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Marijuana Restricted in Biggs
Despite the common perception that state law may allow cultivation and use of marijuana under certain circumstances, the City of Biggs has strict local ordinances restricting it. The sight and smell of marijuana -- in any form -- is considered a public nuisance here.
Biggs recently made it completely illegal to grow marijuana outdoors, no matter how many plants. Cultivation of marijuana outdoors in Biggs is punishable by hefty fines and active abatement (removal or destruction of the plants).
BINTF (Butte County Interagency Narcotics Task Force) officers and the city code enforcement team look for local marijuana violations and take assertive action.
Biggs has also outlawed any form of marijuana dispensary from operating in the city limits. If you would like to report possible marijuana cultivation, sale or use in your neighborhood, please call 868-5447. A law enforcement or code enforcement officer will follow up on your concern.
Biggs: Under Construction
The flurry of road paving and sidewalk installation projects in 2009 is now coming to a close. We appreciate your patience with the inconveniences of many months of road work.
Plans for 2010 include repair of damaged wastewater collection lines, and the beginning of an 18-month project to repair sidewalks.
Some wastewater collection pipes (also known as sewer main lines) were damaged by contract construction equipment during installation of the new water service lines installed in 2007. Repairs will involve relatively small trenching operations in several locations around town with minimal disruption to service and traffic. We expect this to start in January and be completed within two months.
The city public works crew will be removing and replacing the least serviceable sections of public sidewalk in a planned, paced project 18-month. Many sections citywide have suffered lifting or sinking damage over the years. Sidewalk conditions were surveyed and catalogued by a team of volunteer citizens. The City Council authorized funding for the repairs in November and the work has already begun on B Street.
We also expect to begin and complete replacement of the Sixth Street bridge in 2010. This much-needed project has been awaiting funding assistance from CalTrans. The new bridge will be wider, stronger and safer for vehicles and pedestrians.
Utility Fees: Under Review
Many residents have been understandably concerned with the high cost of metered water and electricity in Biggs this past year. The city staff and council are working hard to control costs and avoid fee increases.
Electric rates in Biggs did not change this year from last year, but personal consumption habits and the weak economy made electric bills very challenging for many utility customers. Customers are encouraged to utilize the city's many energy rebate and efficiency reward programs.
Biggs' rate structure is different than PG&E's, but Biggs customers generally pay less for the same amount of electricity used. Pending state and federal legislation -- like Cap & Trade and Renewable Portfolio Standards -- is expected to significantly increase power costs for all customers nationwide in the years ahead.
The city is also closely reviewing the first year's experience with metered water rates. Water rate fees are designed to cover the city's costs of current services and begin building a reserve for future water improvement projects. Staff will be reporting to council in coming months whether rates are set too high, too low, or just right. The city also will be developing a plan to install water meters for customers who do not yet have meters, as required by state law.
The city is planning a 2010/2011 project to upgrade the wastewater treatment plant with new equipment technologies, as required by state regulations. We are seeking state and federal funding assistance to minimize the impact on Biggs customers. Any financing balance for which the city is responsible will require a review of sewer fee rates.
Biggs is Now Off the Map -- the FEMA Flood Map
FEMA officials have announced the removal of residents of the Biggs and Gridley areas from the current high hazard flood zone map, eliminating or delaying the requirement for mandatory flood insurance. The decision came following Biggs’ formal request for reclassification with extensive technical documentation demonstrating the area’s remote likelihood for significant flooding. Butte County‘s public works department also challenged FEMA’s sweeping flood zone designations, as did many citizens in town hall meetings sponsored by Butte County Supervisor Steve Lambert.
“I’m pleased to see a federal agency listen to local citizens’ concerns and sound engineering arguments,” Biggs’ Mayor Roger Frith said, “They made a decision in the best interests of taxpayers and home owners this time.” Biggs and Gridley area home owners, like many others in the north state and across the country, were set to come under mandatory rules for expensive flood insurance in 2010. The new flood maps also would have imposed severe building restrictions in the area.
“Our challenge to their preliminary maps is based on our knowledge of the area and on sound science,” David Swartz, Biggs City Engineer, stated. “We developed our own map based on close examination of flow characteristics, natural land slope, and topography. We demonstrated that Biggs does not, in fact, flood regardless of levees.” Biggs flooded many decades ago, but not since the construction of Oroville Dam and the elevated development of state route 99. Swartz grew up in the area and is president and CEO of California Engineering Company in Yuba City.
At an “area coordination meeting” in Oroville Thursday, FEMA’s Kathleen Schaefer met with engineers from Butte County and the cities of Biggs, Chico and Gridley. Schaefer stated that the south county areas designated just a few months ago as being in the 100-year flood risk area (Zone A) will now be shown as “Zone X Shaded,” which is defined by FEMA as “Areas of 500-year flood; areas of 100-year flood with average depths of less than 1 foot or with drainage less than 1 square mile; and areas protected by levees from 100-year flood.” FEMA will update its online draft maps within a week.
Meanwhile, the Sutter Butte Flood Control Joint Powers Agency, of which Biggs and Gridley are members, continues planning for financing and construction of levee repairs to protect communities from Thermalito to Yuba City from Feather River flooding. Live Oak and parts of Chico remain in the high risk flood zone designation. The cost of levee repairs will be borne most by those who are shown to benefit most from the strengthened levees.
Biggs City Administrator Pete Carr pointed out the important contributions made by Butte County staff, especially Deputy Director of Public Works Stuart Edell. "Stu is obviously a diligent researcher and technical expert in flood science technology. His excellent work and leadership made the city-county engineering partnership on the project impressively effective," Carr said.
FEMA maps, as part of a nationwide upgrade to digital cartography, are being redrawn with close attention to levees. If a levee cannot be accredited to comply with adopted standards the maps are drawn with the assumption of no levees in existence. The Feather River levees currently do not meet the standards for accreditation. This leaves communities like south Butte County exposed to assumed flood risk despite the fact that the State Department of Water Resources (DWR) has in some places not yet published base flood elevations -- defined as the water surface elevations for a certain flood event.
Schaefer emphasized that the change for Biggs and Gridley is pending establishment by DWR of base flood elevations for the area, a decision that could come in two or more years. DWR’s published data could result in south Butte County being back in the high risk zone -- requiring flood insurance and imposing building restrictions – or it could leave them as “Shaded X” by agreeing with Biggs and County engineers’ analysis. Schaefer told the group that if Biggs and Gridley eventually do get included into the higher risk flood map designation, home owners in these areas will be allowed to lock in insurance rates at the lower Zone-X price, if they do so prior to the new maps changing the Shaded Zone-x to Zone A, becoming effective.
For now, Biggs and Gridley home owners can be free from federal mandates for flood insurance. The two cities can also move forward with their planning efforts for growth. |
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