State finally reimburses some Mountain View funds
County has been working for almost a year to get reimbursed
The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services
(Cal OES) on Sept. 22 announced the approval of $28,290 in reimbursements to Mono County in reimbursements to help the county cover costs it incurred last year in conjunction with its response to the Mountain View Fire.
According to the office in a recent news release, the $28,290 in reimbursements announced represent the state’s 75-percent share of the county’s $37,720 in costs eligible for reimbursement under the California Disaster Assistance Act following Governor Gavin Newsom’s State of Emergency Proclamation on November 18, 2020.
The reimbursements announced today cover overtime incurred by members of the Mono County Sheriff’s Department and other first responders, as well as the cost of providing food,
water and other supplies at the Local Assistance Center the county operated at the Antelope Valley Community Center in Coleville, the OES office said.
In August, Cal OES approved $7,381 in reimbursements to help the county cover $9,841 in costs related to collecting Rightof-entry Permit applications from property owners participating in the state’s Consolidated Debris Removal Program, as well as debris-removal insurance proceeds in conjunction with last year’s fire.
Under the state’s Consolidated Debris Removal Program, administered by Cal OES and the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (Calrecycle), state contractors cleared burned metal, concrete, ash, contaminated soil and hazardous trees from properties whose owners opted to participate in the program by signing and submitting a Right-of-entry permit to the county. Participating owners paid no out-of-pocket costs to participate in the program; however, because the state could not duplicate benefits provided by insurance or other sources, property owners agreed to have all or part of their debris removal insurance benefit paid to the county.
One hundred one property owners chose to participate in the full debris removal program and another two chose to participate in the hazardous trees only element of the program.
In August, state crews completed the removal of eligible debris and hazardous trees from all 101 properties participating in the full debris removal program, as well as the hazardous trees from the two parcels participating in the hazardous trees only element of the program, the office said in the news release.
Debris removal officials returned all 103 properties to county officials as ready to begin the permitting process after they had completed the full debris removal process, which included:
• Abatement of bulk quantities of asbestos containing materials;
• Removal of burned metal,
concrete, ash and contaminated soil;
• Laboratory analysis of soil
samples from the property to ensure they meet state health and environmental standards;
• Implementation of measures to prevent erosion;
• Removal of hazardous trees
• Final walkthrough by debris officials to ensure the work meets state standards.
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE
More information on the California Disaster Assistance Act is available at https://www. caloes.ca.gov/cal-oes-divisions/ recovery/public-assistance/ california-disaster-assistance-act