In May the Plumas County Board of Supervisors adopted principles and priorities for spending the county’s Dixie Fire settlement fund from Pacific Gas and Electric Company. On June 6 the supervisors invited members of the public to offer specific suggestions at a workshop held in Greenville.
It was a rare showing of county government in the town devastated by the 2021 Dixie Fire. Since then, the supervisors have met just once in Greenville, in April 2023. That meeting, with the Dixie Fire Collaborative, was designed to share visions for rebuilding and collaboration, focusing on county-owned properties. The 2023 meeting did not include any mention of the amount of the county’s PG&E settlement.
What funds are available?
That $7.8 million figure was front and center June 6 as the supervisors asked the crowd of around 50 people to share their ideas for using the money. It is the only fund unobligated and designed to restore the county’s long-term resilience and recovery, said Zachary Gately, Plumas County grants manager who provided an overview at the board meeting.
The supervisors have spent $10,000, for a feral cat spay/neuter program, of the $7.8 million total. They have designated $440,919 to pay a full-time disaster recovery coordinator for three years. Investment interest has increased the PG&E fund by $757,000, Gately said.
The PG&E settlement fund is one of two pots of money allocated to the county for Dixie Fire recovery. The other is $4.4 million in insurance funds designed to cover the county’s losses. With interest, the insurance fund has grown by $77,000, Gately said. Topping those losses are three county-owned buildings: the sheriff’s substation, town hall and library. Other losses include a grader, equipment on Mt. Hough and vehicles for a total of $4.9 million. The county was under-insured, Gately said.
The supervisors have committed $1.5 million in insurance funds to a public safety center in Greenville, which is expected to break ground this summer. “That’s progress,” said Supervisor Mimi Hall. Several county departments, including public and behavioral health, are also seeking reimbursement for their fire-related expenses.
The combined PG&E and insurance funds will not cover the costs of everything that needs to be rebuilt or reimbursed, Gately said. He cautioned careful and thoughtful spending.
“We only get this chance once. It’s important that we utilize it,” he said.
Public comments
Most of the speakers in the meeting’s hour-long public comment section reflected on the trauma still felt throughout the burn scar area, which includes Greenville, Indian Falls, Canyon Dam and Warner Valley. Several mentioned the challenges of living in these communities devastated by Dixie. Lindsey Buis-Kelley, an engineer who lives in Indian Valley, noted the impact the fire continues to have on local residents.
“Our lives are still not the same on a daily basis,” she said. Home building has slowed, she added: “If we don’t see some community and public sector building… people won’t want to live here.”
It’s hard to start a business in Indian Valley, said Matt Fogarty, who owns the Crescent Hotel in Crescent Mills. People are “struggling” to find funding, he said.
For Judi Yocum, the decision to rebuild in Greenville was not an easy one, she said. She encouraged cooperation to maximize the potential as the community rebuilds.
“We need to work with what we have. Arguing about it is not going to get us anywhere. Let’s all work together in this community,” Yocum said.
Supervisor Tom McGowan, who represents the Chester/Lake Almanor area, said the county has far more needs than it has funds to cover them. And he noted “a big gap between Greenville and Warner Valley” that is “never mentioned” in conversations about spending Dixie Fire funds. The fire also “impacted businesses in the Chester area — and beyond,” McGowan said.
Gately encouraged the interested public to continue to make comments and suggestions. “This is an ongoing conversation we want you to be a part of,” he said.
The supervisors are accepting additional comments through Board Clerk Allen Hiskey at [email protected].
Committee and coordinator
The board of supervisors has publicly committed to creating a committee to help decide how to spend the Dixie Fire funds. The committee would include several members of the public, who would work with relevant department heads, staffed by the disaster coordinator and led by a member of the board of supervisors, Gately said.
A previous Dixie Fire committee created as an informal working group was disbanded. This one would be elevated as part of the county’s disaster recovery program. It is intended to operate at “as high a level as possible,” Gately said. It would be subject to compliance under the Brown Act, California’s public meeting law. “This is a dynamic process not meant to be static,” he said.
Any action the supervisors take on creating this committee will be publicly announced on a board of supervisors’ agenda, Gately added. Several people at the June 6 meeting specifically asked to be included on the committee, including Terry Schwartz of Indian Falls and Deborah Bress of Portola.
A Dixie Fire committee created by the supervisors would be led by the disaster recovery coordinator as staff. That position has been advertised; interviews with several candidates have already been held. The supervisors are accepting applications on a rolling basis, Gately said.
“It’s important for us to find a good candidate who represents Plumas County and is attentive to the community.
Applications for the disaster recovery coordinator are available at the Plumas County Human Resources Department website.
In creating both a disaster recovery coordinator position and committee the board is adhering to one of the principles it adopted: “Recovery and rebuilding takes collaboration, strategic planning, sustained leadership, and diligent use of funds.”
As the two-hour board meeting in Greenville concluded, Supervisor Jeff Engel emphasized the importance of making the best use possible of the one-time funds available for post-fire recovery and restoration.
“I’m a little tight. I don’t spend easily,” he said to the audience. “This whole board is concerned about you and wants to rebuild the best way we can.”