Our Board of Supervisors held a Special Meeting today at 11:30 a.m. to ratify a proclamation of Local State of Emergency for Crystal Springs Sanitary and Sewer District.

On January 23rd, a landslide damaged a sewage pipe in the County's Crystal Springs Sanitary Sewer District; with the continuing rain, the land remains unstable. In fact it continues to slip. 

To be eligible for reimbursements of expenses to repair the district's damages, the local County Board of Supervisors must ratify the proclamation issued by the Director of Emergency Services within ten days of the emergency. Current cost estimates for the repairs are $3 million.

"The emergency declaration makes the district eligible for certain state financial and technical assistance. Further, the Board can declare local emergencies for a specific event, like the Seneca Lane mudslide, which is deemed something possibley beyond the means of the County to handle alone," according to Michelle Durand, the County's Chief Communications Officer. 

She also explained that, "The County's proclamation is separate from Governor Brown's January 23rd emergency declaration which included nearly all counties statewide, including San Mateo. The state declaration is a wider umbrella under which other storm damage may be included such as the erosion of Scenic Drive in La Honda that left three homes red-tagged and dropped the ground 12-15 feet in one area. The governor's proclamation is expected to cover the costs of stabilizeing and repairing the road."

Today's Emergency Board meeting was to make sure that our infrastructure gets repaired, is protected, and that we can draw down available disaster relief dollars to defray the cost of these repairs.