Just ran into City of Eureka's Miles Slattery. He told me that the City of Eureka is applying for a grant to get a generator that could be used to power a City of Eureka facility holding upto 2,400 people. It would be used as a warming center and charging facility for future PSPS.
During the first PSPS, the City of Eureka was open for business. During the second PSPS, the City of Eureka opened the Muni. On a Sunday and until the County set up the Communiity Resource Center near the library, this was the only option in Eureka. The City of Eureka stepped up , especially for those with limited means. PG & E couldn't even be bothered to answer questions if they would have a CRC.
It was extremely helpful to be able to have access to City officials to get information to the Public. City Manager Greg Sparks, City Clerk Pam Powell, all department heads, the Mayor as well as City staff went beyond during both PSPS.
While I applaud the desire to create centers to care for our community members during future outages, I do not think investing in generators - which are huge consumers of fossil fuels (what got us into this mess in the first place), as well as terribly noisy/smelly, and a fire risk - are the solution. City of Eureka, please consider alternatives before you proceed. I would love to work with you on grant applications for solar panel systems for more city buildings and public spaces that can provide power/warmth in a much more responsible way, and lead us as a community in the direction we need to go, not backwards.
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