Gary Margadant | Oct 27, 2017

Mt Veeder Neighbors

Napa County Planning and Building Dept is organizing a forum for feedback on Building Permits procedures during the Rebuilding Phase after the NAPA FIRES. Essentially to: how the County can adjust the Napa County processes to best address the needs of the property owners while continuing to protect the health and welfare of the community as a whole. (see below)

If you Cannot Attend, Please forward any feedback on your observations and desires for change in the processes, Directly to Vin Smith: Vincent.Smith@countyofnapa.org .
If you want to forward any of your ideas to me, I will be more than happy to pass them on to Vin and his PBES colleagues.

FUTURE ITEM for the Board of Supervisors (BOS)....my concerns, but they might be yours also...our FEEDBACK on the Emergency Response, Community Notification, Priorities and Coordination during the Fire Storms by Napa County and their Emergency Services. Many thanks to First Responders who risked their lives to save our homes and forest, thanks to them and extraordinary neighbors who stepped up.

This is a Feedback loop that needs to be discussed in a similar forum or as an Agenda Item on the BOS Agenda.

1. Nixle messages missing during the first 24 hours...Attributable to the loss of Cell phone towers in the initial hours, but a missed scenario by the Emergency Coordinators.

2. No backup for 1, including the use of Social Media: Facebook, Next Door, twitter, Text, etc. Missed opportunities in the emergency scenarios and emergency protocols: SM was not used.

3. Land Use Priorities for Access. Residents were on the bottom of the priority list and this must change. Ag operations were allowed in, with permit, during the Mandatory Evacuation to tend to their investments (vineyards, grapes), but home owners were not allowed to enter to check their water sources, tanks and water lines in preparation for a return. Workers who do not live on the mountain were allowed in, but those who's home was their major investment/wealth were not allowed in to attend to their investment. Granted, some residents were allowed in for Animal Welfare, but all were not accorded the same investment privileges as Ag operations. THIS HAS TO CHANGE. There is more $$ invested in homes on the hill than commercial operations, so why the priority disconnect?

4. Residents watched as Bicyclists were allowed into the area yet they were not. (This is an odd one, but there is no reason strangers w/o Local ID, were allowed in for Recreation??

5. The BOS needs to tackle Feedback from Residents as a positive to adjusting their emergency response protocols for future events. The board recognizes 4 major events in the last 4 years: Earthquake, Fire, Rain Storm and....that needed major emergency response.... I suggested Response Drills after the Earthquake, but these suggestions never materialized into any concerted actions by the Board and Response Agencies.

WRITE your supervisor and request a forum for Feedback and Response Protocol changes in light of recent problems/failures. We have to learn from the past to better the future.

Send me your ideas and I will carry them to the BOS..

Best Regards, Gary

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