LOYALTON — To start Tuesday’s meeting of the Board of Supervisors, the California Statewide Grey Wolf Coordinator, Axel Hunnicutt, introduced himself during a public comment opportunity. The new California Department of Fish and Wildlife position is based in the Tahoe/Truckee area, and Axel expects to work with Sierra County in the future.

Director of Transportation Bryan Davey reported that Congressman Kiley’s office had contacted the Public Works department, suggesting they apply for Gold Lake Highway Project funding through an appropriations process, which would allow the Congressman to allocate funding. A joint application with Plumas County (for work on both sides of the road) is being finalized and will be submitted immediately.

Public Health Program Manager Rhonda Grandi gave an update on the success of the Senior Outreach Nursing Program, which had over 20 clients from direct referrals without being advertised anywhere. She also relayed a heartfelt thank you note from one of the participants to the nurse running the program. Grandi also notified the Board that Public Health is undergoing on-site training for their long-awaited electronic health record system, which has a go-live date of April 9th.

Department Head Raises Settled

After discussions began in November 2023, the supervisors have finally reached a consensus on a path forward for department head pay raises. The new salaries will be based on a percentage difference from the county’s mid-management tier 2 salary. On the current salary scale, tier 1 department heads make less than mid-management tier 2, which was caused by previous cost-of-living adjustments for county employees that excluded the department heads.

Ultimately, the Board expects to set department head salaries at $140,532.46 for tier 1, $147,559.09 for tier 2, and $162,314.99 for tier 3. The change will not take effect immediately; instead, the Board will wait for the California budget to be finalized so it can account for expected budget cuts.

Supervisor Adams suggested a stop-gap in which the tier 1 department heads will receive an immediate raise of about 50% of what they will receive when the full salary bump takes effect. The measure will put tier 1 heads above mid-management tier 2 while remaining below tier 2 department heads, fixing the current salary imbalance until the new scale is implemented. No action could be taken at Tuesday’s meeting, so an agenda item will be drafted for the next meeting in Downieville to put the stop-gap into effect.

Planning Commissioner Janet Baldridge Recognized

The Board presented a resolution of appreciation to recently retired Planning Commissioner Janet Baldridge for her dedicated service to the county and its residents since her appointment in 2017. Baldridge represented her home community of Calpine on the Planning Commission and was also a 4H and North Tahoe American Association of University Women volunteer. Baldrige received glowing praise from planning department colleagues Corri Jimenez and Monica Beachell.

Teague Appointed

Alan Teague, who recently completed a 3-year build of a home in Sierra City, was appointed to the Sierra County Planning Commission on Tuesday. He has six years of previous experience on Alameda County’s Planning Board, where he had to navigate the Housing Element and General Plan, documents which Sierra County is in the process of updating.

Supervisor Lila Heuer led the push to nominate Teague, noting that no residents from Supervisorial District 2 were on the commission. Supervisor Adams concurred that the commission should remain geographically mixed within the county. Adams also believes that appointing newer county residents is desirable and that the commission shouldn’t be reserved only for 40-year residents.

Teague thanked the Board for his nomination and for phone calls from supervisors preceding the meeting. He then expressed interest in helping the community and county with the general plan and zoning code update and emphasized that workforce housing deserves particular attention and improvement.

Musica Sierra Can Recycling Program

Musica Sierra, a nonprofit organization promoting musical arts in Sierra County, runs a “Cans for the Arts” can recycling program, which allows residents to bring empty cans to a trailer in the Sierra Brooks Lodge parking lot. Executive Director Lindsay McIntosh implored the Board on Tuesday to sign a letter of support for a grant application to CalRecycle, which would allow the installation of three additional can-recycling trailers in the county.

The “Cans for the Arts” recycling process is challenging because the closest recycling center willing to accept the cans is in Sacramento. Therefore, Musica Sierra must bale the recycled cans and store them in a shipping container, which, when full, is taken by Intermountain Disposal to the recycling center. The money made through the California Refund Value (CRV) program is used to fund the process, and extra is kept as a donation to Musica Sierra. The organization hopes the three added trailers will create a donation stream of about $10,000 annually. Musica Sierra also plans to use grant funds to advertise the program.

New Sierraville Pump Station

Bill Quesnel, District Engineer, gave a presentation regarding Sierraville Public Utility District’s Pump Station Replacement Project, which replaced the small pump shed built in the 1960s. The new building is designed to current building standards, with updated pumps, power and electrical systems, separate chemical storage room, and stationary emergency generator.

County Develops Social Services Plan

Sierra County Social Services presented the “Comprehensive Prevention Plan,” which outlines some of the county’s shortcomings in fostering healthy lifestyles and offers potential solutions. Data was gathered through a community survey in which respondents expressed a need for more activities, businesses, jobs, and housing. We hope one respondent’s request for a bowling alley will be met.