Portion of Pass Road to be restricted due to damage

Dec. 9—The Sutter County Board of Supervisors passed a motion Tuesday to restrict the use of Pass Road from Marty Road to West Butte Road to emergency vehicles only until permanent repairs can be made to the road surface.

The recommendation was made after a storm in late October caused a portion of Pass Road to suffer substantial damage to the asphalt surface. According to a staff report, a 2-foot wide by approximately 400-foot long strip of the roadway settled along the water side of the western levee of the Butte Slough. Because of this, the road segment from Mawson Road to West Butte Road was closed pending further investigation and to provide safe travel for the public.

As a result of this closure, a detour of approximately 12 miles and 15 minutes was required for motorists to travel southward to State Route 20, along State Route 20 across the Sutter Bypass and then northward to Pass Road, the report said.

Neal Hay, director of Development Services for Sutter County, said the county contacted the Central Valley Flood Protection Board about the issue because it is under its jurisdiction and the county will need a permit through the agency to complete the work.

Hay said with the "unknowns at this point," there is a potential for this to be a long-term closure, possibly as long as into the spring of 2022.

Currently, the southbound lane of the road has the most severe damage.

"The southern lane is definitely unsafe to travel on," said Hay.

Hay said if heavy trucks travel along the road, it could cause even more damage.

During the discussion on the motion, District 3 Supervisor Mike Ziegenmeyer said he wanted to put a sign up that warned drivers the road was for emergency personnel rather than leaving a gate in place that would need to be locked and unlocked as emergency vehicles passed through.

Ziegenmeyer said he has received many calls from residents in the area concerned that if a locked gate was there to block traffic, then there would be major safety concerns for people who may rely on emergency personnel reaching them in a timely manner.

"I get so many phone calls day and night on this road and they're so afraid that with the slowdown of getting from point A to B it scares them," Ziegenmeyer said. "There's a lot of elderly that live out there, a lot of kids that live out there and they just don't feel safe with that road being shut down or with some sort of gate system installed. I know we have to watch out what's best for the county, and I don't know why a sign stating ... this is for emergency use personnel only shouldn't be sufficient enough."

Ziegenmeyer attempted to amend the motion to say that the road would not be gated off, but instead have a sign instructing drivers that it was open only to emergency vehicles and the county would put cones around the most severe damage on the road to prevent any serious incidents.

Hay said if this option passed, the road could be closed permanently again if conditions continue to deteriorate.

Because of a lack of consensus on just having a sign, the supervisors passed the original motion to keep a gate in the area locked that emergency personnel would be able to open as needed.

"If that's your child that falls in the pool unresponsive and ... someone's on their way out there and they're fiddling with the key to a gate trying to get it in and things are cold and it takes them an extra two or three minutes to get through ... that could be three or five minutes right off the bat," Ziegenmeyer said. "... This is one of those cases where I think we owe it to the people in the community to keep that road open with no obstructions at all, without a gate."

Ziegenmeyer called it a "lose-lose" situation on whether or not to have a gate.

Because the road would have remained closed without a gate option had the board not approved the original motion, Ziegenmeyer eventually did vote yes on the motion along with the other supervisors.

Film commission funding

Supervisors also on Tuesday approved the donation of up to $56,250 to the Yuba-Sutter Chamber of Commerce for the establishment of a Yuba-Sutter Film Commission so long as other jurisdictions involved approve similar motions.

Sutter County's first-year contribution would be $6,250, which is equal to the contribution requested from Yuba City, Marysville and Yuba County, according to a staff report. That contribution would be followed by a $20,000 donation for fiscal year 2022-23 and a $30,000 donation in fiscal year 2023-24.

"The idea being which if we can attract projects, much like Shasta County showed that they have over the years, that it could be an economic benefit to the region," said Sutter County Administrator Steven Smith.

According to a staff report, the film commission would provide production crews with a one-stop resource to facilitate film, TV, and commercial production in the area. The community would then benefit economically from the rental of hotel rooms, venues, and vehicles and the purchase of supplies, food and other goods necessary when filming on location.

The film commission would ultimately act as an advisor to any local government body on policies, legislation, and regulations necessary for the promotion of the area and actively work to market and promote the region as a cost effective and quality location for filming, according to the report.

Marni Sanders, CEO of the Yuba-Sutter Chamber of Commerce, spoke to the supervisors on the importance of the commission.

"I do believe that this can have a significant economic impact to the Yuba-Sutter community over time as we develop this program," said Sanders. "This is not a new concept for our area. There's been different iterations of a film commission for the Yuba-Sutter area. But this is really the first time that we've made any sort of headway in getting some help with funding the program. It's been done at a volunteer level and that often just kind of dies out over time."

Sanders said she has been working directly with a certified film commissioner as she develops the proposed film commission for the area.

"It can pay off in really big dividends," said Sanders.