PARADISE, Calif. — The town of Paradise held a community meeting to update people on the town's recovery efforts.
The community meetings will be held on the first Tuesday of every month moving forward. Recovery efforts used to be discussed during city council meetings but they are now separate.
There were several officials from the town of Paradise, Butte County, FEMA, Paradise Unified School District, and Cal OES. Officials provided updates on the recovery efforts and any other projects on which they are currently working.
Here are some of the topics that were discussed:
Debris Removal:
There are properties where people have not chosen whether they are going through the state's debris removal program or hiring a private contractor to clear their properties.
It is mandatory and without a right of entry form the town says it may need a court order to clear the properties.
RELATED: 2.4 million tons of debris removed from Butte county after Camp Fire. Crews are still not done.
Water:
Paradise is still under a water advisory because contaminants were found in the water through testing several months ago.
Officials believe the contaminants came after lines broke during the Camp Fire creating a vacuum when the pipes outside dried up.
More than 130 homes have had their water advisories lifted.
Through additional testing, contaminants were found staying in the surface lines and not moving from line to line. The Paradise Irrigation District is continuing to test between 30 to 50 homes a week.
Schools:
Paradise Unified School District expects about one-third of their students to be back for the upcoming school year which is about 1200 students. They're also making some temporary changes and opening new campuses.
Power:
PG&E has been working on underground power lines and replacing gas lines. 23 miles of underground lines will be done this year.
Police:
The Paradise Police Chief says they've gotten some reports of theft involving construction equipment. He's encouraging people to make any security measures necessary.
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