Governor declares emergency over Round fire

CalRecycle to perform fire debris cleanup.

A crowd of some sixty Swall Meadows and Paradise residents assembled at the Crowley Lake Community Center on Tuesday night, March 3, to hear updates on the Round Fire relief effort.

“I think I speak for all of the Board when I say that we’re sorry we have to have this meeting,” said Supervisor Fred Stump in opening. He went on to offer good news, however: Governor Jerry Brown issued an emergency proclamation on Friday, Feb. 27, allowing State aid, such as CalRecycle fire debris removal services, to come to Mono County.

Supervisor Stump commended County staff for its quick and thorough response to the 7,000-acre Round Fire, which began near Paradise on the afternoon of Feb. 6, and quickly spread to Swall Meadows, burning more than 40 structures, including 35 single family homes.

“This is a first for Mono County, this kind of event, this kind of loss,” said Supervisor Stump. “I’m pretty proud of how County staff pulled together.”

Staff members from Public Works, Community Development, and Solid Waste departments gave updates to affected residents, noting which permits and fees—for grading, right-of-way encroachment, RV use, building and demolition—the Board could approve waiving, and under what circumstances. The Board also agreed to lift restrictions on building season in certain areas of Swall Meadows due to deer migration—“Probably, there’s not a lot of deer habitat there,” observed Supervisor Larry Johnston, to laughter.

Of particular interest to those assembled was how and when CalRecycle would begin cleaning neighborhoods stuck for several weeks with hazardous fire debris.

Currently, State Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board standards do not allow residents to dispose of mixed fire debris at either the Benton Crossing Landfill or the Transfer Station on Lower Rock Creek Road, although both can accept metal, appliances, wood waste and aggregate if separated out for recycling. The standards are intended to protect residents from toxic substances such as asbestos and lead found in ash and debris from burned buildings.

Solid Waste Superintendent Tony Dublino had proposed contingency measures, should CalRecycle not come to Paradise and Swall, but “Friday, when the [emergency] declaration was made, everything changed for me,” he said.

Now, Paradise and Swall residents who lost structures to the fire have the option of signing up with CalRecycle to have their properties cleared at no extra cost other than what their insurance has set aside for debris removal.

“This program doesn’t show up all the time,” said CalRecycle Senior Waste Management Engineer Todd Thalhamer. “Your community got us here.”

Thalhamer explained that he and one or more crews will begin by documenting each site, performing an asbestos survey, and setting up air samplers. Crews will then remove all debris from properties, including metal, hazard trees, mixed burned debris, contaminated soil, and concrete foundations, within the next several weeks. CalRecycle will then perform erosion control, which could include hydroseeding, depending on property owners’ wishes.

Residents will forward the insurance money for debris removal to the County, which will pay the State. Thalhamer said the cost of debris removal ranges from about $20,000-$30,000, but that the State will accept whatever insurance companies pay—typically around $10,000-$15,000—with no extra charge to the resident. Residents without insurance will not have to pay anything.

Should a resident have insurance that will take the cost of debris removal out of the pool of money available for rebuilding, Thalhamer said that resident can ask a local standard contractor (no EPA certification necessary) to provide a bid for how much it would cost to remove debris. That bid will be less than CalRecycle’s estimated cost, he said.

“You’ll still pay your debris cost, but it’ll be reasonable,” he said.

Thalhamer said the length of the cleanup process depends on how many residents sign up for the program, but that in South Lake Tahoe, documentation, survey, and sampling of affected properties after the Angora Fire began on July 13, and CalRecycle removed the first house on July 14.

“In Weed, we bumped into a lot more asbestos,” Thalhamer said. “It took us two to three days to do the sampling and documentation; after that, we started moving the houses.”

Once CalRecycle’s assessment begins, “the first homes are gone the following week,” Thalhamer said. “We usually average a house a day per contractor taskforce. If lots [of residents] sign up, we should be done within two to three weeks.”

Thalhamer also assured residents that they could make note of any landscaping, wells, septic systems, or sensitive areas or items they wish CalRecycle to avoid disturbing during cleanup.

For instance, “If you happen to have a live WWII-era hand grenade, just let us know,” he said. “It has happened.”

Thalhamer also said residents will be able to do walkthroughs of their properties to look for particular items.

“We’d like to see all residents signed up for this program,” said Mono County Environmental Health Director Louis Molina. “There is an opportunity for folks to go in alone, but there will be some requirements” to be determined at a future date, he said.

The CalRecycle program will spare the County the cost of debris removal, CAO Jim Leddy presented the Board with an update on some of the other financial impacts from the Round and Van Dyke fires.

Without the Governor’s declaration, he said, the fires’ cost to the County in unbudgeted expenses could have been about $426,000. After the declaration, without the cost of solid waste removal, Leddy said staff anticipates expenses of about $286,000.

“We incurred significant overtime across many departments as well as damage to vehicles and the loss of the guard rails and street signs,” Leddy explained. “The State Declaration will help us not pay for debris removal and will hopefully help reimburse our disaster response costs.”

Staff projects the County will spend about $103,000 on an expedited inspection and plan review process, and will lose about $193,000 in waived fees. Building Official Tom Perry said the County would not be hiring new consultants to handle the anticipated boom in plan review and inspection once residents have cleared their lots and are ready to rebuild.

“I’m considering maybe putting someone else on contract, but right now, as we speak, I have two consultants to do plan review and building inspection who are able to commit to an expedited [schedule],” he said.

According to staff’s most recent estimate, the loss to the property tax roll resulting from the Round Fire is approximately $10 million.

“We’ve lost revenue, but at this point, we’re trying to enable the rebuilding of communities as quickly as possible,” Leddy said.

Given this aim, the Board agreed that while some communities faced with similar disasters have charged additional fees to residents rebuilding homes larger than the originals, Mono County would not charge any additional building permit fees.

“We don’t want to add to the burden,” said Supervisor Tim Fesko. “If you want to build more, great … cause we get to tax you more.”

As for what happens if a property owner sells their property and the new owner builds a larger home, Supervisor Stump said new owners would not be entitled to fee waivers.

“My feeling on this is that the residents who suffered the loss are the ones that deserve the consideration,” he said. “If you want to sell your property and someone wants to come in and build something more spectacular … More power to them. But they didn’t suffer the loss; you suffered the loss.

“What we cannot do is waive State law,” he added. Supervisor Stump alluded to updated building codes, which require fire sprinklers, among other additions, and will increase construction cost.

Tom Perry said that there are several options for replacement sprinkler systems, including a more expensive standalone antifreeze system, commonly used in Mono County by homeowners who don’t wish to heat their houses while away, and a multipurpose system keyed off of domestic plumbing. Perry said the latter is more cost-effective, and can be installed by a plumber.

“I also know that in Weed, and in Richmond [two communities that suffered extensive fire damage], they were able to get a waiver for the residential fire systems [requirement] based on inadequate water supply and financial hardship,” Perry said. “We’re looking into what it takes to get that type of waiver.”

The Board unanimously approved all recommended fee and permit waivers, as well as proposed measures to expedite the plan review and inspection process for new homes. The Board will consider the full financial impacts of the Round Fire at the third quarter budget review in mid April, and decide at that time whether there is a need to declare a Fiscal Emergency for potential use of its emergency reserves to cover unreimbursed County costs.