Allocating Plumas County’s $7.8 million Dixie Fire settlement from Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has been in limbo for over a year. Numerous discussions have been scheduled for the Plumas County Board of Supervisors to approve guidelines on how to spend the fund. A decision, however, has been shuffled from one agenda to another.
The supervisors have proposed adopting a policy to guide spending the settlement fund in September, October and November 2023, and in March 2024. At their March 12 meeting, Supervisor Kevin Goss moved to place the issue on the agenda for April 16. They had taken no action by June 2.
Tired of the delays, the Dixie Fire Collaborative is urging greater county participation in the planning and funding of the rebuild already underway in Greenville and elsewhere. In particular, the supervisors should make some of its settlement funds available for new construction planning and replacing the county-owned buildings lost in the fire, said Patrick Joseph, coordinator of the collaborative focused on long-term recovery.
“The DFC is asking for a detailed discussion and board resolution of the PG&E settlement fund,” he said in a memo he read to the supervisors May 21.
“We’ve been waiting month after month. Are we ready yet?”
Patrick Joseph, Dixie Fire Collaborative coordinator
Calling it “a nudge,” Joseph asked the supervisors to adopt a policy that addresses the direct impacts of the Dixie Fire, leverages outside funds and gives priority to projects with “a high level of urgency.”
“We’ve been waiting month after month. Are we ready yet?” Joseph asked.
$7.8 million PG&E settlement announced in January 2023
Plumas County’s $7.8 million settlement from PG&E is part of a collective $24 million settlement to 10 public entities designed to pay for public and natural resource damages caused by the 2021 Dixie Fire. California’s largest single fire burned nearly 1 million acres of mostly forested land and destroyed the communities of Indian Falls, Canyon Dam and Warner Valley. It devastated downtown Greenville.
Nearly 800 homes were damaged or destroyed along with 144 commercial structures. Plumas County lost three public facilities in Greenville: the library, town hall and sheriff’s substation. California fire officials found PG&E responsible for starting the blaze with faulty electrical equipment in the Feather River Canyon near Pulga.
The county board of supervisors announced the PG&E settlement in January 2023. They did not disclose the amount of the award until August 2023, when they allocated $10,000 of the $7.8 million to a spay and neuter program for feral cats.
Since then the supervisors have met numerous times to discuss how to spend the rest of the money. The most recent discussion was March 12, when County Administrative Officer Debra Lucero advocated investing $2 million and using another $2 million as a match for grants.
“The majority of that PG&E settlement fund needs to be spent on Greenville.”
Kevin Goss, Plumas County supervisor
While Supervisors Kevin Goss and Jeff Engel were not ready to adopt a spending policy, they both strongly favored devoting most of the $7.8 million to rebuilding within the burn scar area. Goss’ motion to return the policy decision to the April 16 agenda passed unanimously. But it did not appear on that agenda and it has not been placed on the agenda of any subsequent board meetings.
Goss, whose district was most heavily impacted by the Dixie Fire, told The Plumas Sun he planned to “take action if there is no movement from our CAO and our chair of the board.”
“The majority of that PG&E settlement fund needs to be spent on Greenville — on rebuilding Greenville,” Goss said.
Building a public safety complex
The lack of a spending policy has not halted private construction in Greenville. Overall, 55 single-family dwellings have been rebuilt across all the damaged communities. Around five commercial structures have been rebuilt, Joseph said. He called the rebuilding of community spaces “a strong indicator of prosperity yet to come.”
The current community focus is on reconstruction of public facilities, including the three county-owned buildings lost in the fire. The Indian Valley Community Services District board has approved plans for a $4.5 million public safety complex. It will house the Indian Valley Fire Department’s Greenville station, Plumas District Hospital’s ambulance service and the Plumas County Sheriff Office’s Greenville substation.
The complex will be located on Highway 89 just south of the Greenville Wolf Creek Bridge on land owned by the IVCSD. Plans for the safety complex are already at the building department, Joseph said.
While the design is more than 70% complete, it may change slightly, said Adam Cox, IVCSD general manager. Fire Chief Bob Orange returned recently from a fire station design conference with some good ideas, he said. Even with last-minute changes, the public safety complex will be shovel-ready by the end of the year and construction could start as early as December, Cox said.
He does not expect the IVCSD to request any of the county’s $7.8 million PG&E settlement fund to build the public safety complex. It will be wholly owned by the IVCSD. The district board will negotiate long-term leases with Plumas County and Plumas District Hospital to host their facilities, Cox told The Plumas Sun.
Planning a community resilience center
The Indian Valley services district is also in active planning for another public complex generally referred to as the community resilience center. It will be located at the intersection of Main and Mill streets, at the former site of the Greenville Masonic Lodge.
After failing to be awarded a $500,000 planning grant, community, local and county officials regrouped and began exploring a variety of ideas for rebuilding a downtown community complex. Current plans include office suites, recreation facilities, a maker’s space and commercial kitchen. Two of the three county-owned buildings destroyed in the 2021 Dixie Fire would be incorporated into the center: the Greenville branch of the Plumas County Library and a community gathering space with a stage to replace the Greenville Town Hall.
County officials should be deeply involved in planning and funding for this facility, said Joseph. It will incorporate a library and other services in a more efficient use of space than separate standalone buildings. These are services the county has “a statutory obligation to provide,” he said.
“If there is no place for people to gain access to these county services, what is the county providing?” said Joseph.
The Greenville community is insisting on a full-service library, “not just a room with books” or “something on wheels,” he said. “People pay taxes here just like any other place in the county,” said Joseph. The community resilience center is a logical place for a partnership between the IVCSD and the county, he added.
If you can find funding for the planning you will likely find construction funds.
Adam Cox, Indian Valley Community Services District general manager
Plans for this center are definitely in flux, Cox said. He estimated construction costs at more than $10 million. The next step is funding the design of the building.
That’s where the largely unspent $7.8 million fund has a role, Cox said. In the world of grants, it’s much easier to find construction grants for shovel-ready, permitted projects than it is to find funding for design. If you can find funding for the planning you will likely find construction funds, he said.
“If,” Cox emphasized, adding, “It’s kind of like the chicken and the egg.”
Some of the county’s $7.8 million settlement money could fund designing the resilience center, Cox said. “We’re pretty confident we can then secure construction funding,” he added.
Funding in flux
The IVCSD has just started mediating with PG&E over the district’s losses, Cox said. “We took our time and hired some specialists to calculate not just our physical damages, but also our business revenue losses,” he said. Cox declined to name the settlement amount the district hopes to win, but said it would be eight figures. That money will be largely allocated to rebuilding, he said.
Plumas County officials are still negotiating with insurance companies over payment for the county’s losses. They are about $1 million apart, said Lucero, the county administrative officer.
The supervisors have used on-going insurance talks as their reason for delaying adoption of a policy for spending the $7.8 million PG&E settlement fund. That’s unnecessary, said Joseph. “The board can start talking about that policy without a final resolution on insurance,” he told The Plumas Sun. He proposed the county work with the IVSCD in “parallel planning” and “simultaneous action.”
Beyond the unknowns of insurance is largely unspoken hesitance to allocate the fund. Supervisor Greg Hagwood, chairman of the board, has consistently urged “refraining from hasty, major decisions.” Supervisor McGowan, who represents the Chester area, has reminded his colleagues that the Dixie Fire caused damage in his district as well as Goss’.
Spending the $7.8 million has been “a source of contention,” said Goss. “And I don’t blame folks for being upset.”
“We’re going to do the best that we possibly can with that $7.8 million for the folks inside the burn scar area. But there are also some county things we need to take care of that were lost,” Goss said.
Joseph said he is simply asking for the long-promised, long-delayed policy.
“It’s time for a substantial conversation about how the county will contribute to the reconstruction here in Greenville and outlying fire-affected communities,” Joseph said.
Discussing a policy for spending the county’s PG&E settlement fund is not on the supervisors’ June 4 agenda.
