July 18, 2023 — Madera County Board of Supervisors
Documented by Matthew Carnero-Macias
Here’s what you need to know
- The Madera County Water and Natural Resources Department has been drafting a county drought plan since 2022. The Madera County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved adopting a resolution authorizing the grant application, acceptance, and execution of the plan with the California Department of Water Resources to comply with Senate Bill 552.
- Supervisor Leticia Gonzalez is stepping away from the board during her pregnancy. She announced she will return to meetings several weeks from now.
Notes
The Madera County Board of Supervisors met for its regular meeting on July 18, 2023. All supervisors attended. Supervisors include District 1 Jordan Wamhoff, District 2 David Rogers, District 3 Robert L. Poythress, District 4 Gonzalez, and District 5 Robert Macaulay.
Before the regular meeting, the board went into a closed session to discuss with legal counsel four separate litigation lawsuits, three of which pertain to Madera’s water resources: the board, county water authorities, state water agencies, businesses and community members. The fourth lawsuit deals with the closure of the Madera Community Hospital and the subsequent bankruptcy case.
Madera County Legal Counsel reported no action took place during the closed session.
During public comments, Madera County Agricultural Commissioner Rusty Lantsberger reported two June pesticide collection events yielded more than 41,000 pounds of pesticides.
Jeannie Habben, Madera County deputy director of Water and Natural Resources, reported previous decertified levies are now ready for a System-Wide Improvement Framework (SWIF) plan.
She added that the department is now eligible for natural disaster grants and funding as a result of their compliance with Army Corps of Engineers legal requirements. She said that although the work lasted five years, it corrected a 16-year issue.
“I don’t know if people realize how impacting that really is,” said board Chair David Rogers. “It would impact loans, it would impact your ability to build on your property, insurances.”
District Attorney Sally Moreno expressed support for Senate Bill 14 Serious Felonies: Human Trafficking.
She informed the board that the legislation has been moving through the state Legislature, and is hopeful it will pass, especially when taking into consideration the bipartisan support and continuous reintroductions in the Assembly.
“At this point, it’s very uncontroversial, it crosses all party lines, Republican and Democrats alike,” Moreno said.
Assessor Brett Frazier reported the assessment roll is at $19.67 billion, an 8.8% increase from last year.
“Our unsecured roll, which includes all of our businesses, was up over $140 million,” he said. “Our businesses in Madera County are reinvesting in Madera County.”
Frazier announced that the Assessor’s Office secured $2 million in property tax relief for military veterans.
Chief Probation Officer Chris Childers introduced his staff and recognized their work and roles in the department and the county because July 17 through July 21 had been deemed Probation Services Week.
In total, there were 14 items on the consent calendar. The board moved to unanimously approve the consent calendar and its items, which are considered routine. They did so without any discussion or public comment.
Discussion consisted of three items: a proclamation observing Probation Services Week, an introduction of an ordinance amending the appeal of administrative orders in Madera County Code Chapter 8.01.110 and 8.01.120, and a recommendation to approve a cash-flow loan repayment for the new Sheriff’s Office logistics facility in Oakhurst.
Matthew Treber, the chief of development services, informed the board the amendment to Madera County Code Chapter 8.01.110 and 8.01.120 would modify the appeal process for code enforcement violations and administrative violations.
“We’re just trying to streamline the appeal process and eliminate redundancy there,” he said.
The board unanimously approved waiving the first reading of the amendment and set the second reading for Aug. 1, 2023.
The Madera County Sheriff’s Logistic Facility in Oakhurst is a project worth $3.5 million. In September, the board approved a short-term cash-flow loan in the amount of $1.4 million to continue the project and meet payment terms.
The board unanimously approved adjusting the budget $346,590 to repay the loan and recognized that doing so reimburses the general fund with sheriff and public protection development impact fees.
“Obviously very important for folks up there in the mountain areas to build a stand-up emergency operations center at a defined location rather than (at) a high school, an old lumber yard, or wherever that may be,” said Supervisor Robert Macaulay.
Conversation highlight
- “This is one of those things where although California’s state Legislature is highly, highly dysfunctional — because the public safety committee is anti-public safety, and there’s no qualms about that — and that even that their radical group voted this down, sanity revealed itself and put pressure back on the public safety committee,” said Supervisor Jordan Wamhoff. “This shows that despite California’s severe dysfunctionality that system can still work.”
If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at fresnodocs@fresnoland.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.
