My Recent Activities
Tuesday the 6th was a Yuba Water Agency Board of Directors meeting. A few highlights from the agenda include the purchase of some property near Colgate and the consideration of a staff recommendation to staff to limit the Community Impact Grant and Loan Program’s March 2024 application window to only a few grant categories. The staff report for the agenda item summarizes that since June of 2021, Yuba Water has approved $52.4M in community impact grants, $57.2M in loans, and $34.2M in grants to Yuba County, primarily to leverage additional state and federal dollars. I also had a Three Rivers Levee Improvement Authority (TRLIA) meeting and one of the items on the agenda was to approve four encroachment permit applications with the Central Valley Flood Protection Board (CVFPB) for the Climate Resiliency Project, a project to ensure levees protecting Linda, Olivehurst, Arboga, and Plumas Lake exceed a 300-year level of protection.
Additional meetings on my calendar included a Northern California Water Association (NCWA) special board meeting to review 2024 priorities, a Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) Strategic Planning Meeting to approve board rules and discuss opportunities and challenges in the year ahead, and a touch-base with Yuba County Public Works on several things they are working on for me on behalf of constituents. I also attended a community meeting on Wednesday evening hosted by PLESD on Measures VWX. On Wednesday, I joined Councilmember Teeter and the City Manager from the City of Wheatland for a tour of Beale AFB.
On Friday the 9th through Wednesday the 14th, I was in DC for the National Association of Counties (NACo) 2024 Legislative Conference. On Saturday, I’spent all day in a NACo Telecommunications and Technology Committee (T&T) Policy Steering Committee Meeting, In addition to informational sessions at the conference, I participated in thein Rural Action Caucus and California Caucus meetings. Finally, while in DC with Congressman Kiley and staff from Congressman LaMalfa’s office about several items of importance to Yuba County, including: A Community Project Funding Request, Radio Upgrade Project for Yuba Sheriff; Reconnecting Communities Grant; East & West Linda / Erle Rd; South Yuba County Transportation Projects; North Valley Rail; AT&T Carrier of Last Resort; Affordable Connectivity Program; Updates to Water Control Manuals at New Bullards Bar Dam and Oroville Dam; Victim Services Funding; and a Plumas Lake ZIP Code.
After returning from DC on Wednesday, I had a SACOG board meeting on Thursday in Sacramento where we received a presentation on the status of The Blueprint, the 25-year land use and transportation plan for the six-county region, required under Federal and State law to receive transportation dollars. The challenge with the plan is that it must be constrained by anticipated (transportation) funding during the planning horizon and comply with state greenhouse reduction targets. This limits what can be included in the plan. More info on the blueprint can be found at https://www.sacog.org/planning/blueprint. While local jurisdictions, not SACOG, have land use authority, SACOG will use the land use plan it develops to drive what transportation projects should receive the limited funding available. You can watch the presentation at https://www.youtube.com/live/UCHyCWNWnNU?si=UAZgzIFp4Z0alFrr&t=5890 (presentation starts at ~1:38:00)
I attended the OPUD board meeting on Thursday night to receive an update on the resolution of the odor at the lift station near Eufay Wood Park in Plumas Lake. The contractor is actively working on confirming what the issue and designing a solution. It’s expected that OPUD might receive the results as soon as a week or two and can then begin the process of going out to bid to have it fixed. On Friday, I attended a bi-monthly development meeting at Hard Rock with key stakeholders to talk status of infrastructure and commercial development in the Sports & Entertainment Zone. I was back at Hard Rock on Friday evening for the annual Yuba Sutter Chamber of Commerce Gala.
Looking ahead to this week
This week is a Yuba Water Agency Board of Directors Meeting. A few of the items from the agenda that I’m excited about include considering approval of a letter of support for the City of Yuba City Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) Conversion Project and a presentation on a two-year collaborative research project between the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) at UC Berkeley and the Yuba Water Agency using new monitoring and sensing technologies on levees.
I have multiple Yuba Water Agency related meetings on my calendar this week including a meeting with SBFCA to discuss the habitat benefits of a dredging project; a south county infrastructure ad-hoc meeting; a Nothern California Water Association (NCWA) executive committee meeting; a non-profit steering committee kick-off meeting; and NCWA Legislative Advocacy meetings with Senator Laird, Assemblyman Patterson, Senator Ashby, and Assemblywoman Aguiar-Curry. Additional meetings on my calendar include a Blue Zones Project steering committee and a community health improvement plan quarterly meeting.
I plan to attend a Chamber of Commerce Business Connection Breakfast about MJUSD & YCUSD plus the 9th Reconnaissance Wing Annual Awards Banquit at Beale AFB.
Announcements
- Yuba County is looking for community input on our Local Road Safety Plan; learn more at yubacountysafetyplan.com
- Do you walk or bicycle in Olivehurst, Linda, or Plumas Lake? If so, the County wants to hear from you at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/L5HDNLR
*Picture is a collage of various things from my week: Briefing and Tour at Beale AFB with Wheatland Leadership; Plumas Lake Elementry Community meeting discussing the middle school design; bi-monthly Sports & Entertainment Zone development meeting at Hard Rock; at the US Capitol with California Supervisors for a press conference supporting the extension of the Affordable Connectivity Plan; Meeting with Congressman Kiley in DC to discuss issues important to Yuba County; US Capitol Selfie; National Association of Counties (NACo) Telecommunications and Technology Committee meeting; Supervisor Askew (Monterey Co), Supervisor Cottrell (Napa Co), and me at the White House; Picture with NACo President Mary Jo McGuire; Yuba Sutter Chamber Gala with my daughter; and the monthly SACOG board meeting.
Thank you for allowing me to serve you!
