A Spring Valley resident told the Lake County board during public comment that the community—more than 1,000 people—relies on a single access road and needs the county to prioritize a second evacuation route now.

"We do not need to prove that a bridge ever existed on old Long Valley Road," said Sterling Wellman, who identified himself during the meeting. He said current conditions leave the community "one blocked road away from a major tragedy" and urged the board to "advance this project now, begin the planning, and begin the engineering" for a bridge on Old Long Valley Road.

Wellman cited state fire-safety rules that, he said, require roads to allow two-way traffic for evacuation and to support heavy equipment. He told the board that the county’s own planning documents list the project—"Bridge on Old Long Valley Road and grade the road"—as a priority but that the item has not been moved forward.

Margo Kambara, who spoke earlier in the public comment period, said an NPR story aired recently that highlighted Lake County's communitywide wildfire risk reduction efforts and included comments from Supervisor Pyska. Kambara said national attention to the county’s work on wildfire risk reduction is "encouraging" even though the homeowner insurance crisis remains unresolved.

The meeting transcript records no staff response or immediate board direction on the Old Long Valley Road bridge during the public comment period. No formal motion or vote on the project was made during the remarks recorded.

Next steps were not stated in the public record provided; Wellman asked the board to make the Old Long Valley Road bridge and grading a "top life safety priority."