FOUNTAIN VALLEY : City Prepares a Welcome to Recycle City

Empty pop bottles, discarded grocery bags and bread wrappers will soon be the first thing visitors see when they enter Fountain Valley, though they may not recognize them.

Beginning early next year, the city will collect 2.2 tons of the recyclable materials and transform them into 10 monument-style city limit signs.

That amount of refuse “sounds like a lot, but when you have a whole community saving it, it adds up quickly,” said Susan Lynn, environmental programs manager.

The City Council agreed Tuesday to contribute $20,000 to help pay for the signs, projected to cost nearly $49,000.

Lynn said the city will receive a $23,650 grant from the state Department of Conservation, and the remaining money will come from community contributions.

The recyclable materials will be turned into a wood and plastic product. The signs will be installed on major roadways and street medians by August, 1996, Lynn said. Some of them will read: “Fountain Valley has a sure sign that recycling works.”