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A Yuba County official grumbled Monday over Nevada County's recent refusal to help pay for $750,000 insounded a bit too pricey for the neighbors in Nevada County.
Officials in Nevada City rejected a request from Yuba County Board of Supervisors Chairman John Nicoletti last week to help pay for upgrades on a road he said is used primarily for transit between Beale Air Force Base and Nevada County.
"Here you have the largest employer between Portland and Sacramento saying this road is important," Nicoletti said of Beale. "Perhaps the folks at Beale need to realize the folks in Nevada County are happy to benefit from their presence, but not so quick to contribute to it."
Nicoletti said Yuba County has steadily worked for years to improve the roads around Beale in acknowledgment of its importance to the area and requests from Beale officials — and some Nevada County residents — to do so.
Smartsville Road, which runs from the base to Highway 20 just west of the Nevada County line, is the last one on that project list, he said.
The federal government agreed to pay $3 million toward repairing the road, a job that would include repaving, better turnouts and safety improvements at two intersections, Nicoletti said.
But that money required a $750,000 local match.
"That's greater than the total amount of our annual discretionary funding," Nicoletti said.
So he sent Nevada County's government a letter seeking help, though he didn't specify an amount. Within days, the response came back: No, and no reason given, he said.
Nevada County executive officer Rick Haffey said his county is in no better position to help than Yuba County is.
"The state's taking our road money too, and it's unfortunate that we have a situation where counties are trying to get it from each other," he said. "We're all in the same boat."
If Nevada County had a pool of money to draw from that Yuba County didn't have, he said, it's possible the two counties could combine efforts on a project like Smartsville Road.
"But I can't speak for the supervisors," he said.
Nicoletti said he'd acknowledge the idea was a bit of a Hail Mary pass, given that it's relatively rare for a county to pay for road repairs or other impacts in a neighboring county.
"Primarily, this is a route that's convenient only to folks coming from Nevada County to Beale, or traveling from Beale to Nevada County," he said. And the two counties have long had a symbiotic relationship, he said, down to U-2 spy plane necklaces that can be found in some Grass Valley jewelers' display cases.
Nicoletti added about 6,000 Nevada County residents commute through Yuba County daily to jobs around Sacramento, and Yuba also accepts 50,000 tons of Nevada County trash at a landfill near Beale.
Western Nevada County communities such as Lake Wildwood and Penn Valley grew largely because of their proximity to Beale, he added.
Yuba County still plans to do the work to repair Smartsville Road, he said, but it's a process that will take longer because of the funding shortfall.
County and base officials will meet Wednesday at Beale to discuss the next step, he said.
"Our goal is not to reduce safety for Beale or the people who work and live there," Nicoletti said.
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The Grass Valley Union contributed to this report. Reporter Ben van der Meer works for the Marysville Appeal-Democrat.
Officials in Nevada City rejected a request from Yuba County Board of Supervisors Chairman John Nicoletti last week to help pay for upgrades on a road he said is used primarily for transit between Beale Air Force Base and Nevada County.
"Here you have the largest employer between Portland and Sacramento saying this road is important," Nicoletti said of Beale. "Perhaps the folks at Beale need to realize the folks in Nevada County are happy to benefit from their presence, but not so quick to contribute to it."
Nicoletti said Yuba County has steadily worked for years to improve the roads around Beale in acknowledgment of its importance to the area and requests from Beale officials — and some Nevada County residents — to do so.
Smartsville Road, which runs from the base to Highway 20 just west of the Nevada County line, is the last one on that project list, he said.
The federal government agreed to pay $3 million toward repairing the road, a job that would include repaving, better turnouts and safety improvements at two intersections, Nicoletti said.
But that money required a $750,000 local match.
"That's greater than the total amount of our annual discretionary funding," Nicoletti said.
So he sent Nevada County's government a letter seeking help, though he didn't specify an amount. Within days, the response came back: No, and no reason given, he said.
Nevada County executive officer Rick Haffey said his county is in no better position to help than Yuba County is.
"The state's taking our road money too, and it's unfortunate that we have a situation where counties are trying to get it from each other," he said. "We're all in the same boat."
If Nevada County had a pool of money to draw from that Yuba County didn't have, he said, it's possible the two counties could combine efforts on a project like Smartsville Road.
"But I can't speak for the supervisors," he said.
Nicoletti said he'd acknowledge the idea was a bit of a Hail Mary pass, given that it's relatively rare for a county to pay for road repairs or other impacts in a neighboring county.
"Primarily, this is a route that's convenient only to folks coming from Nevada County to Beale, or traveling from Beale to Nevada County," he said. And the two counties have long had a symbiotic relationship, he said, down to U-2 spy plane necklaces that can be found in some Grass Valley jewelers' display cases.
Nicoletti added about 6,000 Nevada County residents commute through Yuba County daily to jobs around Sacramento, and Yuba also accepts 50,000 tons of Nevada County trash at a landfill near Beale.
Western Nevada County communities such as Lake Wildwood and Penn Valley grew largely because of their proximity to Beale, he added.
Yuba County still plans to do the work to repair Smartsville Road, he said, but it's a process that will take longer because of the funding shortfall.
County and base officials will meet Wednesday at Beale to discuss the next step, he said.
"Our goal is not to reduce safety for Beale or the people who work and live there," Nicoletti said.
ooo
The Grass Valley Union contributed to this report. Reporter Ben van der Meer works for the Marysville Appeal-Democrat.
