Waste, fire plans slated for meeting
Redistricting also on the agenda
OROVILLE » Among the agenda items slated for Tuesday’s Butte County Board of Supervisors meeting are redistricting, the introduction of a fire protection and safety ordinance, and a presentation from CalRecycle on potential solution to address the reduction of short-lived climate pollutants.
The process of redistricting comes at the end of each 10-year period when the U.S. Census compiles population data and counties then analyze that data to determine if district boundaries need to be redrawn in order to create more equal representation, according to the agenda.
Butte County administration is recommending the issuance of a “Request for Proposals” to find a consultant to help in the process, citing the significant population shifts in the county due to wildfires in recent years. The discussion from the board will be about what to include in the “Request for Proposals.” As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, deadlines for both a draft of the districts, then enacting the plan have been pushed back three months from their typical July 1 and Aug. 15 deadlines, respectively.
Also in the regular agenda, the board will look at repealing and replacing Chapter 38A of the Butte County Code titled, “Fire Prevention and Protection.”
New requirements for the ordinance were discussed during a June 9, 2020 meeting to replace language in the code considered to be “difficult to understand in various sections,” according to the agenda. With input from Cal Fire-Butte County Chief John Messina at that meeting, several requirements were added to the proposed ordinance, including true defensible space up to a property line, with a five-foot “non-combustible zone” around structures, 10 feet of vegetation removal from the edge of a roadway
To enforce these requirements in the proposed ordinance, an inspection and enforcement program will need to be implemented. According to the agenda, between PG&E settlement funds secured from the 2017 Honey Fire, combined with a FEMA grant, will fund costs for the program for an estimated four-anda-half years. After that, the county will have to look at other funding sources for the program to continue.
The action requested is to waive the first reading of the ordinance, and approve the recommended budget adjustment, which requires a 4/5 vote to pass.
The lone timed item on the agenda is slated to begin at 10 a.m. CalRecycle will present to the board possible strategies for reducing short-lived climate pollutants, per SB 1363. The bill, passed in 2016, aims to reduce organic waste material disposed of in solid waste landfills by 50% in 2020, and by 75% in 2025.
CalRecycle, the state agency in charge of implementing the bill, will highlight those requirements. One idea discussed is using a $3 million grant awarded to the county to create an “interim” compost facility at the Neal Road Recycling and Waste Facility, according to the agenda. The timed item is informational, meaning the board will not be taking any action on it Tuesday.
Board meetings are held at the County Administration Building, 25 County Center Drive, in Oroville. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, meetings remain closed to the public. Meetings can be viewed on the county’s website — at the same link as above. Members of the public wishing to speak can register at www.bcadmin.net/ comments by 4 p.m. the day before a meeting.