The Plumas County Board of Supervisors has been mulling for months how to spend the county’s $7.8 million Dixie Fire settlement from Pacific Gas and Electric Co. On July 15 it initiated a plan.
Supervisor Kevin Goss will coordinate formation of an ad hoc committee to discuss priorities for spending the one-time payment from PG&E. He will work with local organizations that include the Indian Valley Community Services District, the Indian Valley Parks and Recreation District and the Dixie Fire Collaborative.
“It’s time to get moving. It’s time to make a plan,” Goss said.
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.
Spending the $7.8 million fund
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 Dixie Fire. Since disclosing the amount in August 2023, the supervisors have discussed various ways to spend it.
Among them is investing $2 million and using another $2 million as a match for grants, proposed in March by County Administrative Officer Debra Lucero. Another plan called for spending $6.8 million to reimburse the county’s expenses and losses in the fire.
At the supervisors’ July 16 meeting, Lucero requested allocating $667,696 in settlement funds to reimburse the county’s Dixie Fire-related expenses. Her recommendation included:
- $61,798 for debris cleanup.
- $18,688 related to stabilizing historic county-owned buildings damaged in the fire.
- $573,495 to pay Arcadis Inc. to recoup insurance payments made on behalf of fire victims who opted into the debris cleanup program.
Goss preempted any discussion of Lucero’s recommendation at the start of the board meeting. He asked to remove it from the agenda. Instead of “piecemeal spending,” Goss said the supervisors should “dig deeper.” Otherwise, “all of a sudden, the money’s gone,” he said.
The board voted unanimously to remove Lucero’s agenda item.
Stepping up the county’s role in rebuilding
In the discussion about postfire rebuilding that followed, Goss called for the county to “to put some skin in the game.”
“The clocks are ticking. We’ve got to move on a realistic and feasible plan that supports business, that supports homeownership, that supports a quality of life,” he said.
In Greenville, part of Goss’ district, rebuilding is already underway. Forty-nine homes have been built, said Kristine Gorbet, a member of the Indian Valley Community Services District board.
The services district is deep into numerous infrastructure projects. It has approved plans for a $4.5 million public safety complex to house the Indian Valley Fire Department’s Greenville station, Plumas District Hospital’s ambulance service and the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office’s Greenville substation.
It is also in active planning for another public complex generally referred to as the community resilience center, to be located at the intersection of Main and Mill streets, the former site of the Greenville Masonic Lodge. The district is soliciting public comment on plans for a community park. Meanwhile, the IVCSD has replaced all of its sewer plants, is rebuilding its water treatment plant, and has replaced 30% of Greenville’s water pipes so far.
The county’s role in this rebuilding has been minimal, Gorbet said at the supervisors’ July 16 meeting.
“Plumas County has put up no money. None. Zero,” Gorbet said. “We have projects that we’d like to see benefit Indian Valley. … So we’re just asking for the county to come to the table to think about what we’re going to do with that $7.8 million and how it might benefit the community.”
A more equal partnership
Indian Valley community leaders would like to work directly with the supervisors on their projects and plans, said Adam Cox, IVCSD general manager. Some rebuilding projects can’t progress without assistance from the county, he said. Strategic investment of some planning dollars could be used to leverage construction dollars, he said. Every dollar invested in planning could likely yield $5 to $10 for construction, said Cox, who attended the July 16 meeting via Zoom.
He proposed the concept of forming a committee to plan spending the $7.8 million. It could eventually culminate in the full board adopting a plan for the entire settlement amount.
“We just need some investment from the county, and it is time. Three years after the fire, it is time to make that investment,” Cox said.
Plumas County Planning Director Tracey Ferguson said it’s important to understand how the $7.8 million settlement and other funds can be leveraged to supplement both planning and construction. The IVCSD and other projects have been vetted through the community, she said. “When funders see that, they’re more likely to fund,” said Ferguson, who manages several of the county’s rebuilding project grants.
Patrick Joseph, Dixie Fire Collaborative coordinator, reiterated the call for greater partnership with the county. “Plumas County plays an important role in recovery. A lot of the authority rests with you,” he told the supervisors July 16.
Goss’ motion to form an ad hoc committee to study allocation of the $7.8 million fund was seconded by Supervisor Tom McGowan. It passed unanimously. McGowan will serve as the second supervisor on the committee.
Interim County Counsel Josh Brechtel suggested adding the committee to the board’s recurring agenda for regular updates.
