to the residents. Beals said the assessment might go up a nickel, but not much and would pay the loan off a year early. The acquisition of property from the Fish and Wildlife Commission was discussed. Beals thinks they now have their arms around the issue. Fish and Game has agreed to extend the property to include the pump station in the meadow, so the County will be gaining an additional half-acre. The County is now waiting to see the appraisal of the land the County is getting versus the land Fish and Game is getting in return. He said the State does not want a THE SIERRA BROOKS WATER SYSTEM PROJECT was reported on by Sierra County Planning Director Tim Beals at the Sierra County Board of Supervisor’s meeting in Loyalton on March 17th. Beals said a component of the USDA loan asked the County service area to fund one year of debt service, about $87,000 as a protection against default. He stated there had been back and forth discussions on how to fund, as it has to be in place when the final approval is given by USDA to proceed with bids. Beals felt the USDA might consider an option that demonstrates the County is on a teeter plan, with assurances that default on the loan will be recovered. County Counsel Jim Curtis said they could give an expressed resolution explaining the plan, as USDA was not that familiar with it. Beals said if USDA accepts it, they might increase the assessment $.10 per month. Beals stated the assessment district itself would fund the debt service reserve. Supervisor Scott Schlefstein was worried it would be an extra cost third party in the mix, so the County will negotiate with Fish and Wildlife Commission directly through what the Sierra Brooks property owners want. Beals stated the Forest Service has issued the use permit for the water tank. This allowed them to resolve the issue with the property owner, which could have halted the entire project. Beals said the critical issue is the question of meters, as they are required as a condition of participating in this loan and grant. He said meters will encourage water conservation and there is a built in revenue stream for metering to follow Continued on page 12.............