CHICO — The city of Chico will receive an influx of recovery funds after agreeing to accept a $43 million claim award from the Fire Victim Trust.
The decision, reached Tuesday night by the City Council and announced Wednesday morning by city administration, finalizes the process of reimbursement for impacts of the Camp Fire.
“I’m satisfied the claim is resolved,” Mayor Andrew Coolidge told this newspaper. “The tragedy affected so many people, and many of them now call Chico home. The impact of the fire on our community was immense, and these funds will be put to good use making much-needed repairs to our roads and infrastructure.”
The city expects to receive $21.1 million (60% minus attorneys fees) next month and $3.5 million (10% minus attorneys fees) in the first half of 2024. The second payment could be greater as the trust sells stock from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to cover settlements.
“This money will help Chico continue to support the residents of Chico and Paradise,” City Manager Mark Sorensen, a councilor during the disaster, said in the announcement. “As the center of response and recovery, we were proud to support Paradise and its residents during the most destructive wildfire in California’s history.”
Sorensen noted that Chico served as “base camp” for myriad agencies and organizations “for many months” in the aftermath of the wildfire — CalFire; FEMA; the California Office of Emergency Services; the Town of Paradise and its emergency operations center; the Paradise Unified School District; relief groups such as the Red Cross; even PG&E, source of the settlement funds.
The city ultimately may not receive its full share of the $43 million total, depending on future disbursements from stock sales. Via outside counsel, Chico presented its claim to a mediator judge. Attorney John Fiske said the trust did its “due diligence” during the process “to understand the extent of the city’s unique public infrastructure damages.”
The funding isn’t restricted to particular uses, but Sorensen anticipates streets as the main beneficiary.
“Recognizing the fact that the vast majority of the damages were damages to roads, including greatly accelerated road surface and subsurface deterioration, my recommendation to council will be to create a separate fund for the revenues and to emphasize allocations to road maintenance and road reconstruction projects,” Sorensen said. He’ll do so after the city receives payment.
Particular roads for claim-funded repairs haven’t been identified
“Aside from simple slurry seal projects, road reconstruction projects require one or more years of engineering work, utility coordination and right of way acquisition before a project can even go out to bid,” Sorensen noted. With work laid out for Measure H and gas-tax funding, he added that the city has “a fairly firm plan for construction season 2024.”
