BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. - Additional support is on the way to keep the community healthy after Butte County received a state public health grant.
The grant money will allow Butte County to continue to participate in the immunization assistance program, as it's done for many years.
The program helps local health departments in preventing and controlling vaccine-preventable diseases, including Polio, Tetanus, and Hepatitis B. During the 2020-2021 fiscal year, the funding was also expanded for COVID-19 vaccination planning and education -- this grant helps keep the program going.
"This is a recurring grant and has been coming in for a long time and this one was renewed starting on July 1, 2022,” said Danette York, the Butte County Public Health Director. “This came through because it's an expansion. They added funding in order to support the COVID-19 vaccination program as part of this immunization assistance program."
York said vaccines have prevented disease for years and that data reflects that this program would not continue without the grant funds.
Expanded funding also helps the department of health with community outreach about accurate vaccine information, and promoting vaccinations within vulnerable communities. The expanded funding is available through the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
Any expanded funds that go unspent will roll into the next fiscal year but expire on June 30, 2025.
Roads damaged in North Complex Fire
People can expect to see the work take place in areas damaged during the 2020 North Complex Fire.
The two projects discussed were the Miners Ranch Road Rehabilitation Project and the Lower Wyandotte Road Rehabilitation Project. Supervisors decided to move forward with plans to repair the roads.
One project seeks to replace existing asphalt concrete with new concrete on Miners Ranch Road from Highway 162 to Oro Bangor Highway.
The other project seeks to do the same from Lower Wyandotte Road from District Center Drive to Foothill Boulevard.
"It'll be safer, better transportation,” Butte County District 1 Supervisor Bill Connelly said. “This is repairing the damage on Lower Wyandotte and Oro Bangor that was caused by the North Complex Fire. All the extra treks, equipment, and men traveling up and down there caused damage and we're repairing it."
The Board gave the OK to move forward with project plans and award the contracts to Knife River Construction in both road rehabilitation projects. Knife River was the lowest responsible bidder at roughly $1.5 million for the Miners Ranch Road project and about $400,000 for the Lower Wyandotte Road project.
Moving ahead with contracts for both projects was unanimously approved by the board and construction is expected to start in the next couple of months.
Connelly said the board is looking at other paving projects in the county including for Ophir Road.
