Plumas Supervisors Hear Green Waste Issues, Vote to Sell Water, and Send Letters to Trump and Newsom

QUINCY — At their February 18 meeting, the Plumas County Board of Supervisors was presented with information about the barriers to providing free green waste disposal services in the county. Public Works Director Rob Thorman said his department is actively looking for ways to commercialize green waste that would cover the cost of processing, but a viable market for the material doesn’t exist currently. Pine needles appear to be a particular problem. Richard Ross of Intermountain Disposal said that his company, which runs disposal services in the eastern part of the county, also hopes to find a buyer for green waste products, but “nobody wants pine needles.” Supervisor Tom McGowan emphasized that, despite its potential uses, green waste is, for now, just that: waste.

Acting as the governing Board of the Plumas County Flood Control and Conservation District, the Supervisors voted to sell 2,025 acre-feet of surplus water to the Rosedale-Rio Bravo Storage District in Kern County. The sale will net the county $374,625.

Plumas County has abundant water resources because the headwaters of the Feather River are located here. However, Public Works Director Thorman explained that the water to be sold is not physical water that will be sent south to Kern County, but an unused portion of the amount allocated to Plumas County by formulas of the State Water Project. Similar sales could be held in future years if the water supply permits.

The Board also voted to send letters to Governor Newsom and President Trump requesting actions to address wildfire threats and the high cost of property insurance. A draft of the letter to the governor requests a one-year moratorium on property insurance cancellations and non-renewals, the creation of a state income tax deduction for property insurance premiums, and expansion and reform of the California FAIR plan—the state’s last resort fire insurance program—to provide affordable insurance in high-risk areas.

The draft letter to the president asks for “burdensome regulations” of the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to be streamlined so that fuel reduction and vegetation management projects can be approved more quickly. However, the specific regulations believed to be slowing those projects were not identified. The letter also requests increased funding for fire prevention and mitigation on federal lands. Supervisor Mimi Hall later said she wished the letter could address the need to support funding for seasonal firefighters and other key forest and fire management positions. The hiring of seasonal firefighters has been impacted by budget cuts and the hiring freeze imposed by the Trump administration. Board Chairman Kevin Goss agreed the letter could be modified to address those concerns.