Dixie Fire criminal case settlement update – 1 year later

The DFC will continue to look at ways to keep leveraging our dollars, however, our first priority working directly with Disaster Case Management will be to help supplement the gaps for individual survivors.

Attachments-

Expenditures:

NVCF Fees $60,000

Website $11,458

Security Cameras $5,426

Hope Crisis Rebuild $59,825

Copper Creek Workforce Housing $75,000

Dixie Fire Simple Unmet Needs Roundtable $50,000

Planning and Visioning Phase 1A $20,000

Plumas Rural Services August 4^th Fire Anniversary Transportation $1745

Harvest Fair Event Insurance $100

Meals/Food for Two CCA Student Workshops $1,008

Canyon Dam Tree Removal $87,450

NVCF Fee for Donation $30

Audio Equipment for Meetings $861

Total Expenditures $372,904

Commitments:

Clean Up Historical Buildings $150,000

Indian Falls Water System Phases 1& 2 $48,500

Zoom Account $149

Communications Technician – 6 months $4,000

ToolBANK Insurance $2,430

PRS Outdoor Youth Program $2,430

Total Commitments $244,679

• $19,014 on delivery of the spring 2022 chipping program. These funds allowed us to continue uninterrupted services during a gap that we encountered in grant funding. In 2022 the program chipped at a total of 300 locations.
• $67,266 on a feasibility study for a firewood processing and wood heat utilization facility at our office location in East Quincy. The facility would utilize hazardous fuels from our projects and community green waste to generate kiln-dried firewood and electricity. The feasibility study led to a successful grant application from the USDA Forest Service Wood Products Innovation Grant for $1 million to start Phase I of the project. If approved by the Fire Safe Council Board, up to $1.1 million of the PG&E funds will be used as the required match for the grant.
• $9,673 on publication of an updated Living with Fire magazine. 15,000 copies are currently being distributed across Plumas County. Copies can be picked up from the Fire Safe Council office or from Feather River Publishing.

Future plans for the funds include:

• Establishing a $500,000 reserve fund that allows the Fire Safe Council to pay local contractors in a timely manner. This would be a revolving account that is continually reimbursed by grant funds, but that allows invoices to be paid when received rather than waiting for reimbursement from the grant. I know that this doesn’t sound particularly exciting, but it is a huge benefit for supporting local contractors who cannot carry operating expenses for the 60-90 days it usually takes for reimbursement from grantors.
• Earmarking up to $2 million for grant matching for Phase II of the firewood processing facility. These funds allow the Fire Safe Council to have the required match necessary to make large grant proposals, which effectively leverages the money for a greater benefit.
• The remaining funds will be housed, temporarily, in low-risk investment accounts to generate interest for reinvestment into the Fire Safe Council programs until such time that the Fire Safe Council Board identifies an appropriate use for the funding.

The one million dollars has been dedicated to the following activities:

Developing architectural plans for Roundhouse Council Indian Education Center rebuild in Greenville. A novel roundhouse design is being used. $125,000 (Completed draft design below.)

Upgrading the sawmill at the Indian Valley Wood Utilization Campus in Crescent Mills.  $125,000

Cross laminated timber (CLT)—a much improved fire safe building panel—designs for structures and panel production operation $225,000

Workforce Housing $150,000

Support for field crews to conduct landscape cleanup and restoration $150,000

Conducting an assessment of Dixie Fire: what worked, what didn’t, and what can be improved $100,000

Building organizational capacity for local business and housing development and meeting other local needs $125,000

The PCOE Foundation has not yet spent the $2 million received.  The foundation has now been officially set up and we have an advisory board set up to make a spending plan.  Our information can be found here:  https://www.pcoe.k12.ca.us/apps/pages/PCOEFoundation

2.     What was the contribution spent on?     Nothing yet

3.     Is there any money left?             $500,000

4.     What will you do with the remaining money?  The goal for the PG&E settlement funds was/is to purchase a piece of land and then build a team headquarter structure that includes a place for all of our equipment.  The real estate market being what it is, we have been having difficulty in finding the right piece of property.  We have submitted offers and they have either been turned down or awaiting a counter offer response.  I expect it will be at least another year before we find a place and build what we need.

2)    What was the contribution spent on? Mostly the Indian Valley Innovation Hub efforts. We committed $50,000 to that program and have spent about $30,000. The other $20,000 is ready to go. By the way, we have leveraged that money with another $50,000 for the IVIH. The other money has been used to purchase equipment and supplies to enhance the fairgrounds as a resiliency and evacuation center; barricades, electrical improvements, scissor lift, more refrigeration.

3)    Is there any money left? Yes! But we’re trying!

4)    What will you do with the remaining money? Since the mission of the PSCF Foundation is to benefit the Fair, it can only be spent on Fair related projects. It’s a safe bet we will continue to explore investments in equipment and appropriate improvements to the facility. Additionally, as the Innovation Hub continues to expand it’s services to the residents of Plumas County, the Foundation is ready to support those services as needed. The direction of the Innovation Hub has evolved as the needs, primarily economic, have emerged. There are some exciting programs in the works that will help small businesses recover, not only in Indian Valley, but all of Plumas County. Happy to give updates as they arise.

$149,000

What was the contribution spent on?

Housing assistance, utility assistance, motel sheltering, other

assistance such as food support via food pantry and food bank.

Is there any money left?

Yes

What will you do with the remaining money?

We are developing a plan for the balance and it will go before the

PCIRC Board in June.

Please let me know if there are any questions.  I know the money has been here for over a year, but it has taken that long for the bachelor’s degree approval to get to this point.

We have utilized our funds as follows:

$44 Thousand allocated to the Tasmam Koyom Fencing Project to help with the safety efforts of Tasmam Koyom in order to open the campgrounds for community use.

$30 Thousand allocated to the Tribal Monitoring Project to assist work crews on all parcels affected by the Dixie Fire to protect and care for artifacts and culturally significant sights.

Both of these projects will assist the Maidu Summit to insure all properties are safe for community use.

The Maidu Summit still has 126 thousand dollars to spend, we have plans to utilize these funds to continue the cleanup efforts on our properties insuring they are safe for public use.

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We have spent most of the founds awarded, approximately $28000 as of today.

What was the contribution spent on?

Beckwourth fire district spend the founds on upgrading our communications, specific to radios. Beckwourth fire applied for a cal-fire matching grant, and we used the PG&E founds to help offset the grant money we owed.

Is there any money left?

We have approximately 7 thousand dollars left.

What will you do with the remaining money?

We plan to spend the rest of the money on wildfire PPE (personal protective equipment) as we approach this coming fire season.

The fire department is currently operating with a $730,000 budget deficit so it’s hard to specify exactly what the funds paid for – they helped fill in the gap with operational expenses

1.  All of the funds have been spent
2. All of the funds were spent on the District’s insurance coverage.  Our premiums went from approximately $24,000 per year to $49,500 due to wildfires
3. There is no money left

5/11/22     Sierra Electronics     $2,046.21   Pagers

2/17/23     KR Nida                        9,213.64   Radios/Chargers

4/5/23        LN Curtis                     3,886.26   Structure Boots

4/24/23      LN Curtis                   38,474.87  Jaws of Life Equipment

TOTAL    $53,620.98

2. Structure firefighting turnouts

3. Yes, approximately $5k

4. To be determined, but will likely be an infrared imaging camera for spotting hot spots

Hamilton Branch: Used for energy efficiency upgrades.

Regarding purchases- we have bought wildland fire personal protective clothing for all 17 volunteers, emergency responder knives with seat belt cutters & windshield breakers, structure helmets & boots, repaired/repainted the interiors of North Arm & Genesee Fire Stations, purchased & installed new BK radios into IVFD Fire Engines, purchased new fire pagers and also partially paid for engineering blueprints/plans for the new IVFD Fire Station to replace the station that was burned down during the Dixie Fire in Greenville.

We have no money left over from the $50k payment and are now using our insurance money to move forward in rebuilding the IVFD.

2.  The good faith contribution has given us hope for the future by allowing us to plan for improvement projects to our infrastructure that we would have otherwise had to ignore or put off for years into the future. Those include a new roof for our fire hall, a carport for our emergency response vehicle and to replace outdated fire fighting equipment.

We are a very small community and the settlement that Mr. Hollister and other county officials helped facilitate has brought us from the brink of financial hardship to being able to provide the medical first response and firefighting assistance that our community needs and expects.

We are very grateful for this financial assistance and send sincere thanks to everyone involved.

2. The funds were spent on Extrication tools, Wildland training (S-290 intermediate Wildland training, Engine, and Crew Boss classes), Radios, Wildland pants, boots, and shirts.

3. No money is left. The total we spent is $56K.

What was the contribution spent on? Station 1 generator project: $16,484.54 was used to pay a portion of a $58,423.58, 48kw Generator to supply power to the 505 Lawrence Street fire station, truck bay, and the training facility where we operate our fire academy. Truck 8161 restoration project: $24,870.79 has been used to offset the cost associated with the restoration and certification of a 2001 American LaFrance fire truck.

Is there any money left? Yes

What will you do with the remaining money? The remaining $8,644.63 will be used for vehicle maintenance and replacement.

2.     What was the contribution spent on? N/A

3.     Is there any money left? All – 300,000

4.     What will you do with the remaining money? Proposed expenses include new website development; build tourism center or kiosk; insurance for community events, etc.

As I mentioned we are very careful with these funds and are sensitive to them being one time monies.

We have used some for the Recreation Economy for Rural Communities efforts, a small amount for our Administrative Director to attend a Rural Chamber of Commerce conference and we used some toward the Plumas Sierra County Fair Parade.

At this point we are not sure what else we will do with the funds but I can tell you they will be consistent with the economic interests of our community.

In May we gathered our membership to discuss their desires for the use of the money. There was consensus that it created an opportunity to build on economic initiatives we had already been working on.  Following is a brief description of what we are doing with the funds this year.

Staffing. We have been relying on part time staff and volunteers to create many wins for our community these past 5 years. These funds allow us to go from a $30,000 part-time employee to a full-time position at $60,000. The funds will guarantee 3 years of the increased salary. However, a condition of employment for the position is to replace this funding with increased members and sponsorships, for sustainability.

Winter Activities.  The Chamber is part of a private/public partnership being worked on with Plumas County and The Almanor Foundation to develop a Town Plaza at Chester Park.

The Town Plaza is an initiative for the advancement of community health, education, and cultural and recreational opportunities.  It will be a community destination that will feature educational events, music, festivals, craft fairs, children’s activities, cultural performances, and public art.

As an economic development driver, it will contain a public market space that will create opportunities for various food and retail entrepreneurs to start and grow businesses.  As an event and year-round activities location it will become a regional destination that will bring local residents as well as travelers into the Town of Chester, stimulating the economy of the town.

Ice Rink. $80,000 will be used to front the cost of an ice-skating rink at Chester Park this winter. The rink is synthetic with an expected life span of 15-20 years. We estimate that with a 10-year life span the rink would cost about $8000/year. $8000/year will be re-couped through sponsorships and admissions costs.

Community Tree. $36,000 was spent to purchase a commercial Christmas tree for the Plaza. This tree will has a long life span and creates additional market activities throughout the holiday season for our businesses and entrepreneurs, as well as contributes to the sense of place our community has so desperately needed, especially since the fire.

Investments. Funds not utilized this year are being invested in laddered CDs at Edward Jones.

To answer your questions:

How much of your contribution has been spent? Answer: To date, we have spent $44,000 of the original $300,000 allocated to our Chamber.

What was the contribution spent on? Answer: As our new Board became involved in Chamber activities, we discovered many financial and operations systems needed updating to support the Chamber and the Lost Sierra Visitors Center located at the corner of Highways 70 and 89 – the only brick and mortar Visitor Center in Plumas County.

·      We spent a portion of funds upgrading our Point of Service payment and bookkeeping processes.

·      We hired a new Chamber of Commerce Administrative Assistant team member in October 2022 to support Chamber operations, communications, membership and financial tracking including improved accounts payables and receivables, aiding in lease negotiations, and serving as back-up support for our sole, pre-existing staff member who was trying to run both the Visitors Center and Chamber operations previously. We have also expanded both the Administrative Assistant and Visitor Center staff roles into 20 hour per week jobs to support the volume of inquiries and interest we are receiving. The Board is also discussing salary increases for our staff to acknowledge their hard work and adjust for rising living costs.

·      We have invested in developing two new websites: one for the Chamber of Commerce (lostsierrachamber.org) that debuted at our Chamber Launch Event in October 2022 and went live in February 2023; and the other is a Lost Sierra Recreation website (discoverthelostsierra.com forthcoming) set to launch in May 2023.

o   One of our Board Members is a marketing professional who created both sites at a discount of only $4,250 per website.

o   Since the Chamber website launched, we have had 3,000 visitors per month and an average read rate of over 5 minutes.

·      To complement the website launches, we have also invested in social media outreach creating Lost Sierra Chamber of Commerce accounts for Facebook and Instagram and began promoting local businesses. We will also create similar social media presence for the Lost Sierra Recreation website when it launches.

o   Investing in social campaign and email blasts totaling $1,500 per month.

o   Over 57,000 impressions since active management has taken place on the Discover the Lost Sierra Instagram account, and the Lost Sierra Chamber Facebook and Instagram account.

o   Engagement rate is over 60% on all platforms.

In addition, we have had some successes that did not require use of this funding:

·      We replaced our antiquated phone system with phones that were donated to us and created a savings over our prior phone system.

·      We have held two Chamber ‘mixer’ events that engaged local business owners/members educating them about the launch of the new Chamber of Commerce activities and soliciting their input and support to assist their businesses. We have also increased our Chamber memberships.

·      We held our Christmas in Portola event in December 2022 that was a community success as we gave away over 150 gifts to Portola community children.

·      Created, applied, and launched a Wikipedia page defining the Lost Sierra to answer the many visitor inquiries received about the name, where the name came from, and this region that contains Plumas and Sierra Counties. This was a Board of Directors initiative that took place in the last seven months that took a large effort to compile research and facts.

·      We also have new county-wide, interactive adventure promotion encouraging people to visit the area and our businesses set to start this spring/summer.

Is there any money left? Answer: Yes, approximately 85% ($256,000) of the original funding remains in our bank account. We plan to hold much of these funds in an interest earning CD, spend on activities as needed, and to support our ongoing digital marketing campaigns. Additionally, the Chamber has posted a position for a Program and Event Coordinator to be hired to support medium and large-scale Chamber and tourism revenue generating events. We intend to use a portion of the PG&E funding to pay for this position during the first year, with the expectation that the position will be funded through the event and fundraising revenue generated thereafter.

What do you plan to do with the money? Answer: One of the initiatives that our Chamber helped initiate is the formation of a Chamber Coalition that includes all four Plumas County Chambers and the two Sierra County Chambers. The Coalition began meeting in January 2023 and continue to meet on the first Wednesday of each month. Within the Coalition, we have worked on creating draft Bylaws of how the Chambers can work together on common interests such as pursuit of grant funding and hiring shared resources (e.g., grant writing and reporting resources) as well as opportunities to identify and promote regional events to draw more tourism dollars to our area. We are also discussing events in the shoulder seasons that funding would also support.

Beginning PG&E Balance               $50,000

Rotary Closet                                  ($3,500)

RYLA                                                 ($3,000)

Academic Scholarships                 ($1,500)

Ending Balance June 2023           $42,000

·      The Rotary Closet provides both Quincy Elementary School students access to warm jackets, snow boots, tee shirts, sweat pants/shirts, socks and hygiene products.

·      RYLA is a week long leadership development camp for students prior to their senior year of high school. Typically 4-5 students attend.

·      Academic scholarships are given to students slated to attend either 2 or 4 year schools after graduating high school.

2) What was the contribution spent on? $10,000.00 (earmarked; not yet expended) – Indian Falls Water System-Phase 2 $ 289.57 – Picnic Tables (materials for 30 tables; wood donated & Rotary constructed) $ 500.00 – Dixie Fire Collaborative Intern Support $ 2,626.62 – Holiday Tree Lights Replacement (2 large trees by schools) $ 190.87 – Greenhouse Tarp (Rotary constructed Greenhouse purchased by partners)

3) Is there any money left? $36,392.94

4) What will you do with the remaining money? We are waiting for the Dixie Fire Collaborative-Long Term Rebuilding Project Strategy to be completed and will apply funding where it will make the most sense with other partners. Our focus is on projects with some permanence.

Other comments: We also received small donations from private parties and have been using those for things like community suppers & picnics, insurance, etc. Our Rotary Community provided us with $30,000 immediately following the fire for $500.00 gift certificates to support immediate needs of 60 families

We are reserving the remaining funds – approximately $42,000, I believe. We hope to combine these funds with other Rotary Clubs in order to receive a grant from Rotary International to fund a large joint project, “once the dust settles”.