Among the items discussed at the “Halloween edition” of the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday: County roads update: County supervisors endorsed a plan to reach out to emergency responders as the Community Development Department prepares its list projects on non-maintained county roads for the next fiscal year. County Engineer Jon Olson said the feedback he hopes to get in late November or December will help him evaluate which roads are in public right-of-ways but are not county maintained. He will then put together an estimate to present to the Board of Supervisors before the 2025-26 budget cycle starts. Since 2024, the Board has set aside about $50,000 from the general fund to repair public roads that aren’t maintained by the county. The goal was to make access easier for emergency providers, Olson said. This year’s list of projects included repairing major potholes at Childs Avenue and Lake Street, alleviating flooding issues on State Street near the Spruce Haven Mobile Home Park, and unblocking culverts and ditches and crowning the road on Darby Street. Other projects include reopening ditches on Lake Street north of Washington Boulevard and purchasing a load of rock for residents on Carol Lane. Road vacation: The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a request to vacate Jordan Street “for the benefit of future healthcare improvements and housing.” According to Assistant County Engineer Rosanna Bauer, the request came from Stallant Medical Group Inc. and Samuel Schauerman. Jordan Street is a paper street with no improvements on it. It’s adjacent to Harrold Street on the east and Washington Boulevard on the north. There is currently a Del Norte County Service Area 1 sewer main, according to Bauer. Stallant also has an existing condition for deferred improvements on its portion of the road that date back to the mid-1990s, Bauer said. The county is proposing to “extinguish” that condition, she said. This action terminates Stallant’s obligation to make those improvements, according to Bauer’s staff report. The item went before the Del Norte County Planning Commission on Sept. 3. The Board approved the request following a public hearing Tuesday that concluded without testimony. During his Board report, District 5 Supervisor Dean Wilson said the topic of divesting county properties “we no longer need” came up during a capital improvements technical advisory committee. “They’re really just a liability and something we have responsibility for, but really have no need for,” he said. Safety Element Update: County supervisors approved a $190,530 contract with wtih SHN to complete a mandatory update of the county’s general plan safety element. According to Community Development Director Heidi Kunstal, the safety plan was last updated in 2003. This is one of the most significant updates to the Del Norte County 2022-2030 General Plan and Housing Element, which must be completed by 2030. The county’s General Plan Safety Element is required to include new information on fire and flood hazards as well as climate adaptation and resiliency strategies, according to Kunstal’s staff report. “The objective is to complete the update within three years of Housing Element certification,” Kunstal states. “The Housing Element was certified on February 24, 2023. While the county will not meet this target, initiating the work demonstrates a commitment to fulfilling the implementation program. Legislation: District Chris Howard urged his colleagues to think about what they could advocate for next year. He pointed to the recent success Del Norte County had with its sponsored legislation, AB 1014, which will give Caltrans more flexibility when it comes to setting speed limits on state highways through rural communities. “This is the time of year our state legislators consider what bills they’re going to introduce,” Howard said. “I want to capitalize on these folks we currently have in office like Sen. McGuire and Assemblyman Rogers. If there’s some legislation Del Norte County feels strongly on we as a Board should think about that.” Wilson said he has reached out to Rogers’ office as well as Assemblyman James Gallagher on possible legislation that would relax the requirement for some counties to mitigate the impact to wetlands from major improvement projects. This would apply to counties with “an exorbitant amount of public land,” Wilson said.