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b'March 16, 2021 \\u2014 The Board of Supervisors is facing the question of how to spend the $22.6 million of settlement money from PG&E for damage caused by the fires of 2017. Last week\\u2019s list of proposed projects, copied and pasted from the list of capital improvement projects in the mid-year budget review, did not include any projects that were specific to Redwood Valley or Potter Valley, where the wind-driven fires raged for days.\\n\\nDon Dale, who\\u2019s been the Redwood Valley/Calpella fire chief for about seven years, was expecting a grant for a siren, but the fire district ended up raising $64,000 to buy a solar powered siren that can be set up in different areas and activated from a distance. He\\u2019s expecting to receive the siren in about 60 days, and is considering setting it up in four different zones. If he got money from the settlement, he\\u2019d like to buy more equipment for that siren. He\\u2019d also like ongoing funding to keep the roadsides clear, and pay for fire breaks. And, with an aging fleet, he has his eye on buying some used engines from CalFire. Grants are theoretically available, but highly competitive, and often require a professional to apply for them, which is another expense small volunteer fire departments aren\\u2019t always prepared for.\\n\\nBill Pauli has been the chief of the volunteer fire department in Potter Valley, where the fire started, since 1997. He wa s the first incident commander on the night of October 8, 2017. He thinks the county should have a portion of the settlement, but he\\u2019d also like the affected communities to have their fair share. That includes the fire department, but also the irrigation and the schools, which provided some meals and counseling and other services to fire survivors. He says the fire department has never been reimbursed for hosting the agencies that came to help, providing meals, lights, bathrooms, and drinking water, much of it during a time when the power was out in the valley. \\u201cThat\\u2019s what we do,\\u201d he acknowledged; \\u201cbut that was certainly above and beyond what we normally would be doing. And certainly we would think that now that the county has received these funds, that there would be some funding set aside for Potter Valley fire, related to the impact on the fire department for the fires and the services that we provided.\\u201d\\n\\nWater is always an essential service, especially during a fire. Jared Walker, the operations manager at the Redwood Valley County Water District, said a major rate study is coming up soon, and he expects significant increases in the water bill to pay for the upkeep of aging infrastructure. Insurance and FEMA paid for the lost booster station on Tomki Road, but the water treatment plant on Road D needs some upgrades. And the drive shafts on the motors for the pumps that pump water to the plant from Lake Mendocino, which is four and a half miles away, also need some repairs.\\nThe drive controls on one of the motors have already been repaired, which Walker says cost just under $100,000. Walker would also like to see some fire hydrants in Redwood Valley. The community relies mostly on surplus water from Lake Mendocino, and Walker says the district has spent about a million dollars already trying to find alternate sources. Studies to look for more water will cost more money, but Redwood Valley is $7.6 million in debt to the Bureau of Reclamation, and is not eligible for grants. And the problem with drilling more wells, says Walker, is that the State Department of Drinking Water requires proof that well water is groundwater. \\n\\n\\n\\nChief Dale thinks that, with this windfall, a lot more fiscal responsibility is in order at the county level. He was nonplussed by the seven county departments projected to exceed their budgets by at least $150,000 each. And he offered a blunt analysis of a preliminary suggestion to spend $2.8 million of settlement funds to repair the roof on the property at Whitmore Lane, which was known to be damaged at the time of the purchase. He was nonplussed by the seven county departments projected to exceed their budgets by at least $150,000: \\u201cThey need to clean up their act, is what I think, as far as the county goes.\\u201d'