The Latest News from TPA

Orange County Great Park Receives $45,000 Grant for Transit Service

Townsend Public Affairs assisted the Orange County Great Park, in partnership with the City of Irvine, to apply and secure $45,000 in funding to provide shuttle service to the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon and XPO.

The funding helped to provide continuous, dedicated shuttle service from the Irvine Transportation Center to the Great Park on two consecutive weekends of the major international event and competition: October 5 and 6, and October 12 and 13 of 2013. Many visitors will utilize the iShuttle as the Irvine Transportation Center represents the second busiest train station in Orange County and serves as a hub for many regional and local bus routes. With the iShuttle service, Southern California residents throughout the region were able to easily get to the Solar Decathlon without an automobile. In addition, the project aligns with the goals of AQMD to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by decreasing vehicle traffic in and around the Great Park.

Working with City of Irvine and Orange County Great Park staff, Townsend Public Affairs identified this funding opportunity, crafted and submitted the application, and then assisted with the necessary advocacy to secure funding.

For more information on the 2013 Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, please visit here.

City of Fullerton Wins Gang Reduction Funding Worth $1 Million

In an effort to minimize gang activity and crime in the City of Fullerton, a collaborative effort was put forth by the City, community-based organizations, schools and local law enforcement. As one component of these efforts, the City applied for a California Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention (CalGRIP) grant.

With Townsend Public Affairs efforts and advocacy, the City was successfully awarded the 2012/14 CalGRIP grant. Fullerton was the only city in Orange County to be awarded this grant. They were fully funded for $500,000 with a $500,000 match, making it a $1 million project.

The overarching project goal is to continue the City’s work to reduce the ever-rising number of intergenerational gang members and to continue building on the momentum generated by the focused approach to suppress, intervene and prevent gang violence.

Orange County Water Agencies Brief California Resources Agency Secretary John Laird

Townsend Public Affairs facilitated a visit by Natural Resources Secretary John Laird with the Municipal Water District of Orange County, Orange County Sanitation District, and Orange County Water District. Collectively, the three regional entities provide water and wastewater service to over 2.8 million Orange County residents. Secretary Laird was able to tour the Orange County Sanitation District and the Orange County Water District facilities and receive a detailed briefing from the Municipal Water District of Orange County about their agency. Secretary Laird also had the opportunity to tour the Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS).

The design and construction of the GWRS was a project jointly-funded by the Orange County Water District and the Orange County Sanitation District. These two public agencies have worked together for more than 30 years leading the way in water recycling and providing a locally-controlled, drought-proof and reliable supply of high-quality water in an environmentally sensitive and economical manner.

The Municipal Water District of Orange County spoke to the Secretary about their development of the South Orange Coastal Ocean Desalination Project This project would decrease the area’s dependence upon imported drinking water supplies, as south Orange County depends on water imported from northern California and the Colorado River to meet approximately 95 percent of its local demand. This new, local water supply would also benefit the area during emergencies and outages of the regional imported water delivery system.

Discovery Cube Orange County Receives $7 Million Grant for Facility Expansion

Discovery Science Center is embarking on a $62 million capital campaign to expand the Discovery Science Center. The $18.5 million first phase will include a new 40,000-square-foot Discovery Pavilion, a California Natural Resources Pavilion and an Education Wing. The Grand Hall of Science (original science center) will also be expanded by 4,000 square feet. Townsend Public Affairs successfully secured $7 million under the Proposition 84 Nature Education Facilities Program to support the California Natural Resources Pavilion.

“This is a great opportunity to take the Science Center from being good, to being the best science center in the country,” says Joe Adams, the President of the Discovery Science Center.

Townsend Public Affairs has secured over $50,000,000 from the State and Federal government. Discovery Science Center has been a loyal client since 1998. Townsend Public Affairs is excited about DSC’s future expansion and will diligently be working to secure additional funding to support their efforts.

Click here for a cover story about the DSC expansion in the October 2012 OC Metro.

Orange County Great Park to Host 2014 Solar Decathlon

For the first time, following a national, competitive process, this biennial worldwide competition will be held outside of Washington, D.C., and take place on October 3-13, 2013 in California at the Orange County Great Park. Townsend Public Affairs played a pivotal role in securing the support of a bipartisan coalition of local, state, and federal elected officials for the Orange County Great Park’s proposal.

The Solar Decathlon, which will feature the world’s leading colleges and universities competing to design the energy-efficient, solar-powered homes of the future. The competition will be the centerpiece of a larger showcase called the XPO, a world’s fair of clean, renewable and efficient energy hosted at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California.

Solar Decathlon offers the State of California a fantastic opportunity to highlight the State’s unparalleled innovative spirit and focus on the jobs of the future. Of the 20 collegiate teams, five universities comprising four teams that represent California in the competition – Santa Clara University; Stanford University; Southern California Institute of Architecture and California Institute of Technology; and the University of Southern California. The competition invites the public to tour homes and meet student decathletes, which provides free ideas and advice on how to save money and protect the environment by incorporating the latest technologies and products. The XPO also offers hands-on workshops and programming showcasing the growing clean, renewable and efficient energy industry.

The Orange County Great Park will host the Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon 2013 and XPO from October 3-13, 2013.

City of Tulare Receives $3.3 Million Grant for Highway Safety Project

Through the 2006 voter-approved Proposition 1B Highway-Railroad Crossing Safety (HRCSA) Grant Program, Townsend Public Affairs was successful with the City of Tulare to secure $3.3 million in funding for the Santa Fe Trail at the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) project.

This instrumental project will provide a grade-separated west-east trail extension in the City Center, eliminating traffic delay and providing safe crossing of the UPRR tracks for those using alternative transportation modes such as bicyclists and pedestrians.

In addition to addressing safety and design concerns with the current grade railroad crossing, the project will allow and encourage the economic development within the area. With the distribution of residents and planned growth, it will be important to maintain access to goods and services as well as medical and governmental services which are primarily located east of the tracks. The new and strategically located grade-separated crossing will accomplish this important civic need, address environmental justice, in addition to saving lives in the process.