The Trinity Journal POETRY OUT LOUD: A THS freshman captures county championship. 13
BRACKETS SET: Northern Section basketball playoffs ready to tip off. 8
Wednesday, February 16, 2022
Trinity County’s newspaper since 1856
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THS gym reopens
Attorney fees due: County to pay TAA $337,000 BY JOSH COZINE
THE TRINITY JOURNAL
TONY REED | THE TRINITY JOURNAL
A student gets bounced off his feet during a round of bumper balls in the gym during opening ceremonies Thursday. More photos on page 9.
After 2.5 years of renovations, the newly renamed Cato-Davis Gymnasium opens for action BY TONY REED
THE TRINITY JOURNAL
Trinity High School brought students together Thursday inside the newly renovated Cato-Davis Gymnasium which had been closed since 2019. At the event, District Supt. Jaime Green looked around the full bleachers and expressed happiness, noting it was the first time in years that the entire student body had been in the same room. Fun and games followed, with both students and staff taking part in games ranging from find your herd to full-contact bumper ball. Performers from the cheer team, the dance club and Associated Student Body hit the floor with routines. Principal Dr. Corey Helgesen’s “little speech” recalled the process and acknowledged the people from behind the scenes who made the gym reopening a reality after 2.5 years. He asked for a show of hands of students who have played any kind of high school game inside the gym. Only about a dozen hands went up. He noted the significance of the moment and urged students to be good stewards of the new gym. “I’m looking at the reason for this whole gym,” he said. “It’s all because of you and
it’s a gift to all of you.” Helgeson brought Green to the floor to present him with an honorary plaque, that will remain inside the gym. The plaque thanked him for his work, enthusiasm and attention to detail in making the renovated gym a reality, noting that he had also been a coach for many years. “Coach” Green then cut the ribbon to officially open the gym.
A dedication The gym is dedicated to longtime former coaches Kyle Davis and Terry Cato. Davis passed away last year after Bob Simmons made a presentation to the Trinity Alps School District, recommending the gym be named after them. Davis coached wrestling for 34 years. “[Simmons] stressed the many years each of them had coached at THS, and the many titles and awards the teams they coached had won,” according to board minutes. “He said the Alumni Association was in favor of naming the gym after the coaches.” The board approved the request in February 2021. Cato was at the gym’s opening, along with Athletic Director Bob Jeangerard, See GYM, page 12
THS Athletic Director Bob Jeangerard and former coach Terry Cato appear before the cheering crowd. The gym is dedicated to Cato and the late coach Kyle Davis.
Trinity County has been ordered to pay $337,000 in attorney’s fees to Trinity Action Association. In a judgment made Jan. 28, Judge Bradley Boeckman ruled on how much the county would have to pay TAA after a years-long legal battle and hundreds of hours of attorney time billed on both sides over a CEQA-based settlement agreement signed in 2019. The judge’s final number ended up being both substantially less than TAA had requested, but substantially more than the county argued it should have to pay. TAA requested more than $500,000 for more than 700 hours spent on the case over the course of two years amongst four attorneys: Rachel Doughty and Jessica Taylor from Greenfire Law out of Berkeley and Jim Underwood and John Letton out of Weaverville. The county, through attorney Derek Cole from Cole-Huber out of Roseville, argued it should only have to pay around $200,000 to TAA. Reasons cited were that attorney fees were multiplied when they weren’t deserving of a multiplier, that TAA’s attorneys spent more hours on the case than necessary — and at a higher billing rate, too — and that one of the lawyers in the case, maybe, shouldn’t be paid at all. The largest contributor to the difference in fees argued over was a 1½ fee multiplier requested by TAA. The fee enhancement is justified when “a defendant’s opposition is unreasonable or causes extraordinary difficulties in the fee litigation,” TAA stated and claimed that the county had done just that. According to the county, however, the case was not that difficult. “This was not a complex or difficult case in any sense. As of 2019, any issues that required interpretations of the CEQA statute, guidelines, or case law had been resolved,” county defense stated. TAA argues that the case was in fact a CEQA case because “enforcement of the settlement agreement required counsel with CEQA expertise and experience.” Furthermore, TAA argued, it was the county through drafting of urgency ordinances that attempted to skirt CEQA which required further interpretation, and added further difficulty to the case. “The county enacted a series of urgency ordinances expressly aimed at avoiding CEQA compliance under the settlement agreement. Interpreting the implications of these urgency ordinances is one of the CEQA requirements set forth in the settlement agreement and seeking enforcement thereof, despite these ordinances, requires specialized CEQA counsel,” TAA stated. Next, county legal defense stated that TAA had invested more hours than necessary on the case and that the Bay Area-priced attorney fees requested from See FEES, page 12
Planning Commission gets philosophical on variances, their purpose BY JOSH COZINE
THE TRINITY JOURNAL
After two canceled meetings the Planning Commission met for the first time since November, on Thursday, Feb. 10, and got back to the usual business: discussing cannabis appeals and requested variances. As the final item on the agenda came up requesting a variance from the 500-foot property line setback required by the county for a commercial cannabis grow operation, with the only neighbors it would currently affect in
attendance and in approval of the operation, a philosophical discussion about variances and their uses and purpose overtook the commission. Two agenda items earlier, the commission had granted three variances for a subdivision in the area of Burnt Ranch, allowing for a parcel split without specific road mitigation measures normally required by the Department of Transportation. The most expensive of the requirements would have included either paving a stretch of privately maintained road or making
Obituaries Norman Blackburn Steven 'Reno' Patton, 51 Sally Morris celebration — Page 5
it 2% less steep at the cost of the owner despite the parcel split not changing anything in the present situation. The variances hadn’t been passed without ample discussion, including Interim Deputy Director of the Department of Transportation, David Colbeck, requesting “consistency” when deciding whether or not to grant variances. “The decision for these types of questions are in perpetuity essentially … an individual that may be very diligent may be able to maintain the road extremely
well, but that next homeowner may not be that person, may not maintain it. And so the decision that’s made here today is one that stays on the landscape for quite some time,” Colbeck had stated before the commission granted the variances. Now, after another more than an hour-long discussion on variances, the Planning Commission stopped before voting on the final item of the night with Commissioner William Sharp, who assumed the position of chairperson earlier in the night, going into a deep monologue about the
Weather
Index
Sunny and mostly clear. Slight chance of showers Sunday. — Page 2
Classifieds................17-20 Club Calendar............... 14 Columnists.............. 16-17 Events | Arts................. 15
Mostly sunny
proper uses of variances. “I want everyone to understand this has nothing to do with you guys wanting this or not wanting this, the question is variances,” said Sharp, gesturing toward the applicant for the 500-foot setback variance and his neighbors that had given their support. “We just had a variance come before us and variances are used for very specific reasons,” Sharp continued referencing Colbeck’s earlier request for consistency,
Life.................................. 13 Obituaries.........................5 Opinion.............................4 Outdoors........................ 10
See VARIANCES, page 12
Real Estate................... 20 Sheriff’s Report...............2 Sports........................... 8-9 Weather............................2