Fire, flooding and ICE ---that’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement---figure large in this morning’s Butte Board of Supervisors meeting.
Overshadowing just about everything else, the Camp Fire’s wake continues consuming much of the business of local government.
Today, officials will consider granting more leeway to large trucks involved in fire debris removal and consider alternatives for a critical canal severed by fire among other issues large and small.
If approved as proposed, officials will waive some restrictions on contractors working for CalOES, allowing them to use a 12-acre site on the 2900 block of Neal Road and unspecified mines to park dump-trucks.
Damage to the small, but critical, Miocene Canal is another fire-related problem the board will be asked to address. Best known as the flume following the west branch of the Feather River, the PG&E-owned facility dates to the 19th century.
Configured to make electricity, it also supplies water to agricultural and residential customers along with a wetland built to replace lost habitat. PG&E sought to abandon the canal before the fire. Damage is estimated at more than $10 million, though PG&E has not conducted a detailed analysis.
Additionally, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea is scheduled to deliver an annual report about county jail inmates and his office’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Honea and local officials have sought to manage the gulf between conflicting federal and state priorities in regard to undocumented immigrants.
The Board will also receive new FEMA flood maps, updating risks following levee repairs. The update frees some property owners west of the Feather River from holding flood insurance.
Separately, Shasta County’s Board of Supervisors likewise meets this morning. The board is scheduled to receive an update on the waiting list for affordable housing and hear a report on forest management and fuel reduction among dozens of other issues.