4e) Discussion and Possible Action Including Policy Consideration That the Defined Benefit of Improved Emergency Escape on Existing Public Roads by Providing Private Roads for the Purpose of Alternate Dry Weather Access for Emergency Equipment Alternate Route(s) to Reduce the Need for Two-Way Traffic on Public Roads and Provide the Benefit for Evacuation Traffic Such Assessment for Maintenance Cost of That Benefit Should Be Borne by Improved Parcels With Residential or Business Associated Occupancy, Direction to County Staff to Continue Work on Necessary Steps to Implement the County Service Area 3 Sherwood Firewise Communities Zone of Benefit Pilot Program, Approve and Authorize Expenditure of Designated Funds in Land Improvement Budget Unit 1910 be transferred to County Service Area 3 for Contracting up to $45,000 for Preparation of Zone of Benefit Boundary Maps and Descriptions as Official Filing Document Records and Acknowledge That Land Improvement Budget Unit 1910 has Available Funds to Cover Such Costs (Sherwood Road Area)
(Sponsor: Transportation)
Hello Supervisors,
The effort to create this Emergency Access Route (EAR) Zone of Benefit (ZoB) has taken a few years, tens of thousands of dollars and thousands of hours from dedicated members of Mendocino County, BTCSD, Cal Fire, Sherwood Firewise, Kronick law firm, NCRM, Community Foundation of Mendocino County, outside professional engineers and members of the Board of Supervisors. Public meetings and sessions before the Board over the past 2 years have provided outreach to stakeholders, including LAFCO, and up until the past month there appeared to be no role required for LAFCO. That appears to have changed.
Public notice for the balloting has already been sent to the owners of the properties in the proposed Zone of Benefit and the community expects to have the opportunity to cast their ballots. Revising this scheduled balloting will cause confusion. Is it necessary to have a LAFCO activation prior to having the community vote? Proceeding with the balloting would determine whether there is property owner approval to proceed or, if not approved, then no further action would be required. If the balloting MUST be delayed, we need to provide a clear explanation for the property owners as to why and what is expected to happen next. The timing of reaching approval for this long-term public safety funding program isn't the main factor. The routes have been secured and the vegetation managed by Cal Fire so these 2 EAR's are ready for service this year. It is the certainty of having the vote of the owners that is most important.
While the LAFCO's comment doesn't mention the MOU (licensing agreement) for the EAR maintenance, there have been discussions regarding the potential for a license to be revoked under the terms of the MOU (requires a 1 year notice) First, the routes were shown as EAR's in Brooktrails evacuation maps for years (without any agreements) and the reason that the routes were declared "unusable" by the BFD Fie Chief was due to lack a vegetation maintenance. The BTCSD Board and legal counsel stepped up to discuss developing agreements with property owners that provided access for vegetation management and offered indemnification for the owners. Clearly a deeded easement would have been best, however, the property owners were not willing to do that but did agree to a revocable license with a 1 year notice - the MOU.
Consider that so far under the terms of these MOU's, both the FIRCO and Willits Creek routes have been secured for vegetation work, Cal Fire has done the work and the routes are ready for use AGAIN this fire season. The Oak Fire incident immediately proved the value of this work with Cal Fire accessing the fire using the FIRCO route and allowing the entire population of Brooktrails to evacuate down both lanes of Sherwood Road - the safest evacuation that the Sheriff and Cal Fire and OES had ever experienced and potential losses to lives and property were greatly reduced.
There are many potential issues in the future - landslide, fire, earthquake could eliminate a route permanently - or a property owner might decide to "opt out" after providing the one year required notice. This would allow one more year of vegetation management - this one could get a "super" treatment to keep it in good shape for several years. In this case, the EAR's would still be available for emergency access as no property owner can deny the Sheriff or Incident Commander the emergency use of their property. It might be that the one "opted out" parcel has a bit of vegetation that would be in the way but the overall route would be useful. Reducing the costs would mean a reduction in the annual assessment and that can be done under the ZoB. It is unlikely that all owners would decide to "opt out" of this free vegetation management service and indemnification but, even if that happened, the routes would still be in far better shape than they were in the Redwood Complex fire where they were "impassable" and Brooktrails could have been a disaster far worse than Paradise.
Don't let the Perfect be the enemy of the Good. The MOU's are working and the community NEEDS these important Emergency Access Routes. Please proceed with the balloting to allow property owners to indicate their approval and move on to whatever is next required.
Honorable Mendocino County Board of Supervisors
501 Low Gap Road, Room 1010
Ukiah, CA 95482
RE: Request to Postpone Agenda Item 4e and Commence LAFCo Application Process
Dear Board of Supervisors,
I am writing to request that you postpone Agenda Item 4e related to next steps for implementing the County Service Area (CSA) 3 Zone of Benefit (ZOB) Pilot Project for the Sherwood Firewise Community and direct County staff to proceed with filing a LAFCo application to activate latent emergency access powers for the CSA 3 Sherwood Firewise Community service area.
While LAFCo does not have authority over ZOB creation, LAFCo does have authority over the powers, or services, of a CSA pursuant to GOV 25213.5(a). Services must be activated in order for the CSA Board of Directors to establish a valid zone of benefit and assessment for those services.
Providing emergency access is a critical fire safety need and I commend the efforts of the Sherwood Firewise Community and County staff to address this important issue. While I support addressing emergency access needs, I must express concern regarding the order of activities underway.
It is strongly recommended that the LAFCo application process occur before the public hearing to consider creation and assessment for the Sherwood Firewise Community ZOB, scheduled on March 17, 2022.
The LAFCo application process takes approximately 6-months to one-year and could result in changes to the proposed project scope or estimated service cost which could invalidate a ZOB creation and Prop 218 assessment process that occurs in advance. Further, there is no guarantee that the Commission will approve the proposal, and the LAFCo protest process may result in an election which could potentially be combined with the County Prop 218 process and enhance overall public transparency on the proposal.
Therefore, I respectfully request that you postpone the public hearing scheduled in the coming weeks and direct County staff to proceed with filing a LAFCo application to activate latent powers. Please feel free to contact me for additional information or with any questions.
Sincerely,
Uma Hinman
Executive Officer
Cc: Steve Dunnicliff, Deputy CEO, Mendocino County
Nathaniel Raff, Deputy County Counsel, Mendocino County
Howard Dashiell, Department of Transportation Director, Mendocino County
Hello Supervisors,
The effort to create this Emergency Access Route (EAR) Zone of Benefit (ZoB) has taken a few years, tens of thousands of dollars and thousands of hours from dedicated members of Mendocino County, BTCSD, Cal Fire, Sherwood Firewise, Kronick law firm, NCRM, Community Foundation of Mendocino County, outside professional engineers and members of the Board of Supervisors. Public meetings and sessions before the Board over the past 2 years have provided outreach to stakeholders, including LAFCO, and up until the past month there appeared to be no role required for LAFCO. That appears to have changed.
Public notice for the balloting has already been sent to the owners of the properties in the proposed Zone of Benefit and the community expects to have the opportunity to cast their ballots. Revising this scheduled balloting will cause confusion. Is it necessary to have a LAFCO activation prior to having the community vote? Proceeding with the balloting would determine whether there is property owner approval to proceed or, if not approved, then no further action would be required. If the balloting MUST be delayed, we need to provide a clear explanation for the property owners as to why and what is expected to happen next. The timing of reaching approval for this long-term public safety funding program isn't the main factor. The routes have been secured and the vegetation managed by Cal Fire so these 2 EAR's are ready for service this year. It is the certainty of having the vote of the owners that is most important.
While the LAFCO's comment doesn't mention the MOU (licensing agreement) for the EAR maintenance, there have been discussions regarding the potential for a license to be revoked under the terms of the MOU (requires a 1 year notice) First, the routes were shown as EAR's in Brooktrails evacuation maps for years (without any agreements) and the reason that the routes were declared "unusable" by the BFD Fie Chief was due to lack a vegetation maintenance. The BTCSD Board and legal counsel stepped up to discuss developing agreements with property owners that provided access for vegetation management and offered indemnification for the owners. Clearly a deeded easement would have been best, however, the property owners were not willing to do that but did agree to a revocable license with a 1 year notice - the MOU.
Consider that so far under the terms of these MOU's, both the FIRCO and Willits Creek routes have been secured for vegetation work, Cal Fire has done the work and the routes are ready for use AGAIN this fire season. The Oak Fire incident immediately proved the value of this work with Cal Fire accessing the fire using the FIRCO route and allowing the entire population of Brooktrails to evacuate down both lanes of Sherwood Road - the safest evacuation that the Sheriff and Cal Fire and OES had ever experienced and potential losses to lives and property were greatly reduced.
There are many potential issues in the future - landslide, fire, earthquake could eliminate a route permanently - or a property owner might decide to "opt out" after providing the one year required notice. This would allow one more year of vegetation management - this one could get a "super" treatment to keep it in good shape for several years. In this case, the EAR's would still be available for emergency access as no property owner can deny the Sheriff or Incident Commander the emergency use of their property. It might be that the one "opted out" parcel has a bit of vegetation that would be in the way but the overall route would be useful. Reducing the costs would mean a reduction in the annual assessment and that can be done under the ZoB. It is unlikely that all owners would decide to "opt out" of this free vegetation management service and indemnification but, even if that happened, the routes would still be in far better shape than they were in the Redwood Complex fire where they were "impassable" and Brooktrails could have been a disaster far worse than Paradise.
Don't let the Perfect be the enemy of the Good. The MOU's are working and the community NEEDS these important Emergency Access Routes. Please proceed with the balloting to allow property owners to indicate their approval and move on to whatever is next required.
Thank you,
Keith Rutledge
March 1, 2022
Honorable Mendocino County Board of Supervisors
501 Low Gap Road, Room 1010
Ukiah, CA 95482
RE: Request to Postpone Agenda Item 4e and Commence LAFCo Application Process
Dear Board of Supervisors,
I am writing to request that you postpone Agenda Item 4e related to next steps for implementing the County Service Area (CSA) 3 Zone of Benefit (ZOB) Pilot Project for the Sherwood Firewise Community and direct County staff to proceed with filing a LAFCo application to activate latent emergency access powers for the CSA 3 Sherwood Firewise Community service area.
While LAFCo does not have authority over ZOB creation, LAFCo does have authority over the powers, or services, of a CSA pursuant to GOV 25213.5(a). Services must be activated in order for the CSA Board of Directors to establish a valid zone of benefit and assessment for those services.
Providing emergency access is a critical fire safety need and I commend the efforts of the Sherwood Firewise Community and County staff to address this important issue. While I support addressing emergency access needs, I must express concern regarding the order of activities underway.
It is strongly recommended that the LAFCo application process occur before the public hearing to consider creation and assessment for the Sherwood Firewise Community ZOB, scheduled on March 17, 2022.
The LAFCo application process takes approximately 6-months to one-year and could result in changes to the proposed project scope or estimated service cost which could invalidate a ZOB creation and Prop 218 assessment process that occurs in advance. Further, there is no guarantee that the Commission will approve the proposal, and the LAFCo protest process may result in an election which could potentially be combined with the County Prop 218 process and enhance overall public transparency on the proposal.
Therefore, I respectfully request that you postpone the public hearing scheduled in the coming weeks and direct County staff to proceed with filing a LAFCo application to activate latent powers. Please feel free to contact me for additional information or with any questions.
Sincerely,
Uma Hinman
Executive Officer
Cc: Steve Dunnicliff, Deputy CEO, Mendocino County
Nathaniel Raff, Deputy County Counsel, Mendocino County
Howard Dashiell, Department of Transportation Director, Mendocino County