The Board of Supervisors met in Downieville on Tuesday with a relatively packed agenda, mainly concerning budgeting, county employment, and plans. First, a fairly lengthy, though not particularly interesting, consent agenda was approved unanimously. The Board then opened public comment.

Greg Johnson was back to the stand this week to urge the Board and Department of Public Works to make some progress on the Downieville Community Hall. Just a few weeks after a contractor backed out of the project, Johnson described just how bad the state of the building is: the roof leaks, an emergency exit door needs to be kicked open, the cooktop exhaust can’t be used within a week of rain or the wall will flood, the oven must be lit laying on the floor and then lit again five minutes later, the ceiling is missing tiles, and there’s no hot water in the bathroom, to name a few problems. The Board was sympathetic to Johnson’s frustration, with Supervisors Roen and Adams reiterating their support for getting the project done. However, Adams also noted that the building had been neglected for almost a decade through no fault of the county and that they were doing their best.

Later in the meeting, Bryan Davey of Public Works gave his update on the Community Hall, noting that he is working on getting the roof fixed immediately for the fast-approaching winter season and already had three different proposals from contractors at the time of the meeting. There are also no concerns about expiring grant money since the relevant grant was extended to 2028. The Board agreed to make a status update on the Community Hall project a regular agenda item for future meetings.

The Forest Service had a relatively tame week, as the new Yuba River District Ranger Tom Parrack laid out in his report. Because of the rain and lack of the usual Labor Day crowds in the area there were very few fire incidents, with Parrack mentioning only a small fire near Goodyears Bar that “didn’t develop into anything.” Parrack also described hiring efforts for the North Yuba Landscape Resilience Project, with multiple new permanent and seasonal hires taking place. Mastication and fuel management have been ongoing in various locations, as well as coordination with PG&E to clean up debris left behind when cutting is done for power line safety.

After reports, the meeting progressed into the scheduled agenda items, including some of the following highlights.

Electronic Health Records

County electronic health records have, until this point, been transmitted by facsimile. Unfortunately, times have changed, and the Public Health Department must implement an electronic record-keeping system since faxes are no longer being accepted. The Board approved the new system from Patagonia Health, Inc., after hearing that the IT department was not concerned about security risks. The system will cost $47,947.94 over five years.

Alleghany Ambulance Agreement

An agreement was put into place in 1995 in which the Downieville Volunteer Fire Department provided an ambulance to Alleghany. Though the ambulance remains, that agreement was apparently not paid attention to for a long time and will require an update. At the request of Supervisors Heuer and Roen and Downieville Fire Protection District Chairman Frank Lang, an ad hoc committee was established to research an updated agreement.

Tim Beals Appointed to Solid Waste Task Force

Tim Beals filled a vacancy on the Sierra County Solid Waste Task Force, after his application was accepted at the meeting. During his 50 years of service to the county, Beals had expressed an interest in completing an agreement with Plumas County and its contractor, Intermountain Disposal, Inc., to provide solid waste services for Sierra County, and this position may allow him to do so.

Zoning Code and General Plan Update Discussion

Sierra County’s Zoning Code and General Plan have needed updating for a while. Previously, the company Mintier-Harnish was contracted in 2014 for the update, with a not-to-exceed cost of $200,000, but work stalled, and the contract expired. The company was contracted again in 2018 to complete the work for the original budget plus $50,000 extra, and yet again, the contract expired without progress. Now they’re back to the table, asking for $1,047,779 to get it done. Will the third time be the charm? Nothing was agreed to on Tuesday, and more information will be provided in later meetings.

Full-Time Solid Waste Employee

A full-time position will be created for a solid waste attendant to cover the Sierra City and Ramshorn Transfer Stations. Once the hire occurs, Ramshorn will be open all day Thursday and Saturday. Sierra City will be open all day Friday and Sunday. The sites would also open for partial days on Monday, with the attendant splitting time between the two. The exact hours will need to be settled when the position is filled. David O’Donnell, who currently works the part-time attendant job at Ramshorn, was at the meeting to make clear to the Board that his position was being eliminated and he would not be able to fill the full-time role without getting rid of his CalPERS retirement income. The Board expressed its gratitude for O’Donnell’s work, noting the difficulty of the decision. Assistant Personnel Director Judi Behlke also offered to help O’Donnell find a place in a different position.