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Plumas County directs staff to withdraw BRIC Round Valley planning grant after Indian Valley CSD declines participation
Summary
After Indian Valley CSD (IVCSD) told the county it would not enter a services agreement over accounting and capacity concerns, the board directed staff to withdraw the FEMA BRIC planning grant for Round Valley Reservoir and seek reimbursement for eligible costs.
Plumas County staff briefed supervisors March 17 on a FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) planning grant (award about $499,950) aimed at identifying climate‑adaptation and nature‑based mitigation around Round Valley Reservoir. The Indian Valley Community Services District (IVCSD) subsequently informed the county it would not sign the county‑IVCSD services agreement and asked the county to pause further work.
Staff presented three options: (1) withdraw from the grant immediately with no penalty and seek reimbursement for eligible costs already incurred; (2) complete a limited deliverable (for example, a site‑visit or existing‑conditions memorandum) and then withdraw; or (3) continue the grant work without IVCSD’s direct participation and seek needed information by public records requests or other means. IVCSD interim manager Jamie Little told the board her organization had uncovered accounting irregularities, has engaged a forensic auditor, and determined key assumptions in the project’s earlier infrastructure planning were flawed; IVCSD’s board therefore declined to continue as project champion.
County staff and several supervisors debated the merits of continuing a planning study without the local district’s participation and the practicalities and liability of implementing large infrastructure projects based on assumptions now judged questionable. After public comment and discussion about limited local capacity and the need to prioritize core recovery work, the board directed staff to pursue option 1 — to withdraw from the grant immediately and work with Cal OES/FEMA to close the award and seek reimbursement of eligible planning costs the county incurred to date.
Ending: Staff will notify CAL OES/FEMA of the county’s decision to withdraw and seek reimbursement; supervisors asked staff to refocus county recovery efforts on projects where implementation partners and financial viability are clear.
