QUINCY - At the Plumas County Board of Supervisors meeting held on December 6th, 2022 in Quincy, Melissa Smith, from Plumas County Social Services, opened the session with a public comment regarding the county employees health care premium and wages. Ava Hagwood, Plumas County Child Welfare Social Worker, followed up with a comment saying “I wanted to come speak with you for the seventh time in the past two months,” regarding the health care premium split.

The Dixie Fire Collaborative reported that since their last report to the Board, they have committed $58,000 to the repair of the Indian Falls community’s water system. The Indian Valley innovation hub, formed its first rally and business workshop. The rallies are “informal gatherings for concerned residents to discuss developing businesses in Indian Valley,” and important topics from experts for business owners. The last workshop addressed the “ins and outs” of business loans.

Upcoming events include a visit from Michael Lucas, USDA community program specialist, who will be meeting in Quincy, Chester, and Greenville. This Wednesday he will be in Greenville, discussing the possibility of a community kitchen, community center, and co-op. Saturday the 10th, Indian Valley will celebrate “Christmas in the Valley," from 4-7. There will be free activities and celebrations at the Greenville Elementary School cafeteria, including a tree lighting, a tree decorating contest, and an appearance by Santa is possible, as well.

On Monday the 12th, the Indian Valley Chamber of Commerce will hold a meeting at the Taylorsville Tavern, inviting all chamber members to attend. The next Dixie Fire community meeting will be held on Saturday, December 17th, in order to survey residents of Indian Valley as to where they would like to see the collaborative focus its efforts.

A presentation was given from the Recreation Economy for Rural Communities (RERC) a “Quincy Community Action Plan,” and powerpoint was presented by Nova Colinson, local Steering Committee Presenter and HR director for the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship.

Colinson elaborated about how RERC held a two day workshop with huge turnout and discussion regarding concerns on setting five community goals, and how to move forward with them. They reminded the board that although this is currently focused on Quincy, they plan to replicate the same program throughout the county, but needed one community to start in.

The first goal of the RERC is recreation, focusing on infrastructure needs and future projects. Projects include developing a community sign plan for recreation opportunities around Quincy, and connecting downtown to trails with bike lanes and sidewalks.

The RERC's second goal is to collaborate with local Native American tribes to help preserve Indigenous cultures. One solution is by providing outreach to tribes to share and increase opportunities for careers in fire science, outdoor recreation, and ecology.

Their third goal is focusing on the connectivity and revitalization efforts to create a diversity of year-round activities. One action under this goal is establishing a visitors center with public restrooms.

The group's fourth goal revolves around business and economic development opportunities, helping residents to develop knowledge and skills for small business and entrepreneurial development. They plan to form a business and economic development collaborative to help create high-quality jobs, focusing largely on outdoor and related sectors.

The fifth priority for the RERC focuses on workforce housing and lodging, looking for solutions to increase for-sale and rental workforce housing, and to provide destination lodging. Action goals include expanding on the concept and use of pre-approved housing building plans to address workforce housing and the development of more lodging including mobile home park, tent camping, and recreational vehicle (RV) sites.

Besides all of the above goals, RERC is also working on building an online portal allowing Quincy residents to keep updated with meetings and progress and over the the past month the group finalized their Quincy community action plan, and asked for support from the Board to assist with funding for RERC's various projects.