The Butte County Board of Supervisors will be asked to approve several housing related measures, offering some financial relief to those displaced by the Camp Fire.
One measure would essentially allow armed services veterans affected by the fire to get building permits for free. The county would use the annual allotment from a state grant to backfill the permit fees.
Ed Mayer, Executive Director of the Housing Authority of the County of Butte said the fire’s impacts are felt throughout the region.
“Regardless of whether you were displaced by the disaster, if you want to move into this community or if you want to move around in this community, it is extremely difficult,” Mayer said.
Meanwhile, those with homes still standing in the burn scar, or planning a rebuild, are finding home insurance more expensive—if they can get it at all. Some insurers found themselves overexposed during recent wildfires and are trying to reduce risk to their bottom lines by canceling or not renewing policies in high fire risk areas. Supervisor Tami Ritter is asking the board to endorse a Sacramento proposal creating a state-run insurer of last resort.
Also fire related, the board will be asked to switch to a vote-by-mail only system starting with the March 2020 primary election. The switch, allowed under state law, is being recommended in part because so many people were displaced.
Separately, the board will appoint a member of the public to the official Citizens Advisory Commission for the Oroville Dam. Elected and law enforcement officials make up the majority of the body.
Additionally, the board is being asked to allow the Butte-Glenn Community College District to directly sell bonds to investors, rather than through the board. The meeting will be held this morning at 9 a.m. in the Butte County Board of Supervisors chamber in Oroville, 25 County Center Drive, Suite 205.