The City will reduce electricity use by more than 50 percent in its parking garages by replacing the existing lighting with new light-emitting diodes known as LEDs. The lighting retrofit is expected to save the City more than $1.1 million over 11 years. The new fixtures are being installed at five of the eight public parking garages owned by the City. Making use of a federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) from the U.S. Department of Energy that acts as a revolving loan program, SMUD incentives totaling $181,000 and a $289,000 rebate from the Energy Technology Assistance Program (ETAP)* allowed the City to afford the $1.3 million up-front cost of converting to the hi

For the past eight weeks, 33 at-risk high school students have been renovating Howe Park. They have designed and built a small dog park, refurbished park benches and walking bridges, and remodeled landscaping – and they will be showing off their handiwork Thursday from 11 a.m.-noon. Funds to do the work were scarce, but a trio of government agencies collaborated to make it possible. The Fulton-El Camino Park District's general manager, Roy Imai, said that when the Sacramento County Office of Education contacted him about a partnership, his staff brainstormed several project possibilities. Imai said his office had six ideas, but were unsure of where the money would come from. The final p

The first foreclosed home purchased by the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency is under renovation and will soon be for sale and occupancy at an affordable price under a partnership program that SHRA developed using the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The home is located at 3525 34th Street in Oak Park. SHRA has partnered with NeighborWorks Homeownership Sacramento as a volume builder under the Property Recycling Program. The PRP works with governmental, non-profit and for-profit partners to provide access to properties and funding to remove the blight of foreclosures through redevelopment activities, acquisition and rental of affordable housing, and acquisition and re