- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
County moves forward on collecting for Valley fire cleanup services
As a result of the board’s passage of the resolution on Tuesday afternoon, County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson will be able to execute reimbursement agreements and related documents in order to collect insurance proceeds to go toward the state’s debris cleanup program, carried out by CalRecycle.
County officials reported that in the fall of 2015, Valley fire survivors or their designees authorized the county to enter properties damaged by the fire in order to remove debris. The program required property owners to pay the amount for cleanup covered under their insurance policies.
For months, CalRecycle crews – as well as private contractors hired separately by property owners – worked throughout the Valley fire area, wearing hazmat suits and using heavy equipment to remove debris and scrape down beyond the home foundations. Sites were then tested in order to clear them for the presence of heavy metals and ensure that all hazardous materials were removed.
In June, the county said that it had started receiving invoicing information from CalRecycle, and that the county now was required to move forward with collecting those insurance policy proceeds from property owners in order to reimburse the state.
As part of its rollout of the collection program, the county held three Valley Fire Recovery Task Force meetings in July, distributing to property owners information packets that included a form authorizing the property owner’s insurance company to release information directly to the county if necessary.
The last of the meetings was held on Monday night.
“It really takes a village to pull off a project like we’re pulling off,” Huchingson said of the insurance collection project on Tuesday.
She said the county is required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the California Office of Emergency Service to go back and collect insurance proceeds for the cleanup.
Huchingson told the board that 1,100 people participated in the cleanup program, and 900 of those had insurance. First, the county has pursued reimbursements from the 900 who are insured.
The board had considered hiring a contractor to do the work, but the county decided to do the work with its own staff, she said.
Huchingson said the county wants to offer a payment plan to those who need it, and she asked for permission to pursue such agreements with fire survivors.
She proposed to offer no-interest loans over a 12- or 24-month period to property owners who need time to pay if they already have spent the money. The agreements could include a promissory note attaching the loan to the property, if necessary.
She said a fair number of people had saved the funds from their insurance companies to reimburse the state, but others spent the money.
On average, the debris cleanup alone cost about $100,000 per site, Huchingson said.
However, fire survivors aren’t expected to pay that amount. Rather, they’re only asked to pay the amount provided by their insurance companies, which she said averaged between $12,000 to $15,000. The state and federal government will cover the rest.
She said the county is modeling its procedures on those used in San Diego County several years ago in the wake of a fire disaster.
Supervisor Moke Simon, whose district was devastated by the Valley fire, said he appreciated staff’s work on what he recognized is a “daunting process.”
He said he wanted the loans to be extended to the longer 24-month timeframe.
He said some people have done the right thing and paid, others didn’t understand the problem and still others are settling claims.
Supervisor Tina Scott asked about what is being done for those who are not insured.
Huchingson said those who are uninsured will be covered under a different phase of the project that is about to be launched.
She said about 28 percent of people in the Valley fire were uninsured, which she said was “surprisingly lower” than the 40 percent reported in Calaveras County who were impacted in the Butte fire.
Scott asked if there is pushback on the collections.
“The emotions are so deep,” said Supervisor Rob Brown of handling the situation.
Brown said some property owners have complained about the cleanup costs, and he said the county doesn’t disagree with that concern.
He said in some cases property owners used the funds for other needs, like the new sprinkler systems now required for new homes.
County staff told the board that they are getting three to five payments a day for the cleanup. They also are getting questions from property owners about what is required. They had some alarming phone calls in the first several days after the collection program launched.
Huchingson said staff and a volunteer have been involved in the process of getting the information out to community members. She said even she was involved in assembling the 1,000 packets that were distributed as well as taking phone calls and emails.
The county has considered bringing on additional staff but hasn’t so far. Huchingson said that the project is funded by the California Office of Emergency Services, so they may come back to the board to pursue more staffing depending on how the workload goes.
She said the county’s approach to the collection process will save the taxpayers money. Bids to do the work had ranged between $800,000 and $1 million.
Brown suggested being more flexible and offering payments for up to 36 months. However, Huchingson said the shorter timeframe was suggested due to disaster filing deadlines.
Board Chair Jeff Smith asked if the county verifies with the insurance companies what was paid to property owners for the cleanup.
Huchingson confirmed that collecting such information is part of the process.
She said the county already has a list of people interested in the repayment plan, and they will need to make appointments in order to have people come in and execute the agreement.
The board voted unanimously to approve the resolution authorizing Huchingson to move forward on collecting the funds for the debris removal.
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