Angora Legislative Update
As mentioned by Don Peterson last week, Senator Cox as introduced Senate Bill 1308 which would
increase the California Disaster Assistance Act reimbursement rate for the Angora Fire from 75% of eligible costs to 100%. Given our current claims to date, this bill would add approximately $225,000 to the reimbursement the County expects to receive as a result of response to the Angora Fire. On February 28 SB 1308 was referred to the Senate Governmental Organization Committee, and is eligible to be heard after March 22. The Chief Administrative Office will be preparing a support letter for the Board’s consideration.Court Facilities Transfer
The Court Facility Transfer process is continuing while we await enactment of AB 1491. Based on information from the AOC, we anticipate the legislature taking action to enact the legislation in the next 2 - 4 weeks. At that time, the County will need to be prepared to move forward aggressively with the Court Facility transfers. Currently in process are Building C which is a transfer of responsibility and Cameron Park which is a transfer of title and responsibility. It should be noted that failure to complete the transfers in a timely manner will result in penalties to the County. At this time the first deadline is September 20, 2008. The secondary deadline of April 1, 2009 will include a requirement that the county pay, in addition to the county facility payment, a continuing annual penalty amount from the date of transfer.
One additional requirement that staff became aware of last week included the requirement for the title transfers to be taken to the State Public Works Board in order to complete the process. This additional requirement will require lead time of approximately three months in order to get on the Public Works Board agenda for their September meeting. This new information will require the County to move forward aggressively in order to complete our transfer without incurring penalties. AB 1491 will likely be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday, March 6.
Agriculture Department
The Agriculture Department is in the process of redistributing the workload and cross-training staff. Last week a specialist from the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Division of Measurement Standards gave a classroom training to three county inspectors concerning Quality Control Inspections (weights and measures) in grocery stores, delis and specialty shops. In an effort to enhance succession planning, Agriculture Commissioner Bill Stephans is exposing all staff to every mandated and discretionary program in the Department.
PC Refresh Program
Per the approved budget, 62 PC’s have been procured and are being prepared for installation in designated departments. To date, six have been installed in Environmental Management, two in the Surveyor’s Office and eight in the Library.
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This is the weekly report by the Chief Administrative Officer to the Board of Supervisors.
