Quarter 3 - In This Issue:
Randall Lewis Health Policy Fellow

The San Bernardino Council of Governments is proud to partner with the Randall Lewis Health Policy Fellowship program and host Fellow Lauryn Nellum. The purpose of the program is to ensure the development of health professionals who possess the necessary skills to influence positive change in public policy, systems, and the built environment in local municipalities. The competitive fellowships create educational and professional opportunities for students in health policy and related disciplines, provide for the expansion of the regional health policy infrastructure, and retain essential intellectual capital in our local communities.

Ms. Nellum is enrolled at the University of California, Riverside. She will receive academic credit for fulfillment of the internship requirements with the fellowship experience. Ms. Nellum will be working with the COG and the Planning Department to learn how different aspects of public policy, regional planning, and the built environment have a tangible impact on public health.
Opioid Abuse Reduction Toolkit

As mentioned in our last COG Communicator, not only is SBCOG partnering with San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health on a prescription drug drop box pilot program, but we will also be partnering on the development of a toolkit. The toolkit will contain evidence-based best practices for our local jurisdictions to use in order to address drug misuse and abuse in our communities. Additionally, the toolkit will encourage engagement between local jurisdictions and community coalitions in their continuous efforts to promote a variety of both preventive and treatment measures. 

SBCOG is actively seeking grant and funding opportunities to fuel public outreach efforts including state and federal events, such as:  
  • DEA-sponsored Drug Take Back Days 
  • Recovery Happens awareness programs.
Holiday LED Light Exchange and Complimentary Energy Efficiency Starter Kits

The San Bernardino Regional Energy Partnership (SBREP), a program  between  SBCOG, Southern California Edison (SCE) and  SoCalGas, is hosting its  third annual Holiday LED Light Exchange and Complimentary Energy Efficient Starter Kit events. 

At the events, SCE customers have the opportunity to exchange up to two sets of incandescent holiday lights for energy efficient LED holiday lights, and SoCalGas customers can receive a complimentary energy efficiency starter kit. This opportunity is available at NO COST to all SCE and SoCalGas residential customers in San Bernardino County. To participate in the holiday light exchange, SCE customers must bring a copy of their monthly bill, photo identification matching the customer address, and their old incandescent holiday lights. To receive the complimentary energy efficiency starter kit, SoCalGas customers must bring a copy of their monthly bill and photo identification matching the customer address. Supplies are limited and are first come, first served.

Dates & Locations: 

  • November 27, 2017
    6 p.m. - 8 p.m. 
    City of Upland Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony
    460 N. Euclid Avenue
    Upland, CA 
     
  • November 28, 2017 
    12 p.m. - 3 p.m. 
    City of Rancho Cucamonga Food Pantry 
    9791 Arrow Route 
    Rancho Cucamonga, CA
     
  • December 2, 2017
    5 p.m. - 8 p.m. 
    City of Chino Hills Tree Lighting Ceremony 
    14250 Peyton Drive
    Chino Hills, CA 
     
  • December 9, 2017 
    10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 
    City of Rialto Holiday Parade and Vendor Fair
    150 S. Palm Avenue 
    Rialto, CA
     
  • December 9, 2017
    11 a.m. - 3 p.m. 
    City of Fontana Festival of Winter 
    17255 Merrill Avenue
    Fontana, CA 
     
  • December 15, 2017 
    5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
    Winter Holiday at RC Family Resource Center 
    9791 Arrow Route 
    Rancho Cucamonga, CA 

    For more information, contact Nicole Soto at nsoto@gosbcta.com or (909) 884-8276.
Inland Economic Growth Opportunity Project

The University of California, Riverside (UCR) Center for Sustainable Suburban Development convened a number of meetings with civic and business leaders from throughout Riverside and San Bernardino counties to discuss the economic future of the Inland Empire. These discussions led to the creation of the Inland Economic Growth Opportunity (IEGO) Project. This is an effort with the Brookings Institute for its assistance and expertise in helping the region develop a plan for inclusive growth and opportunity.

A coalition of local universities, led by UCR, have agreed to help coordinate a group of stakeholders to review, comment, challenge, and provide feedback on the data, research, and draft plan as it is being developed. The stakeholders will also serve as champions for the plan in community.

SCAG City Growth Forecasting for the 2020 SCAG RTP/SCS

SBCTA and Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) staff have been communicating on the initial draft of existing (2016) socioeconomic data and future (2045) growth forecasts for San Bernardino County jurisdictions. SCAG has produced an initial set of county-level forecasts and SBCTA has responded with a first cut at jurisdiction-level forecasts to use as a starting point. 

SCAG has indicated that the individual local jurisdiction input process will begin in November of this year. SBCTA staff will discuss the draft city level total estimates at one-on-one meetings with individual jurisdictions. These estimates will be the bases of traffic analysis zone level forecasts, and will be used as part of the next Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) process.
City of Upland Receives Nearly $10,000 through the San Bernardino Regional Energy Partnership  

The San Bernardino Regional Energy Partnership (SBREP) and Southern California Edison (SCE) presented the City of Upland with a $9,577.47 incentive check at their City Council meeting on June 26th for their participation in SCE's Pump Overhaul Pilot Project. In addition to the money saved, Upland will benefit from a savings of 87,067.9 kWh from the project. By participating in the pilot project the city was eligible for $0.11 per kWh saved, which assisted them with receiving nearly half of their project cost back in incentives.

The overall goal of the SBREP, which is a program among SBCOG, SCE and SoCalGas, is to support cities with implementing energy efficiency upgrades within their facilities by offering free resources and technical assistance, energy efficiency programs and encouraging them to lead by example. In addition to supporting municipalities, the SBREP provides education to residents within the community.
2020 Census - LUCA

The Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) is a voluntary decennial (ten-year) census operation. LUCA is the only opportunity prior to the 2020 Census for tribal, state, and local governments, to review and update the U.S. Census Bureau's residential address list for their jurisdictions. The Census Bureau relies on a complete and accurate address list to reach every living quarters and associated population for inclusion in the census.

For general information, please go to Census LUCA
Grants

Grant Workshop

SBCOG will host a Grant Workshop with Blais & Associates on Thursday, October 26th at SBCTA. The workshop is open to SBCTA/SBCOG member agencies.  Among items to be discussed are:
  • Grant Writing Tips
  • Understanding Granting Agencies (federal, state, regional)
  • Grants by Department
  • Tips for Success
Upcoming Grant Opportunities
  • Caltrans has released the final guidelines for two planning grant programs for which applications are due October 20th:
    • Additional Sustainable Communities Grants for FY 17-18 from Senate Bill 1
    • Adaptation Planning Grants from Senate Bill 1
  • Strategic Growth Council (SGC) Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) Implementation, concepts due October 18th.
  • SGC Affordable Housing Sustainable Communities (AHSC) 
    • SBCTA Planning has made Blais & Associates available for technical assistance to local jurisdictions.
    • Applications due January 16, 2018
       
Zero Emission Vehicle Regional Readiness Plan

On May 10, 2017, SBCOG was awarded a grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC) to develop a San Bernardino Countywide Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Plan. SBCOG's goal in developing the plan will be to create a roadmap identifying zero emission vehicle (ZEV) charging infrastructure deployment sufficient to support the County's anticipated number of ZEV's adopted by 2020 and 2025. This is based on an extrapolation of the Governor's goals articulated in the 2014 California Statewide Plug-In Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Assessment.

SBCOG member cities will have the opportunity to participate in the development of the plan through an informal working group. Through this process, the overall goal of the working group is to develop a list of potential "shovel-ready" projects with associated costs and other relevant guidance documents that can be used as a roadmap for future grant opportunities to implement ZEV infrastructure. The working group will be assembled by SBCOG and a contractor hired through a Request for Proposal.

Monique Reza-Arellano
Council of Governments Administrator
San Bernardino Council of Governments
909-884-8276