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Concord Votes To Foot The Bill For Copper Thefts

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – As cities and agencies around the Bay Area work to figure out how to pay for the recent rash of copper thefts, the Concord City Council voted Tuesday night to spend nearly half of a million dollars to replace what's been stolen.

Between May and August of this year thieves stripped 5,000 feet of copper from light posts at six of Concord's parks. City engineer Danea Gemmell said that not only does the wiring need to be replaced, but vandal-resistant concrete boxes also need to be installed to prevent it from happening again.

KCBS' Anna Duckworth Reports:

"The wire theft is about a quarter of a million dollars, and the boxes are about $160,000, so combined it's $420,000," said Gemmell.

She said that it's money that the city didn't plan to spend, so upgrades such as energy-efficient lighting will have to wait.

"Even if we are addressing it as an insurance we still have deductibles and each theft is an individual deductible," she said.

Vallejo estimates it will cost $220,000 to replace copper wires stolen in that city since May. A BART spokesman said that burglaries have cost the agency $90,000 so far this year.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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