Rebuilding the North Valley

Greetings,

We are passing along this message at the request of Town of Paradise Disaster Recovery Director, Katie Simmons:

Good afternoon –

I am reaching out with a message I hope you will consider passing along to your members or clients who own or are buying/selling/developing property in Paradise. The Government Hazard Tree Removal Program – the last major debris/fuels removal program the Town will operate following the Camp Fire – is ending soon. We are still accepting ROEs into the program for a very limited time to help cover the costs of tree removal. After the program ends, the Town will begin abatement proceedings which will be very expensive for property owners and will likely place a lien on properties, making them difficult to sell or develop.

We are here to help!

Please have your members and/or their clients reach out to us directly at:

Tree Advocates
530.872.6291 x 162 and x 163
trees@townofparadise.com
Tree Window @ Town Hall, 5555 Skyway, Paradise (open M-Th, 8am – 5pm)

Brian Solecki on our staff can also be reached at bsolecki@townofparadise.com.

Thank you for helping us get this message to everyone working directly with property owners. In the future, we may have additional funding or programs to assist with tree removal, but they will be smaller in nature and more targeted to trees that are distant from the roadway.

Let me know if you have any questions and thank you for all you do to support the Town’s recovery!

Katie Simmons
 Disaster Recovery Director
 Town of Paradise | 530-872-6291 x153
ksimmons@townofparadise.com

Government Hazard Tree Removal Begins; Deadline to Enroll, December 31, 2020As part of California’s comprehensive Camp Fire recovery efforts, crews have begun removing some of the 49,397 trees that pose a danger to the public. Teams of foresters and arborists working for the Government Hazard Tree Removal Program have been in the field since August identifying which of hundreds of thousands of fire-damaged trees pose a danger of falling into the public right-of-way.

To date:

• 25,145 trees have been marked for removal in the Town of Paradise.

• 24,252 trees have been marked for removal in the surrounding communities.

• CalRecycle estimates that up to 70,000 trees ultimately will be eligible for removal in the state-managed program.Removing Hazard Trees that pose a threat to fall onto public roads, public rights-of-way, and eligible private roads is mandatory.

Property Owners Still Have Time to Sign UpCamp Fire survivors can sign up for the Government Hazard Tree Removal Program by submitting a Right-of-Entry (ROE) Permit to Butte County. The deadline to enroll is December 31, 2020.

Who should enroll?1. Property owners who are required to remove Hazard Trees, but have not yet enrolled in a Hazard Tree Removal Program.2. Property owners who enrolled in the Private Program, but have been unable to identify and remove their own trees. (The enrollment deadline for the Private Program has passed, and the deadline for all trees to be removed is December 4 for those already enrolled in the Private Program.)Right-of-Entry FormsA Right-of-Entry form is required to participate in the Government Hazard Tree Removal Program. Right-of-Entry forms may be submitted in the following ways: Return via MailAttn: Butte County Tree Removal ROE Processing CenterPO Box 3390Chico CA 95927-3390E-mail to: TreeROE@buttecounty.net Right-of-Entry forms can be downloaded online. Call Butte County at 530.552.3030 with questions about enrolling in the Government Program.

As of Monday, March 23^rd Butte County Building Department is conducting building inspections. As far as we know, all Building Departments in our neighboring counties, as well as the City’s within, are conducting inspection services, some are limited. Please do your part to keep inspections going and utilize these Best Practices for the protection of the Building Inspectors and your staff!

• Actively encourage sick employees to stay home
• Provide Tissues and trash containers
• Provide adequate washing facilities for staff in accordance with Cal/OSHA guidelines
• Limit the number of personnel on-site during the time of inspection
• Please respect and maintain a minimum of 6’ for social distancing for work crews when possible and inspection staff

Click here for a list of Agency Permit and Inspection Status

As we all should be during this challenging time, please be respectful of Inspectors and be prepared for longer wait times than normal. Stay safe!