Highway 4 cameras possible among $1.5 million in community benefits from Keller Canyon Landfill fund
After a rigorous review of 117 applications, Supervisor Federal Glover announced the recipients of the $1.5 million in grants from the Keller Canyon Landfill Mitigation Fund. The Board of Supervisors approved the expenditures on Tuesday morning, July 19, 2016 at their meeting in Martinez.
Among the Keller grants this year was $100,000 for electronic surveillance of Highway 4 from Bay Point to Antioch where gang-related shootings have occurred the past year. It will be shared with the law enforcement agencies that line that roadway segment.
In all, the grants for the fiscal year 2016-2017 were awarded to 82 recipients providing a wide range of activities from a Christmas party for Bay Point’s children to a full-time resident deputy to crossing guards for Bay Point schools.
“The allocation set aside for to monitor Highway 4 – possibly including cameras and license plate readers – will be used by law enforcement to keep our residents safe,” says Glover.
The amount of available funding varies from year to year because the Keller fund is based on the tonnage delivered to the Keller Canyon Landfill located in the hills off of Bailey Road south of Pittsburg and Bay Point.
The county supervisors created the mitigation fund when voters in the early1990s approved the location of a landfill site in the hills south of Bay Point and Pittsburg. Since the landfill was located in District 5, the district 5 supervisor was given the responsibility of administering the fund. The fund helps alleviate some of the landfill’s impacts to the neighboring community.
In 2011, at the recommendation of the Auditor, Supervisor Glover reformed the distribution of the funds by limiting its use to the impacted area and instituting a fully transparent system for determining who is granted the awards and to ensure that the money is used for what it is intended.
The grants will be awarded August 18 after the recipients sign their contracts with the county. The programs or events that will benefit from the grants include:
•Bay Point holiday celebrations
•Field trips from Bay Point teenagers
•Antioch Rivertown Jamboree and Delta Thunder Boat Race
•A full-time deputy as a school resource officer in Bay Point schools.
•Bay Point Spring Derby Memorial Day Parade and Festival
•World Music and Arts Festival for Bay Point and Pittsburg elementary school students
•RotaCare Pittsburg Free Medical Clinic
•Ambrose Park Aquatic Center Project.
This year’s fund of $1,507,000 is based on the anticipated tonnage that will be delivered to the landfill for the fiscal year 2016-2017.
This is the second year in a row that the Keller fund has shown an increase, which might be an indication of an improving economy, said Glover.
“The grant awards are always difficult decisions because there are so many good services being provided by local agencies,” he added.
