October 24, 2019 — The Board of Supervisors approved the use of $30,000 in Measure B funds to work with a grantwriter to bring in more money for mental health purposes, and $50,000 to start improving the new training facility in Redwood Valley. But the board balked at spending up to $35,000 in Measure B funds on a sound system that the executive office said would bring the Measure B committee meetings into ADA compliance, choosing instead to use general funds for the purchase.
Sheriff Tom Allman described the upgrades to the training facility as “basic wiring and equipment,” and did not submit a written proposal. Supervisor Ted Williams expressed disappointment that the request was only for $50,000, when the real cost is likely to be much higher. Supervisor Carre Brown also noted the lack of detail, saying that “people do expect a plan.” Nevertheless, the board approved the sheriff’s request unanimously.
The board continued with Measure B business as Dr. Ace Barrash, who chairs the eleven-member Measure B Citizens’ Oversight Committee, told the board that the committee is embarking on another attempt to hire a project manager, and checking out the backgrounds of potential architects.
The stated top priorities for Measure B funds are a psychiatric health facility, or puff unit, a crisis stabilization unit, and a crisis residential treatment center. Ideas about how to staff these three types of facilities have always been vague. Barrash and Allman both pointed out the county’s ongoing difficulty in hiring psychiatrists and therapists. But Supervisor John McCowen wants to start using some of the money to provide services now, since the measure calls for 25% of the funds to be used for that purpose.
Another item with a sense of urgency to it is the public safety communication microwave system and radio network, much of which is analog or near the end of its life, which means that manufacturer support and even replacement parts will soon be unavailable. Maintenance and support were cut from the budget during the recession and the funding was never reinstated.
County law enforcement and firefighting agencies rely on the radio, but so do a lot of state and even federal organizations, like the US Forest Service and the California Highway Patrol.
Information Services Division Manager Cody Snyder told the board that the prospect of outages and even disaster is more than theoretical. Some of the sites rely on residential-grade rather than commercial generators, and he mentioned that one of these insufficient generators even caught fire at one point. A four-hour outage in Point Arena rendered emergency personnel incommunicado, in an area that also has spotty cell phone reception.
The total funding need to upgrade everything is $11,315,000. There is some grant funding available, and Williams suggested billing the state agencies that use the equipment.
All the electronics except the antennae for the dishes on the towers and the towers themselves need replacing, and even some of the facilities housing the infrastructure are inadequate.
The board agreed to approach the overhaul in phases, starting with the radio repeaters.