A little more greenery will spring up in two local communities.
Both Biggs and Live Oak will each receive more than $400,000 in state grants to spruce up public parks according to the state Department of Housing and Community Development.
Biggs city planner Scott Friend says it leaves local officials with options.
“Site acquisition costs, or physical park equipment,” Friend said.
That could mean anything from picnic tables and benches to basketball courts, playground equipment and a new pocket park.
The money originates with Proposition 1 C, a $2.9 billion bond measure approved in 2006. The bulk of funding is earmarked for housing programs for low-income seniors, veterans, working families and people with disabilities.
The city’s Trent Street lot, long planned as a park, will likely move forward. Left over funding could help buy “a parcel of land and develop a, we’ll call it a pocket park, or a neighborhood park,” Friend said.
The park funds are meant to beautify and provide recreational opportunities near housing subsidized by Prop 1 C.
Under terms of the grant, the parks or facilities must be completed by the end of 2018.