Votes at a glance: Mendocino County Board actions July 29, 2025

At its July 29, 2025 meeting the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors took the following formal actions (summary of motions and outcomes):

• Consent calendar: The board approved the consent calendar, including an item to repair the library roof (staff noted a projected ~60-day completion if approved). Motion carried unanimously.

• Item 4a — Department heads' informational reports (Assessor, Clerk-Recorder, Auditor-Controller, Treasurer, District Attorney, Sheriff, etc.): The board accepted the informational reports. Noted: 2025 roll closed at $15,358,000,000 (3.49% increase from prior year); supplemental notices and discovery processes were described. Motion to accept the report carried unanimously.

• Item 4b — Energy project with Ameresco: Board directed staff to pursue option 2 (admin center solar, $1,516,000 cash-funded) using PG&E carbon-reduction funds and to return with site-specific scope. Motion carries unanimously.

• Item 4c — Vacation of portion of Wilderness Lodge Road (County Road 320): After a public hearing and staff presentation, the board adopted the resolution vacating the described portion of Wilderness Lodge Road; voting was unanimous.

• Item 4d — Introduction and waive first reading of an ordinance amending Mendocino County Code section 15.04.03 (speed zoning on county roads): The board introduced the ordinance (following an engineering traffic study) to set radar-enforceable speed limits for segments of Little River and Albion Ridge roads, opened for public comment and voted to waive first reading; motion carries unanimously.

• Item 4e — Introduction and waive first reading of ordinance amending Mendocino County Code chapter 22.17 (floodplain ordinance): The board introduced amendments to align county floodplain code with new FEMA/DWR maps effective Sept. 19 and to maintain participation in the National Flood Insurance Program; motion carries unanimously.

• Item 4f — Ukiah branch library feasibility study funding: The board accepted a report and directed staff to proceed with a feasibility study to explore expansion or relocation of the Ukiah branch library; $100,000 was budgeted for the feasibility study and the board approved moving forward. Motion carries unanimously.

• Item 4g — CDBG program income: The board approved submittal of program-income applications to HCD to use $351,725 for three recommended projects: Laytonville Healthy Start employment training (~$180,000), Whale Gulch School ADA pathway (~$42,000), and Whale Gulch School fire-alarm project (~$128,000). Motion carries unanimously. Staff noted roughly $290,000 of program income remains for future projects and that larger requests were received in the RFP process.

• Items 4h and 4i — Proposed board budget cuts and ordinance to reduce board base salary and related allowances: The board considered proposed internal cuts to supervisors' budgets and separate direction to draft an ordinance to reduce annual base salary and eliminate certain benefits; both motions failed (various dissents recorded; full roll-call recorded in minutes).

• Item 3a_q (pulled from consent) — Harm-reduction contract: After public comment and debate, the board approved the provider contract and directed follow-up work on collection and reporting; the motion carried with one dissenting vote (Supervisor Norvell). The board also assigned Supervisor Norvell to work with Public Health and the contractor on a retrieval and documentation plan.

Ending: Board adjourned to closed session and provided no reportable action on closed-session items at reconvening; meeting adjourned at 02:16 p.m.

Note: Where staff presented numeric estimates (project costs, 25-year nominal savings, assessor roll totals), the board discussed present-value adjustments and contingencies; those estimates were presented as preliminary and will be refined in later staff reports.