Title
Chief Administrative Office requesting the Board:
1) Provide $130,000 from the Caldor Fire reserve fund to the El Dorado and Georgetown Divide Resources Conservation Districts ($65,000 each) to offset the cost of the Caldor Fire recovery efforts; and
2) Authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to execute a funding agreement for a not to exceed amount of $130,000 between the County and the Resource Conversation Districts pending review and approval from Risk Management and County Counsel for a term of 18 months upon execution by all parties.
FUNDING: Caldor Fire Relief Designation.
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
At the September 21, 2021 Board meeting, the Board directed County staff to set aside $5 million from the General Fund to create a Caldor Fire Relief designation for use in the Caldor Fire Relief efforts.
The Caldor Fire has unexpectedly put additional community response and coordination needs on the El Dorado & Georgetown Divide Resource Conservation Districts (RCD). The RCDs have taken the lead on the Forest Recovery Team efforts by working with the Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER), the CAL FIRE Watershed Emergency Response Team (WERT), and the Emergency Forest Restoration Team. The responsibility of coordinating these groups has been undertaken by the RCDs. Additionally, the RCDs have been working with various Federal and State Agencies to address response actions and capacity needs.
The El Dorado and Georgetown RCDs are requesting $130,000 to pay for a shared administrative support position to assist with coordinating Federal, State, and County agencies in the relief and rebuilding process; each would receive $65,000 to pay for this shared position. The RCDs are working on developing cooperative agreements and grant applications, both of which would be better facilitated with additional staff. The scope of work for the rebuilding process will far exceed the skill and capabilities of this additional administrative support staff. The RCDs are also pursuing additional funding, which would provide technical team members to assist in implementing rebuilding projects. As such, the RCDs are not requesting funds to cover any additional technical or project management staff or consultants.
If approved, the Chief Administrative Officer will enter into a funding agreement between the County and the Resource Conservation Districts. The agreement will be reviewed and approved by Risk Management and County Counsel before execution.
ALTERNATIVES
The Board could chose not to provide funding for the RCDs administrative support positions.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION
September 21, 2021, Legistar # 21-1503
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
El Dorado and Georgetown Divide Resource Conservation Districts
CAO RECOMMENDATION
Approve as recommended.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
$130,000 from the Caldor Fire Relief Designation
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
N/A
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
Public Safety
CONTACT
Don Ashton, Chief Administrative Officer