My Recent Activities
This week was a Yuba County Board of Supervisors meeting I attended remotely as I was out of town at a conference. A few key items from the agenda included amending the Plumas Lake Specific Plan to require a conditional use permit for gas stations and truck terminals/yards, banning the cultivation of industrial hemp, awarding a contract for the 2023 Overlay Project, which includes multiple roads in the Arboga area, and an agreement with Jacobs for professional electrical engineering and consulting services for the Yuba County Electric Vehicle Master Plan.
I spent the first half of the week representing Yuba Water Agency at the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) Spring Conference in Monterey. I arrived early to participate in the ACWA JPIA board meeting on Monday. I left on Wednesday to head to Butte County for a Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) tour and board meeting on Thursday and Friday. The RCRC board meets every other month, and it’s customary to hold one of those meetings in the chair’s home county. This year, the RCRC chair is Butte County Supervisor Doug Teeter. In conjunction with the RCRC board meeting on Friday morning, I’ll also represent Yuba County at board meetings for the RCRC-affiliated organizations Golden State Finance Authority (GSFA) and Golden State Connect Authority (GSCA). We toured Oroville Dam, Hyatt Powerhouse, Gorrill Ranch on Butte Creek, and Magalia Community Park on Thursday. Two of the three stops were closely tied to water management, and it was almost like I was still at ACWA. Networking with my colleagues from the other 39 rural California counties is always valuable.
In addition to the Board of Supervisors meeting, I participated in several other meetings remotely while out of town, including a National Association of Counties Broadband Mapping Working Group and a Yuba Water Agency special board meeting.
Before heading out of town on the 7th, I attended Dinner in the Orchard on Saturday evening. After returning, I attended a social event hosted by the Beale Military Liason Council (BMLC) on Friday night with the base commander, Col Church, and his leadership team. On Saturday, I received a tour of The Untz Festival at Sycamore Ranch in Browns Valley. County staff and the organizer always invite the board to stop by and see the setup. I attended the inaugural Plumas Lake Picnic in the Park event on Saturday night.
Looking ahead to this week
This Tuesday is a Yuba Water Agency board of directors meeting. The agenda contains multiple significant items, including approval of grants and/or loans for a total amount up to $3.6 million under the Community Impact Grant Program, approval of emergency contract actions to repair the South Canal crossing at Ostrom Road ($2.9M), and approval of a budget of $39.46M for construction of the new Power System Headquarters in Oregon House.
Additional board and committee meetings include a Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) meeting where the agenda includes approval of the awards for the 22/23 funding round, a SACOG lunchtime presentation on the Yolo Managed Lanes Project, a National Association of Counties (NACo) West Region meeting, a Yuba County Strategic Plan Ad Hoc Committee meeting, and a Yuba Water Agency chair/vice-chair breakfast. Due to conflicts, I’ll need to miss two reoccurring board/committee meetings: the monthly OPUD board meeting and the monthly NACo Rural Action Caucus (RAC) meeting.
A few of the other meetings on my calendar are a follow-up meeting with Caltrans staff on Highway 65 safety concerns, a meeting to introduce Hard Rock leadership to the North Valley Rail project, a CITRIS MOU signing in Wheatland, and a Yuba Water Agency Forest Health Tour.
The Community events I plan to attend include the 97th Annual Sacramento Host Breakfast on Thursday and the 99th Annual Wheatland Pet Parade on Saturday.
*Picture is a collage of various things from my week: The ACWA Conference in Monterey, the Untz Festival in Browns Valley on the Yuba River, Dinner in the Orchard, participating in the Board of Supervisors Meeting from Monterey, and the Rural County Representatives County of the Chair Meeting and tour in Butte County, including Oroville Dam.
Thank you for allowing me to serve you!
