OROVILLE — Presiding over the details of Butte County’s PG&E Settlement Fund, the Board of Supervisors opted at Tuesday’s meeting to wait until next month to take more definitive action on where the county should use the millions of dollars received in the settlement.
The fund was first named in July after the county received a $252 million settlement from PG&E after the 2018 Camp Fire, which the utility company was found criminally negligent for after one of its powerlines started the fire. After attorney’s fees, the county net settlement was $204.4 million dollars.
At Tuesday’s meeting, county Chief Administrative Officer Andy Pickett and Deputy Administrative Officer Meegan Jessee presented their findings and recommendations to the board.
That included moving forward with $55.9 million for the following initiatives: Dedicating up to $22 million to property tax backfill for a 10-year term, starting with $4 million for the following fiscal year and reducing by $400,000 annually; increasing the general fund reserve by $8 million in the 2021-22 fiscal year budget; committing $5 million to a Camp Fire audit reserve; paying off the remaining $900,000 Bangor Fire Station debt; and contributing to the safety pension trust.
Pickett suggested the board approve the PG&E Settlement Fund policy and decide on each of the aforementioned initiatives, but at the end of the approximately half-hour discussion, Supervisor Bill Connelly said he’d prefer to wait a month before taking action. Supervisors Debra Lucero and Doug Teeter agreed.
“This is important,” Connelly said. “This is the public’s trust. We’re getting one-time money … and people are going to hear about this, and we’re going to get some input.”
The decision was one of the last agenda items to be discussed during the meeting, which extended past 3 p.m. after its 9 a.m. start time. The meeting began with the board recognizing a number of county staff retiring in December, as well as board Chair Steve Lambert, who served in his final meeting after more than a decade on the board dating back to 2009. Supervisor-elect Tod Kimmelshue will replace Lambert as the District 4 supervisor at the year’s end.
Teeter read the resolution honoring Lambert and each supervisor in attendance thanked Lambert for his years of service.
“It’s been a pleasure to work with you,” Connelly said. “Even when we haven’t agreed, we’ve always been civil and got along. I just wish you the best in life.”
“You are a great chair of the board — you keep things moving along,” Lucero said. I’ve enjoyed working with you. I enjoy your cattleman’s heritage and your common-sense approach to government. We’ll miss you.”
Former county Chief Administrative Officer Shari McCracken, who retired in October, also returned to the board chambers to honor Lambert.
“I had the honor of working with you for 12 years, and I hope you know how much I appreciated your partnership and your leadership in those years,” McCracken said. “You have been an elected leader — and I think Supervisor Lucero just alluded to this — who served as a voice of reason. Always having in mind, I know through our discussions, you always were like, ‘what is in the best interest of the county and its residents?’ Not political paths, not special interest groups, really, that’s what you always had in your heart.”
Other county staffers who were recognized upon their retirement included Dennis Schmidt, Butte County’s Public Works director; management systems principal Kevin Taggart; Mary Pugh, Stacie Reeson and Angela Robertson — all with the Department of Employment and Social Social Services; and from the Butte County Sheriff’s Office, Lt. Al Smith, Deputy Scott Krelle and Deputy Jay Waananen.
New permit for dry camping
Also on the regular agenda was item 4.05, to address issues around temporary housing in areas impacted by the Camp Fire, specifically the Magalia area, per Chapter 53 of the Butte County Code.
After Teeter requested during an Oct. 13 meeting for county staff to look at ways to address the issue, Butte County Code Enforcement conducted a windshield survey in the Magalia area and found that approximately 14% of the nearly 6,000 parcels looked over may be in violation of the code.
Paula Daneluk of the county’s Department of Development highlighted a number of issues, including accumulated trash, storage of belongings, wastewater disposal, code violators who move around the area unchecked, as well as squatters and absentee owners who are unaware of the state of their properties.
After the presentation, the board was asked to decide between five options, and ultimately voted 4-0 in favor of administering a permit through the county for one or two RVs on a given property. Supervisor Tami Ritter was absent from the meeting.
Teeter made the motion to adopt an administrative permit from development services and public health, though he emphasized the permit should not require a fee.
“I just feel that there’s a few bad actors, and it ruins it for everyone that’s a good actor,” Teeter said. “I don’t have a problem with requiring a permit, but I have a problem if we ask for a fee.”
The urgency ordinance for temporary housing in the Camp Fire-affected areas runs through the end of 2021.
“My intent of allowing people the most flexibility for the least amount of cost and trouble is to house them,” Teeter said later. “But it’s also a limited timeframe. I think we’ve been quite generous ending in 2021. Quite frankly, I think the PG&E settlement will be known by then, and I think that will bring closure for those that say, ‘Hey, I’m just waiting for that because I didn’t have insurance, and I’m waiting for a big payout.’ Maybe they’re right. To me, that’s fair. What’s not fair is those that are beating the system.”
Connelly added, “We will still be looking for health and safety violations. This is no way a pass if you’re dumping your raw sewage on the ground, or you’re putting children, or yourselves, or animals at risk. Unfortunately, there is some of that going on. But yeah, let’s give it a try.”
Another option presented was a short-term focused enforcement effort in the area, though Daneluk noted that would’ve required the county to shift code enforcement resources to the problem, which would delay other types of code enforcement in the county.
Connelly and Teeter also voiced support for a continued “complaint-based” approach to code enforcement.
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