San Joaquin County Supervisor Robert Rickman recently announced the addition of regular office hours in Escalon.
Rickman is increasing outreach to the Escalon community in collaboration with the City of Escalon. Board Aide Maria Valenzuela will represent Supervisor Rickman at Escalon City Hall every Thursday between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., to take inquiries from Escalon residents.
City Hall is at 2060 McHenry Ave., Escalon.
“I pressed for additional staff to ensure Board offices have the ability to increase responsiveness to the needs of our county residents,” Rickman explained. “With the addition of Board Aide Maria Valenzuela, my office is pleased to increase accessibility for our constituents. Maria is knowledgeable and has great experience working with small businesses, the community, city and county officials. Having Maria out in the District will be a benefit to residents of District 5 and enhance the responsiveness of my office.”
In other recent action, at its meeting on March 11, the county board authorized the use of $3,136,667 in interest accrued from an American Rescue Plan Act Fund Balance to augment previously approved projects and fund annual costs for the San Joaquin County Joint Radio Users Group (JRUG).
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was enacted to provide critical funding for state and local governments to respond to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, support economic recovery, and invest in long-term community resilience.
Board members approved obligating the remaining ARPA funds to various projects. The ARPA Fund accrued more than $5 million in interest. To ensure compliance, interest earned on ARPA funds must be tracked separately and reported as part of ARPA fund management and used for eligible expenditures under the same guidelines as the original funds, including public health response, economic impacts, revenue replacement, premium pay, and infrastructure investments.
The funds will increase awards for eight previously approved projects that have encountered unanticipated shortfalls due to various factors, such as extended timelines or additional work identified after project initiation.
These include Veterans’ projects such as $39,129 for American Legion Post #190 (Ripon) for a total project (building upgrades and renovations) amount of $787,629 and $22,000 for American Legion Post #172 (Tracy) for a total project (building upgrades/renovations/equipment) amount of $900,472.
“It is an honor to support the brave men and women who have served in our armed forces. Our veterans answered the call of duty, risking everything to protect our freedoms, our families, and our future. Now, it is our turn to serve them,” said Rickman.
Also included was the South County Fire Authority Regional Training Facility; $1,300,000 for South San Joaquin County Fire Authority (City of Tracy) for a total project amount of $4,107,234.
“It’s a pleasure to support our firefighters and provide funding for the completion of the first phase of the training facility,” added Rickman. “This new facility will provide our brave men and women the training and equipment they need to continue to protect our communities and most importantly, return home safely to their families at the end of their shift.”
Additionally, the board authorized an additional $1,000,000 to enhance safety communications, committing ARPA interest to cover San Joaquin County Joint Radio Users Group (JRUG) radio maintenance costs for up to 15 years. JRUG radio systems and command centers provide additional coverage in the rural parts of San Joaquin County.
