Officials may cut a deal with the Federal Emergency Management Agency that lets Camp Fire survivors buy their dwellings.
Tuesday, the Butte County Board of Supervisors will look into possibly leveraging federal guidelines that allow FEMA to sell their units to occupants and donate them to other government agencies or certain charitable organizations. However, even if approved, potential buyers will have to come up with more than just money, Casey Hatcher Butte County’s deputy chief administrative officer said.
“Anyone who wanted to purchase their unit would have to find and identify a property that they could either own or lease to move that unit to, to reside on in a more permanent manner,” she said.
About 426 families currently reside in FEMA supplied travel trailers and manufactured housing units in Butte County. In the unlikely event an extension is not issued, people living at these sites must vacate by May 20.
Also, on the agenda, the board will weigh a six-week building permit moratorium for a flood-prone area north of Chico near Rock Creek and Keefer Slough and they’ll hear a report on new methods for removing brush and flammable vegetation from foothill roads.
Additionally, the board will weigh appealing to the California Natural Resources Agency in hopes of forcing Pacific Gas & Electric Company to restore parts of the Miocene Canal. The canal fills the small Kunkle Reservoir, delivers to farms and provides habitat for the foothill yellow-legged frog and California black rail, a small bird. Both are protected species.
The board will also select a new chair for the year, replacing Supervisor Steve Lambert.
The meeting gets underway at 9 a.m. in the board chambers in Oroville, 25 County Center Drive, Suite 205.