RECOMMENDATION(S): (CONT'D)
3) DIRECT the Auditor/Controller to release $18,705.00 from the Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund to the Urban Creeks Council for the Rheem Creek Restoration and Watershed Education Project to support restoration activities at Contra Costa College in San Pablo that will benefit the fish and wildlife resources of the County.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No impact to the general fund. A portion of the fines collected from violations of fish and game regulations in the County is deposited in the Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund, which has a current balance of approximately $300,000. State law defines how money in this fund may be spent, but the Board of Supervisors is responsible for authorizing specific expenditures. The projects recommended to receive funding are consistent with the expenditure criteria established by State Law.
BACKGROUND:
Since 1996, the Fish and Wildlife Committee (FWC) has implemented a structured process for reviewing funding requests. The intent of this structured review process was to replace case-by-case decision-making (such as occurred previously) with a grant process that enables comparative and efficient review of applications.
Occasionally the Committee receives requests for funds outside of the regular grant cycle. These proposals must meet all the regular requirements of applications as well as the justification why the funding request should be considered outside the regular cycle. The criteria established by the FWC for considering applications outside the regular grant cycle are:
• the project is a FWC-initiated project; or
• delaying review of the project until the annual review cycle would cause substantial harm to the fish and wildlife resources of the County; or
• the project cannot be performed at all unless funding is received from the Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund sooner than would be possible under the annual review cycle; or
• the project has substantial matching funds which will expire unless funding is received from the Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund sooner than would be possible under the annual review cycle.
The FWC discussed the funding applications at its November 2008 and January 2009 meetings and determined by unanimous votes that both proposals comply with the established criteria. The FWC also voted unanimously to recommend that the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors approve funding these two grant applications in full. Additional detail on the two recommended appropriations is provided below:
1) Appropriate $1,163.40 from the Contra Costa County Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund to the Contra Costa County Department of Conservation and Development for the Volunteer Creek Monitoring Program’s analysis of benthic macroinvertebrate samples. These samples would provide critical information on the effects of vegetation removal on benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages and on the effects on benthic macroinvertebrate communities following the introduction of the invasive New Zealand Mud Snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum).
2) Appropriate $18,705 from the Contra Costa County Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund to the Urban Creeks Council for the Rheem Creek Restoration and Watershed Education Project. This project provides funding for vegetation installation, maintenance and monitoring at a creek restoration site on Rheem Creek at Contra Costa College in San Pablo.