The Sierra County Arroyo Flood Control District was the brain child of the Sierra County Commissioners Jim Paxon, Travis Day and Hank Hopkins. They claimed a second flood control district with the same boundaries (Sierra County’s) was needed to specifically address arroyo flooding.
Only thing is, only one of the two flood control districts can go on private land and, as newly elected and newly made Chairperson Barry Ragsdale pointed out at yesterday’s meeting, historically people have settled in the bottomlands, where the arroyos and rivers and creeks run, “because that’s where the water is.” And dealing with arroyo flooding likely means going on private land–where the new flood control district cannot go.
Happily the flood commissioner from the pre-existing flood control district, Sandy Jones, ran for one of the five directors’ seats on the Sierra County Arroyo Flood Control District board. He and Ragsdale agreed that the two flood control districts need to work “in parallel.” Both districts, by definition, will know what the other’s goals and projects are, so there will be no duplication of effort or spending and lots of enhancement and cooperation in choosing and running projects.
Both Jones and Ragsdale also agreed that the focus should be on “permanent solutions,” not temporary and repeated repairs to levees, for example.
Jones and Ragsdale have both worked as flood control directors under prior flood control commissioners giving them years of experience and overview of Sierra County’s problem areas. The other directors, Beau Marshall (new vice-chair) and Creeden Coil (new treasurer/secretary), bring more knowledge from their life as ranchers who are intimate with other legacy ranch families who have faced flooding together for generations. Billy Neely, the fifth director on the board, has been head of the county’s roads department for years, also giving him countywide knowledge of flooding areas and private property owners who are affected.
But Jones and Ragsdale vowed not to be insular, but to be inclusive in determining what flood control projects will be taken on. They modified the Open Meetings Act resolution (required to be passed yearly by the state) to enable the board of directors to meet in different communities–to take their meetings on the road to learn and discuss their specific geographic, hydrologic problems.
The directors will meet each quarter the second Wednesday of the month at 1 p.m. The next meeting is April 8.
Ragsdale gave a financial report. The county gave the new flood control district $200,000 in start up money, he said, but it can only be spent on setting up the organization–hiring a part- or full-time employee(s) to take and type minutes, keep the books, seek grants, draft resolutions, legal ads and meeting notices, renting office space, purchasing office equipment and supplies, etc.
The two flood control districts sharing the cost of support staff and an office was mentioned but not nailed down.
The first flush of money from the .50 mills property tax brought another $73,000 to the Sierra County Arroyo Flood Control District’s kitty, Ragsdale said, which can be used for projects.
Voters approved the creation of the district November 2024 and the .50 mill levy was passed by the Sierra County Commission May 2025. It went into effect July 1, 2025. The first half of property taxes must be paid by Dec. 10 and the second half by April 10. Some people pay the full year by Dec. 10. County Treasurer Candace Chavez told the Citizen that a 64 percent collection rate had been received by the end of December 2025. The pre-existing district, Jones’ district, collected $515,000 in 2024 from its 1.50 mill levy, so the .50 mill levy, at one-third, would see about $172,000 a year in tax receipts.
Cooperating with the Sierra Soil and Water Conservation District and the South Central Council of Governments that may result in cost-sharing and grant-writing expertise on projects was discussed. Beau Marshall volunteered to contact SSWCD and Barry Marshall to contact SCCG. Sandy Jones will work on setting up a group meeting with Animus Creek ranchers. Velma Boone of Animus Creek said they have organized themselves and collected data, which is available to be shared.
Local communities, if they would like to emulate Boone’s advocacy for Animas Creek, may want to lobby to be the April meeting location. Or they may want to describe problem flood areas. There is no official email address yet, but in the interim they may email Treasurer/Secretary Creeden Coil at: creedencoil@yahoo.com