April 20, 2018 — Fire recovery came up early on the Board of Supervisors’ agenda Tuesday. During public comment, Lee Howard, of the North Coast Builders Exchange, raised a number of objections, from the format of the community recovery meetings to an increase in the payment to a consultant.
Last December, the county entered into a $50,000 contract with a Petaluma consultant named William Schurtz. Last month, his contract was extended May through June, for an additional $25,000.
Fire recovery director Tammy Moss Chandler said Schurtz was part of the behind the scenes team, working on fire recovery out of the executive office. She cited his extensive military background as an asset in setting up incident command structures. She said his expertise in project management is useful in working with FEMA and the Army Corp of Engineers.
In spite of as-yet-unresolved complaints, CEO Carmel Angelo told the board that the county’s federal partners in the disaster recovery did at one point threaten to walk out.
The hurdles extend beyond hurt feelings. Angelo went on to say that she believes over-excavation is still the biggest problem. But Howard and Supervisor John McCowen expressed concern that burn sites could contain elevated levels of some toxins. Specific information is tough to come by, because parcel completion reports, which include the results of soil sample testing, are not yet available. And there are several sets of standards for safe levels of toxic materials.
Check out the story below to listen in on the discussion.