_{Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz}

Among the items discussed at Tuesday’s Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meeting:

Aegis Treatment Center: County supervisors backed efforts from a medicated-assisted addiction treatment provider to open a brick and mortar clinic in Del Norte County.

District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey, who is part of the Reaching Rural Initiative to open a mobile MAT program in Del Norte, asked her colleagues to approve a letter of support for Aegis Treatment Center. Currently, those receiving medicated-assisted addiction treatment have to travel back and forth from Humboldt County for that treatment, she said, noting that the round-trip takes about four hours.

The county’s letter states that an Aegis branch in Del Norte is supported by local nonprofits and community organizations as well as the Rx Safe Del Norte coalition.

Kamome Boat Replica: A dozen years after the real thing arrived on Crescent City shores, a student artist at Del Norte High will work with the local visitors bureau to decorate a replica of Kamome.

The 20-foot long fishing vessel was swept away from Rikuzentakata, Japan during the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. It washed ashore on South Beach in 2013 and ultimately led to a Sister City relationship between the city in the Iwate Prefecture and Del Norte County.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously green-lit a proposal to authorize Visit Del Norte County to work with the high school to find an artist. They also indicated a desire to see the replica boat — which will be about 2 feet long, according to County Administrative Officer Neal Lopez — to be displayed outside the Board chambers at the Flynn Center.

This project is being paid for using money set aside for the Go for the Gold Campaign, a public relations effort to capitalize on the Sister City relationship  being featured on NBC Sports during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. About $59,000 was set aside for the PR effort with monies coming from the Crescent City Harbor District, the Crescent City Commercial Fisherman’s Association, the Yurok Economic Development Corporation, the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation and Elk Valley Rancheria.

Seven boat replicas will be decorated and unveiled at the third-annual Kamome Festival in April.

Committee Policy Update: Noting that proposed changes to policies governing technical advisory committees were “massive,” District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey pulled the item from the consent agenda for more discussion.

Starkey and her colleagues unanimously approved changes to the county’s administrative manual governing committees. The changes include creating smaller working groups that will operate under the umbrella of several of the TACs — examples in the Assistant County Administrative Officer Randy Hooper’s staff report include the Homelessness Technical Advisory Committee and the Capital Improvement Technical Advisory Committee. Other proposed changes include ensuring each TAC meets quarterly and the creation of a new committee focusing on strategic planning that would replace the current Customer Focused Government Committee.

Starkey said that she was on the Customer Focused Government Committee but questioned whether or not she would be the best person to continue on that committee since its focus has changed. She proposed that District 5 Supervisor Dean Wilson serve on the Strategic Planning Committee since he was the one that called for the creation of the county’s strategic plan last year.

According to County Administrative Officer Neal Lopez, unless supervisors request not to be on a particular committee, their appointments typically don’t change on an annual basis. He said he could bring a proposal back before the Board to appoint Wilson to the Strategic Planning Committee.

Wilson said he’d be happy to serve on such a committee.

Committee Clean-ups: In another consent agenda matter concerning committees and advisory groups, Starkey questioned a proposal to appoint Lake Earl area resident Thomas Mitchell to the Del Norte Fish and Game Advisory Commission.

Starkey pointed out that Mitchell lives in the district Joey Borges represents and said that Borges has already appointed two people to serve on the Fish and Game Advisory Commission.

According to Clerk of the Board Kylie Goughnour, the Fish and Game Advisory Commission has regularly struggled to establish a quorum and decided to let anyone who applies participate regardless of what supervisorial district they’re in.

“[Mitchell] would take any vacancy no matter what district it’s in,” she said.

Starkey also proposed updating ordinances associated with the Fish and Game Advisory Commission, which, she said, were written in 1996. She pointed out that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has since changed its name. Starkey said she was also unaware that supervisors are supposed to appoint representatives to two positions on the commission.

New Assemblyman, New Staff: Heidi McHugh and Scott Alonzo, representatives for newly elected assemblyman Chris Rogers, assured county supervisors that “we don’t forget you’re up here.”

During their introduction to the Board, Alonzo and McHugh addressed bills that Del Norte County’s newest state representative has already proposed. These include an “intent bill” to reform the California Public Utilities Commission and create new laws aimed at improving oversight over public utilities such as Pacific Gas & Electric. Starkey pointed out that Pacific Power is Del Norte County’s electricity provider.

Alonzo also mentioned Assembly Bill 263, which addresses salmon runs on the Shasta and Scott rivers, as well as Assembly Bill 472, which focuses on seaport infrastructure and offshore wind energy development.

“[It will] allow the state infrastructure plan to include seaport infrastructure to be included when they talk about offshore wind development,” Alonzo said. “Every five years, the governor has to put that in there in terms of what the needs are and how we’re going to fund it. It relates to what could happen in Humboldt or even up here.”

District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard said he appreciated an effort by Rogers and his staff to consider legislation to address speed limits on highways. Howard mentioned a local push to reduce the speed limit on U.S. 199 through Hiouchi and Gasquet.