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You, too, can adopt a county road
| Monday, Jun 16 2008 5:14 PM
Last Updated: Tuesday, Jun 17 2008 7:39 AM
A cleanup crew of about 15 volunteers wearing work gloves and neon yellow vests endured the summertime heat to deliver a message to the community: “Keep Kern Roads Clean.”
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• Designate a group contact or leader
• Complete an application online or print one out and send it to the Kern County Roads Department: Keep Kern Roads Clean, c/o Kern County Roads Department, 2700 M St., Suite 400, Bakersfield, Calif., 93301.
Or applications can be faxed to 862-8851.
• Agree to clean a two-mile stretch of roadside for a minimum of two years.
The message is also the name of a new county program in which individuals, families, businesses and other groups clean up a two-mile stretch of roads throughout the county four or more times a year for a minimum of two years.
Each group’s name is featured on a “Keep Kern Roads Clean” sign marking their area. It’s similar to the state Adopt a Highway program.
The effort kicked off at the corner of Buena Vista Boulevard and Fairfax Road Monday morning; the Dolores Huerta Foundation is the first organization to sign up.
“The main message that we want to give here is the fact that we can do so many things when we work together,” said Dolores Huerta, the foundation’s president.
The county project is an effort of the county Waste Management and Roads departments plus Community Clean Sweep, a nonprofit that addresses the problems of flyaway trash and illegal dumping.
Roads Department Director Craig Pope said keeping roads clean has cost up to $200,000 a year.
“None of us have the resources alone, but if we work together, we’ll be able to do this,” he said. “And with community volunteers, we should be able to keep this place cleaner than we ever have before. And we’ll not only keep it cleaner, but it will cost less to the public.”
Mary Beth Garrison, Community Clean Sweep executive director, said county Supervisors Don Maben and Michael Rubio strongly supporters of the project.
“When people come to move here or to send big businesses here, they drive around, and if they see clean roads and healthy communities, they will want to come to Kern County,” Maben said.
Paola Fernandez, Poder Popular Program manager for the foundation, said she would like to challenge other groups and organizations to volunteer for the program.
“They take pride in living in this community, and it gets even better when the roads are clean,” she said.