DOWNIEVILLE — All members of the Board of Supervisors were present at their roughly two hour meeting here this past Tuesday, April 4.

During Department Manager's Reports section of the meeting, the Director of Transportation, Bryan Davey, updated the Board on the current status of the county's emergency declaration from the recent storms. He reported that he had just met with FEMA and OES to decide if the damages that Sierra County sustained were adequate to be included in the federal disaster funding declaration that allows public assistance and individual assistance claims. Sierra County was not included in the initial round because they had yet to come to a damage assessment. As the county qualifies, he seemed confident that Sierra County would be included. Though it seems likely, there is one final hurdle, as it would still need to be adopted by the federal government. The overall costs to the county to date total $760,500, with about $400K in actual damages that need repair or replacement. This number is likely to increase depending on what is found in the currently inaccessible areas of the county.

Lea Salas in Behavioral Health informed the Board that the state is offering funds to all 58 counties to combat homelessness through the Behavior Health Bridge Funding opportunity. The minimum base allocation is just over $1M, a staggering amount for a small county with only 12 official homeless persons. Though 25% could be used for tiny homes, Salas pointed out that presents problems for the county. She is investigating whether the funds can be regionalized or only take a smaller amount than the base minimum before determining whether to pursue the grant due on April 28th. She also was happy to announce hiring a new Veterans Services Officer for the county, which the Board approved.

Good news for folks hoping to build a home but cannot afford it. Brandon Pangman highlighted the new affordable housing master plans developed in conjunction with Nevada County, the Town of Truckee, the City of Grass Valley, the City of Nevada City, Placer County, and Sierra County. To expedite the permitting process and reduce building costs, new affordable Housing Master Plans for single-family homes or additional dwelling units (ADU) are now available.

The plans offer three standard designs ranging from one-bedroom (661sf) to three-bedroom (1,194sf) units. All designs can include garages and are designed to be used by first-time owner-builders or experienced contractors. They allow the owner to select the heating, roofing, and siding with several floor plans, elevations, foundations, snow load engineering, and orientation, providing a total of 96 different possible combinations of options. The pre-approved plans reduce or eliminate plan check fees and review delays. Each plan set is available to purchase from the architect for $1,200 per plan, customized for each lot at a low cost compared to typical projects that run around $15,000 or more. They partnered with Jackson & Sands Engineering, Inc. and Russell Davidson Architect to develop, review, and approve the plan sets.

Our local district rangers from the USFS next updated the Board on their activities, with seasonal hiring still a primary focus. Though they hired a new Public Services Officer to replace Heather Newell, they have yet to hire a front desk person for the Camptonville office successfully and will only staff it two days a week this summer. The Board expressed concern that Sierra County comprises 44% of the Tahoe National Forest compared to Yuba County's 4%, yet it still needs a full-time staffed office. With snow still in the higher elevations, some campgrounds will open late this season, and some, like Jackson Meadows, might open on July 4th. Yuba River Ranger District Andrew Mischler next informed everyone that the North Yuba Final EIS was submitted on Friday for publishing to the public. Final signatures should be completed in July or August. The Board approved Rhonda Grandi from Public Health to purchase a new Community Health Van to focus on the senior outreach program. Given a budget of up to $150K, she will be bringing quotes for purchase back to the Board, so hopefully, we'll see a shiny new van rolling around soon.

Following up on the Friends of Plumas Wilderness presentation on the proposed creation of Feather River Canyons National Monument, Brandon Pangman informed the Board of his recent correspondence with them. During that initial presentation, the Board and the general public raised several questions. Pangman shared the responses with the Board. The main concerns still need to be clarified, the proposed boundaries, the effect on private landowners, and the necessity of creating the monument. The Board committed to having a public meeting in Sierra County and decided that they should choose some time to soon on whether to support the initiative agreeing to form some questions and create a timeline for responding.

Hailey Stith from the Alliance for Workforce Development next made a presentation on program activities for 2021-2022. The Alliance for Workforce Development (AFWD) is Sierra County's America's Job Center of California (AJCC) provides services for Adult & Dislocated Workers, Young Adults, and Businesses. They highlighted that they had served (90) clients in the last year hosting (48) workshops and servicing (39) businesses. They offer services such as employment searches, resume assistance, classroom training, skills testing, onthe- job training (OJT), and work experience (WEX) and encourage any individuals or businesses needing their services to visit their One-Stop office in Sierraville.

Sierra County officially joined the California Department of Children and Families, proclaiming May as Family Strengthening Month. Vickie Clark from the High Sierras Family Resource Center presented the resolution to the Board and highlighted the organization's activities and upcoming events. High Sierras Family Services is an independent nonprofit organization providing various practical services and programs to Sierra County families, children, and individuals who might need a helping hand to deal with life's challenges.

Finally, we learned that Cal OES has previously funded the prepositioning of private fire suppression equipment in counties that otherwise do not have such equipment available from local government or local fire districts. Sierra County does not have a bulldozer and relies on this prepositioning. However, at the end of the 2022 fire season, Cal OES announced it was ending this practice. Given that the closest CALFIRE dozers to Sierra County during any initial attack would need to come from Quincy, Doyle, or Grass Valley, the hours the county may have to wait to get a dozer could be devastating. As such, the Board endorsed a firm letter to Cal OES to reconsider this policy's adverse impact upon small counties.