The Humboldt County Board of
Supervisors responded to five county grand jury reports after reviewing them
during Tuesday’s general meeting.
They agreed with most of the
recommendations regarding the reports on the Humboldt airport system and public
safety in the rural areas.
The board agreed with the
jury’s recommendation that a systems review needs to be done for all of the
airports in the county. The recommendation came after the grand jury found that
a thorough review had never been done, and only the Arcata-Eureka Airport in
McKinleyville had been reviewed in 2005.
The grand jury explained, by
doing the systems review, it would help eliminate duplicate services and allow
the operations of the airport system to be streamlined and efficient.
The board did feel though that
the Aviation Division should remain under the Department of Public Works. They
felt that the department had the necessary resources to tackle airport upkeep
and it would help save money.
“Generally speaking, I think
it's a good fit,” Supervisor Estelle Fennell said. “With regard to both the
personnel and materials, just in terms of resurfacing the runways and that kind
of thing.”
When it came to rural safety,
the board felt that it went above and beyond one of the jury’s recommendations.
The jury wanted the board to make sure that at least 20-percent of Measure Z
tax revenue went to rural fire and emergency service providers to help offset
the cost of buying or maintaining equipment.
The board already said that
they have already allocated funds in the 2015-16 fiscal year budget to do just
that, and it would be more than the recommended 20-percent.
The board did feel that
consolidating fire and emergency districts to cover all of Humboldt County was
not needed. They said that the districts already respond to incidents outside
of their coverage area.
“All of the departments respond
outside of district all the time, because they're personally and morally
responsible,” Supervisor Rex Bohn said. “They understand that they're
neighbors. They go out there to protect public safety, fight fires, and to
provide medical aid.”
Overall, the board did thank
the grand jury for their hard work in making the reports. They hope to
implement the recommendations as soon as possible.
July 21, 2015
KRCRTV.com
North Coast News
By
Jeremy Chen
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