The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors today approved $4.38 million for a variety of local climate resiliency projects ranging from building up local government electric vehicle infrastructure to a fare-free transit program for youth on public transit and others. The County anticipates being able to use these funds as leverage to bring in roughly $6 million in outside funding.
The Climate Resilience Fund, composed of $10 million, was set aside by the Board of Supervisors in May of 2021 out of PG&E settlement funds related to the 2017 fires. The Board of Supervisors distributed $5.05 million in a first round of funding in February 2022, and after today’s $4.38 million allocation, the remaining $570,506 is being reserved to leverage state, federal and other climate-related funding opportunities through county matching dollars.
“This funding furthers the board’s commitment to address climate change by delivery on local solutions that will yield local results,” said Supervisor James Gore, chair of the Board of Supervisors. “As we move forward, it’s critical that we continue to seek out and leverage opportunities to build upon the progress we’ve made so far in mitigating and adapting to the climate crisis.”
The Climate Resilience Fund projects that were approved to be fully funded on Tuesday include:
- $500,000 for the addition of Class II bike lanes in Sonoma Valley.
- $100,000 to find a vendor to install Level 3 electric vehicle chargers in Park and Ride lots throughout the county.
- $685,000 for installing several electric vehicle charging stations at the Sheriff’s Office, allowing the fleet to include electric patrol vehicles.
Projects that were partially funded to encourage the departmental and agency applicants to seek outside leveraged funds include:
- $100,000 to produce a Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Plan for Regional Parks that will be shaped and defined by its existing greenhouse gas inventory.
- $941,760 for autonomous renewable electric vehicle chargers to be stationed in the county’s regional parks.
- $1,447,266 toward Fare Free Transit for Youth plus Express Lines for a two-year period beginning July 1, 2023 on Santa Rosa CityBus, Petaluma Transit and Sonoma County Transit.
- $300,000 to promote prescribed grazing through training, resources and mentorships on grazing management for landowners and businesses.
- $303,320 to install a rainwater catchment system at Helen Putnam Regional Park and create partial designs for three additional rainwater catchment projects at other regional parks.
In February, the Board of Supervisors allocated a little more than $5 million of the original $10 million Climate Resilience Fund. Some of the 13 climate projects funded in February had included a variety of energy upgrades to the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building, bike path acquisitions, drought assessments and others. Read the February press release for more information on the other previously funded projects.
