Another grim budget item is on the Board of Supervisors’ agenda today. The Board will also hold one hearing on undergrounding power lines in Caspar, and another on the Planning Commission’s recommendation to approve plans for a housing development just south of the Ukiah city limits. Tomorrow in closed session, the Board is scheduled to take up the question of appointing an interim cannabis department director. The department has been without a director since March 28, and grand fund distribution has been on pause. John Burkes, of Code Enforcement, has been on special assignment in the department and received high praise from supervisors and those in the cannabis industry alike.
The Board will also discuss a lawsuit against Creekside Cabins, a privately owned mobile home park where residents were trapped behind a sinkhole in December. The owner refused to repair the sinkhole, and the county shut it down due to a stated public health emergency, forcing residents to evacuate over the course of two days. That matter has not had a case number assigned to it yet, though it is listed on the agenda as “existing litigation.”
And representatives from the Gualala Municipal Advisory Council voted unanimously yesterday to ask the Board of Supervisors to take advantage of grant funding to install five electric vehicle chargers in unincorporated parts of the county. The deadline is fast approaching, but the MAC says the time for infrastructure improvements is now.
A powerpoint for a presentation on the budget at today’s Board of Supervisors meeting states that the projected deficit for the county general fund in fiscal year 23-24 is nineteen million dollars. Proposed expenses are $94,000,000, with proposed revenues expected to be $75,000,000. Money-saving tips include turning off lights and computers when they are not in use, and reducing paper by cutting down on making copies. Other money-saving suggestions include selling Mariposa Park, repurposing $4 million of unspent money from the PG&E settlement fund, a hiring freeze, and using hybrid vehicles.
Don Hess, a member of the Gualala MAC, thinks the county should prepare to serve zero emissions vehicles by applying for a grant from the US. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration. $700 million in grant funds is available to communities that can turn in a proposal for charging and alternative fueling infrastructure by May 30. Hess points to a county plan recommending Gualala as a site for EV chargers. The town currently has none, even at its lodging establishments. A proposal by Hess and Janet Orth, of the Mendocino Council of Governments, recommends two sites for the small unincorporated South Coast town, one for Boonville, one for the town of Mendocino, and one near Chamberlain Creek on State Route 20. The grant, if it’s applied for and won, would cover 80% of the cost. The MAC suggests using a portion of the $2 million carbon reduction fund from the PG&E settlement to cover the county’s 20% share.
If the county agrees to apply for the grant, and if it wins, the awards will be announced in September.
One thing Gualala has gotten is underground utilities. It was first on the county’s priority list for replacing overhead facilities with underground ones along public roads, back in 1999. A year later, the Board of Supervisors placed Caspar next on the list, and today, the Board is holding a hearing to designate parts of the town an underground utility district. PG&E has a special fund called Rule 20A that is set aside for the purpose of undergrounding utilities. It won’t happen in a hurry. The estimated date for people in the proposed district to receive services from underground facilities is June 30, 2030.
Another project that has been a long time getting to the Board is the Gardens Gate housing development, formerly known as Bella Vista. The Board of Supervisors first approved the project back in 2009. After a name change, some layout modifications and a period of dormancy, the project came before the planning commission last month. The commission recommended approval of the proposal to build 171 homes on the 50-acre site just off of south state street in Ukiah, near the last exit out of town. Ross Liberty, of Factory Pipe, was among the employers who spoke in support of the project, saying that, in his opinion, “I think this kind of housing development is the only thing that will make it so that our kids can stay here, my kids can stay here, my grandkids can stay here. My daughter already left, so that’s going to be hard.”