Wine Country Times

The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors has started talking about how to spend the $22.5 million settlement from PG&E for the 2017 Redwood Complex fires.

"We have an opportunity here to rebuild the economy of the entire county," Supervisor Dan Gjerde told KZYX News. 

The board had received several dozen letters outlining ideas on how to spend the one-time payment. Sheriff Matt Kendall had asked to use some of the money to establish a courtroom next to the jail and satellite imaging technology to help with their cannabis enforcement efforts. Other letters opposed using to money for capital improvement projects. Some wanted fire departments and the Municipal Advisory Council in the areas devastated by the fires to express their thoughts on how the money should be spent.

"My thought was let's invest this money in things that have long-term payback for the entire county and that help the county and prepare or future disasters of any kind," Gjerde said. 

Supervisor Glenn McGourty knows that how the board decides to spend the money will have a big impact. One idea he has aimed to improve the emergency notification system to not only alert residents, but help them evacuate safely.

"Those are big issues during the Redwood Complex fires," McGourty said to KZYX News. "Also, we need to invest in fire hardening our communities."

Emergency Medical Services Coordinator Jen Banks told the board she'd like to see some money spent on addressing critical infrastructure improvements to the emergency response system. These funding requests included upgrades to the computer aided dispatch system, essential medical equipment such as cardiac monitors, PPE, training and education, and money to support Mendocino College's new paramedic program beginning this fall.

"We appreciate this opportunity that PG&E is providing to Mendocino County and through a collaborated effort would like to request your approval to submit a formal EMS funding proposal to the Board of Supervisors detailing critical funding needs to improve system sustainability," Banks said in an audio recording of the meeting posted on KZYX.