Title
Supervisor Thomas recommending the Board:
1) Find that a public benefit is derived from supporting funding towards the Camino Beautification Project in the roundabout built for the Camino Safety Project at Camino Heights and Carson Road; and
2) Approve and authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to sign a funding agreement, consistent with the County's standard form and upon the approval of County Counsel, authorize payment of the $5,000 community funding contribution to Arts & Culture El Dorado as the fiscal agent for this community project.
FUNDING: Community Funding/General Fund.
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
The Camino Safety Project on Highway 50 in the Camino area began in 2020 and was completed in 2023. The purpose of this project was to improve safety on US 50 in the Camino corridor by installing a concrete median barrier that would restrict left-turn movements at at-grade intersections, rehabilitate deteriorated culverts and provide access for wildlife crossing the route. Safety improvements were needed because the collision rates along this segment of US 50 are higher than the statewide average. A secondary purpose was to maintain local and regional access to and from the north and south sides of Highway 50 while providing safe east-west access on and off the highway.
An undercrossing was built to provide traffic access from one side of the highway to the other. In this area a roundabout was constructed to help with the flow of traffic. As the project was completed, local artist, Terrie Bennett, contacted Supervisor Thomas with her concerns on how the area looked. She wanted to discuss with the Supervisor her thoughts on a sculpture that could provide a gateway for the area.
A group of citizens organized a grassroots community endeavor to survey the community to determine the vision of the community. Attached is a rendering of the sculpture utilizing the outcomes from the survey.
Sierra Pacific Industries which has a plant in the heart of Camino, pledged $7,500 towards this project and if approved the $5,000 Community funding allocation from the District 3 allotment, will kickstart this fundraising effort.
Arts & Culture El Dorado will be the fiscal agent for this project. Here is the link <https://artsandcultureeldorado.org/camino-roundabout/> to the website for this project.
ALTERNATIVES
The Board could choose not to approve the funding request, and no funding would be provided in support of these efforts.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION
N/A
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
Arts & Culture El Dorado
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The Board of Supervisors allocated $75,000 in Fiscal Year 2023-24 budget in General Fund - Other Operations (Department 15) to be available for community funding requests supported by the Board. Approval of this item would allocate $5,000 from this amount. There is no additional impact to the General Fund due to the approval of this agreement.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
N/A
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
Thriving Economy
CONTACT
Supervisor Wendy Thomas