|
|
|
| |
|
Vol.
I No. 8 Supervisors Declare Storm-Related
State of Emergency By Charles Douglas
Sheriff Gary Philp was on hand to deliver the preliminary price tag, with evidence suggesting $1.7-2 million in damage just to county infrastructure, and $4 million possibly needed in all for local mitigation and repair. He said the already saturated soil was then hit on Saturday with wind gusts of up to 84 miles per hour inland, with a 98 m.p.h. measurement on Humboldt Bay. “Virtually all low-lying areas were experiencing flooding conditions,” Philp said. “We still have several local roads that are not fully opened because of downed trees.” Supervisor Jimmy Smith thanked the Sheriff-run Office of Emergency Services, the Red Cross and Public Works staff for pulling together to demonstrate strong cooperation during the crisis. He also cited the long-term impacts on water and wastewater systems as justification for presidential action. “As we go through the next few days, we’re going to get a lot more information on the magnitude of these storm systems…what’s essential is the team here in Humboldt County came together, the work they conducted on a night and day basis was astounding,” he said. “The public itself pulled together, you see them out on the roads everywhere clearing debris.” Supervisor Bonnie Neely said rumors of an impending gas shortage had driven up prices and produced lines at service stations, although the gas-laden barge eventually made it to the bay. While the Sheriff promised to help out any citizens in peril, he said repair of many damaged private roads in outlying areas was a different issue. “We can’t make any promises to people but we do encourage them to contact local authorities,” Philp said. Residents of unincorporated areas of the county are asked to call 476-2381, while municipal residents should contact their respective city halls. Supervisors approved after-the-fact an expenditure of up to $5,000 for extra sandbags deployed last weekend to handle ongoing flooding in Garberville. “There was intense flooding and property damage taking effect,” Tom Madsen said. The Board later heard a report from John Newman, Director of Government Relations for Pacific Gas and Electric, who expressed regret that it had taken so long to restore power, with a peak of 60,000 customers affected and 18,000 still without power on Dec. 3. “This has been a very, very significant storm for PG&E, perhaps disproportionately for us compared to other service providers because of the number of trees down,” he said. “We’re going to keep all the crews here until we get the last customer on, but it could take all week.” Newman said 11 additional crews were joining the effort on Tuesday, as workers continue to pull 18 hour shifts. He also reported that PG&E had made a $25,000 to regional Red Cross organizations on Monday. Supervisor Jill Geist compared the affect on power transmission to that of Hurricane Katrina which devastated the Gulf Coast last year, while Smith noted the Mattole Valley in his district had been without power since the previous week, before blackouts hit most areas. Big box blues A perennial agenda item to allow for updates on any potential ‘big box’ mega-chain store development saw some action for once on Jan. 3. Neely spearheaded the issuance of a letter from the Board urging a re-application by the City of Eureka for Headwaters Fund grant monies in order to study options regarding the Balloon Tract, an industrially contaminated site which has seen its share of contention following a failed bid by Walmart to get its zoning approved by voters in 1999. “I thought we should re-offer those monies to look at other options for that tract because it’s been a controversial issue before,” Neely said. “Part of the reason is with a collaborative effort between the county and the city, maybe [they could] leverage some Brownfields money and change what kind of project can be there.” Neely noted that the Coastal Commission, which she has served on for several years, was unlikely to take a friendly attitude towards the apparent plans by Security National owners Rob and Cherie Arkley to pursue a Home Depot franchise on the site. Neely said the previous vote of the people should be lesson enough to avoid a divisive project, a sentiment echoed by Eureka Mayor Peter LaVallee, who said the development deserved all the public input it could get. “I think it’s a really wonderful offer and I hope you do consider writing the letter, [but] I don’t know what our Council will do with it,” he said. “Even though its city property, I think it’s an issue of county development that’s very critical.” LaVallee alluded to the rejection of the same $50,000 in grant monies by the Eureka Council in 2004 in a move criticized by many as pandering to the aforementioned wealthy interests. Supervisors approved the letter 5-0, but not before frequent critic Aldo Bonjio got his objections in regarding an alleged overabundance of attention to “environmental people,” although the Hampton Inn site formerly sought by the Center for Environmental Economic Development for an eco-hostel is a separate parcel across a street, Waterfront Drive, from the Balloon Tract. In addition With 4,500 children without health care in the county even though an estimated 3,000 of them are eligible for MediCal or Healthy Families, the Board accepted a $50,000 grant from the California Health Care Foundation to support planning and implementation of a local children’s health initiative. Supervisors noted that in addition to encouraging increased use of available state funds, the initiative would create a third insurance product, as yet undeveloped, to address the working poor. “It’s a great opportunity to involve the private sector to make them pay for the children of their employees,” Neely said. A similarly unanimous vote was received to endorse the Go21 plan to encourage public investment in railroad infrastructure, which had already received the blessing of the Harbor Commission. State Director Phillip Denny, estimated an $83 billion infusion into the system would save over $1 trillion. “We can’t simply pave our way out of congestion anymore,” he said. As it was the first meeting of the year, Supervisor John Woolley took the center seat as this year’s Chair, replacing Supervisor Roger Rodoni. Some minor reshuffling of their respective appointments took place, with redundant subcommittees dealing with same-sex marriage, medical marijuana and Sudden Oak Death syndrome eliminated. Woolley agreed to be the Board’s designated member on the newly-created Election Advisory Committee, with Smith as the alternate.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2005-06, Humboldt Sentinel. All rights reserved. |
Underlying political divisions were noticeably absent on Tuesday as Supervisors
adopted a State of Emergency declaration the day after Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger declared emergencies in Humboldt and several neighboring
counties in the wake of massive flooding, power disruption and transportation
breakdowns throughout the region as a result of torrential rains since
Dec. 19. County officials included in their statement a request for a
federal disaster proclamation from President George W. Bush.