under the 2019 Rd. 2 section.

What is the signature page, and where can it be found? 

• The signature page is a required upload with application submission. The signature page is for community representatives to verify the information included in the application. Download the signature page here.

What if the applicant does not have a stormwater rate? 

• Applicants should enter 0.00 where they do not have an applicable utility rate

What can be used as authorization to submit at proposal? 

• An email or letter from the Chief Elected Official can be uploaded at proposal in lieu of the signature page.