July 15 Board of Supervisors Meeting Summary

By Linda Margaretic

Meeting Agenda

Meeting Video

Meeting started a few minutes late due to technical difficulties.
 
Department Reports:
Marcy DeMartile - reminded us that the filing period has begun for special districts election November 4, 2025.  She said that if anyone wants to see who has filed they can come to the Recorder’s office and see the list.
 
Nick Collin, Facilities Director – asked that an “urgency” agenda item be added. The air conditioner in Sheriff’s office has stopped working and needs to be replaced.  This was added to 3. Department Matters.  Item C. 
 
Engie update – Nick reported that concrete is being poured for the annex solar project.
 
Sara James, Interim HR – announced there is a new state law requiring that vacancies be reported at BOS meetings.  She talked about the salary study that is going to be conducted soon by an outside contractor and explained how this will tie in to staff retention and also to money saved by not having to use so many contract services. She urged the community to call her if they have questions related to these issues.
 
Zach Gately – Announced tomorrow’s Special Meeting at the annex.  10 a.m. It will be led by a facilitator and the focus will be the BOS and the County Departments.  There will be public meetings to follow this one.
 
1.Updates and Reports:
B. Slide presentation by Fire Safe Council and Plumas Firewise Communities. Sally McGowan talked about how the Old Hwy 70 Firewise Community began in 2019 and the evolution of Firewise Communities (FWC) in our county.  There are now 30 – all locally managed and run by volunteers. Mike Flanagan represented the Quincy FWC. He said there are 150 volunteers in this community.  He talked about the National Fire Protection Agency Certification that is required for FWC.  He requested BOS support in terms of fire-protective ordinances such as not having wooden fencing connected to buildings and having a 5 foot non-combustible area around all structures.  Paul Mrowczynski of the Meadow Valley FWC asked the BOS to consider fire resiliency as they create the strategic plan. (See the Firewise presentation here)
 
A. Susan Bryner and Sharon Roberts of the Plumas County Tourism (PCT) presented their 2024 annual report. (slide show) The point was made that the first step to attract people to relocate to Plumas County is to attract visitors.  Susan said that the Plumas County Tourism Association has been operating for 4 years now – growing and learning all the while.  Two thirds of the county region is on board at this point.  PCT has partnered with a number of public relations organizations such as Visit California who is promoting our county on their Instagram page. Currently PCT is up for renewal with county lodging providers.  It’s a 10 year renewal. Susan said that PCT is facing an unsustainable imbalance in revenues. Eastern Plumas has resisted joining forces with PCT preferring the status quo. She spoke of the problem posed by on-line short term  rentals such as AirBnB and VRBO who are not obtaining TOT certificates, thus not paying Transient Occupancy Tax (9% which goes into the county general fund) and also not paying the assessment fee of 2% which goes to PCT.  Some are paying the TOT but not the assessment. Bottom line, the county and PCT are not receiving this rightfully due revenue. Mimi read a public comment letter from Dewitt Henderson, Bucks Lake business owner of 35 years. He is against paying the 2% assessment and against it going to PCT saying he has not seen the benefit. He would rather see a 1% sales tax increase across the board. He feels that everyone, not just visitors (who he and other business owners have brought here through their own efforts and advertising expense), should be supporting tourism and recreation in Plumas County.  More discussion about TOT and the assessment.  Chair Goss said “we will definitely look into this a little deeper”.
 
2.Consent Agenda: - All approved.
 
3.Departmental Matters:
B. Planning
1)Public Hearing – Tracey Ferguson – summarized the Staniger zoning issue at Lake Almanor that has been discussed several times at previous meetings.  The Staniger family requested a zoning change for their property so they could have large animals and a farmstead.  Neighbors had many concerns about this. On June 5th , at a properly noticed meeting, Tracey brought it back to the Planning Commission.  On June 12th there was a site visit to look at a reduction in acreage for the re-zoning.  After this site visit, as a compromise, the Stanigers directed Tracey to reduce the originally requested 9 acre animal area to 5.2 acres thus creating more buffer for neighboring property owners. On June 18th the Planning Commission met again and rezoned the property creating a 100 foot buffer.  The neighbors were very thankful to the commission and to the Stanigers.  Tom McGowan commented that he has never seen a contentious issue like this end in such an agreeable compromise.  This issue will be brought back to the BOS on August 5th for a final vote on the re-zoning.

2) Housing Element Update – Tracey Ferguson. This is a state requirement and is a mandated part of our General Plan. As I understand it this involves an analysis of existing and potential housing needs for the county; taking inventory of resources available; identifying actions to address these needs.  A hard copy of the complete report is at the office of Clerk of the Board, the Planning Department and all county libraries. The public comment period is June 27 to July 28, 2025.
 
C. Facilities – Nick Collin said he reached out to two local providers for replacement of the air conditioning unit at the Sheriff’s office and only received one response.  The Board approved moving ahead with the replacement.
 
 
4.Board of Supervisors
B. Resignation Letter from Director of Social Services, Laura Atkins. Note Closed Session item C.  Personnel: Public Employee Discipline/Dismissal/Release – Complaints against the Director of Social Services pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.  (Hmmm) See Laura's letter here.
 
A. Correspondence.  I asked Dwight Ceresola how the pilot program for wolves in Sierra Valley is going. He said they now have better tracking devices, but there are only 3 teams 2 persons each.  When a team responds to ward off a wolf from one ranch, the wolf moves on to the next ranch. Dwight says there are still kills happening.
 
Next regular BOS meeting Tuesday, August 5th 10 a.m. third floor of courthouse.
 
Government Code 54956.9
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=54956.9&lawCode=GOV
 
Government Code 54957
https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/government-code/gov-sect-54957/
 
Agenda and Back Up for July 16 Special Meeting – Strategic Planning
https://plumascoca.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1778/files/agenda/5949

Closed Session:
A. Conference with Legal Counsel - Anticipated Litigation: Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to subdivisions (d)(2) & (e)(4) of Government Code §54956.9 (1 case) The closed session is based on documents publicly available and included in the Board Packet for Item 2.C.1 (Departmental Matters/Treasurer-Tax Collector) on the March 18, 2025, Board of Supervisors Regular Meeting Agenda.
 
B. Personnel: Public Employee Performance Evaluation - Planning Director
 
C. Personnel: Public Employee Discipline/Dismissal/Release - Complaints against the Director of Social Services pursuant to Government Code Section 54957 (b)
 
D. Conference with Labor Negotiator regarding employee negotiations: Sheriff’s Administrative Unit; Sheriff’s Department Employees Association; Operating Engineers Local #3; Confidential Employees Unit; Probation; Unrepresented Employees and Appointed Department Heads
 
E. Public Employee Appointment Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957(b) Title: County Administrative Officer
 
F. Conference with Legal Counsel: Initiating litigation pursuant to Subdivision (c) of Government Code Section 54956.9
 
REPORT OF ACTION IN CLOSED SESSION (IF APPLICABLE)
No reportable action on any closed session items
 
 
Here is information pertinent to closed session items.
Government Code 54956.9
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=54956.9&lawCode=GOV
 
Government Code 54957
https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/government-code/gov-sect-54957/
 
Also here is the Plumas County Tourism website (formerly called Feather River Tourism)
https://plumascountytourism.org/
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