Placer County hailed recent news that a federal budget bill signed by President Bush Wednesday includes funding for four county projects. A bipartisan effort by Congressman John Doolittle and Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer supported funding for the county projects.
‘The Board of Supervisors maintains close ties with California’s delegation in Congress, and they strongly support our efforts to fund critical projects year after year. They work hard on our behalf,’ Board Chairman Bruce Kranz said.
Topping the list is a grant of $1,598,000 for the countywide technology program, which will vastly improve communications among the Placer County Sheriff’s Office and other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
‘This critical funding will help protect Placer County Sheriff’s deputies and improve their communication with other agencies,’ observed District 1 Supervisor Rocky Rockholm, a retired police sergeant. ‘This pay-as-you-go system does not encumber our taxpayers with debt. It’s the right thing for our employees and our residents.’
Placer County’s Sub-Regional Wastewater Treatment plant will receive $936,000, bringing the total to about $5 million in federal funding.
‘When completed, this modern treatment plant will help protect our environment, make possible the reuse of water for landscaping and allow several old plants in need of significant repairs to be closed,’ said District 2 Supervisor Robert Weygandt.
‘Funding of about $25 million over the next three to five years will be critical as operators of old plants such as Auburn and Placer County face critical decisions in meeting federal clean water requirements.’
Placer County will receive $492,000 for a biomass utilization pilot project in eastern Placer County. Biomass utilization is a process that converts dead tree limbs and other forest debris into forms of clean energy.
‘I am very pleased funding for the pilot project was included in the federal budget bill, because the county’s biomass program is one of my top priorities,’ Supervisor Kranz said. ‘The pilot project will demonstrate how our biomass program can help reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfires in Placer County while using debris from our forests to generate clean energy.’
More than $380,000 has been set aside for phase two of the new Placer County Children’s Health Center and Emergency Shelter, which will provide a safe haven for abused and neglected children whose parents cannot care for them at the time they stay there. Phase one of the new facility will open next spring.
‘Our thanks to Congressman John Doolittle and Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer for their bipartisan support on behalf of the residents of Placer County,’ said Supervisor Rockholm.