To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Bret Prebula, Finance Director
Prepared By: Jessie Gooch, Finance Analyst
TITLE:
Title
Settlement Revenue from 2017 North Bay Wildfire Damage
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Adopt a resolution approving the FY 2019/20 transfer of revenue received from PG&E in settlement of litigation arising from damage to the City from the 2017 North Bay Wildfire, with the transfer of $2,342,462.51 into the General Fund Emergency Reserve and the transfer of $4,000,000 into the Water Capital Improvement Reserve.
Body
DISCUSSION:
In October 2017, as a result of a series of wildfires that have been referred to as the North Bay Wildfires, the City of Napa incurred significant damage, most of which was damage to water facilities and the watershed at and around the Milliken Reservoir. Due to evidence of actions or inaction by PG&E as a contributing factor in the North Bay Wildfires, the City was one of nine public agencies to file a lawsuit against PG&E to recover damages from those fires. In 2019, PG&E filed for bankruptcy protection due to overwhelming claims and litigation from public and private parties resulting from not only the 2017 North Bay Wildfires, but also the 2018 Paradise Fire.
In June 2019, the City issued a press release to report that a settlement agreement had been reached between PG&E and the public agency plaintiffs (including the City of Napa); however, that settlement was subject to confirmation by the Bankruptcy Court. In June 2020, PG&E announced that the Bankruptcy Court had confirmed the settlement with the nine public agencies as well as separate settlement agreements with private parties and insurance companies that had also incurred fire damages. The City received the settlement payment of $6,342,462.51 from PG&E in late June.
As noted above, since the majority of fire damage to the City was to water facilities and watershed, $4.0 million of the settlement proceeds were depos...
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