OROVILLE >> With the threat of wildfire returning each year, a new program with the city may help strengthen fire resilience.

The Oroville City Council on Tuesday formed the Oroville Area Fire Safe Council, a program that will set the standards of a “fire wise community” in which groups of residents can find discounts on fire insurance by being certified as fire safe.

City Administrator Brian Ring said the Oroville Area Fire Safe Council entails community-run organizations that work to educate people on improvements to their homes, including hardening a structure, fuel abatement and making a defensible space.

The city councilors also approved an agreement with the Butte Fire Safe Council, in which the city would have membership representations.

Ring said the opportunity would be to establish relationship with people at the BCFSC to have their programs used in Oroville and use momentum to form the city’s own organization.

Rock stacking

Alleged illegal rock stacking in the city may be reaching the end of the line for Oroville’s Code Enforcement Department.

In an interesting moment of public comment, Samuel Albanese raised an issue of rock stacks being pushed over by Code Enforcement near the Dollar Tree on Oroville Dam Boulevard East; he said there is a person on social media known as the “rock man” who has been stacking rocks in Oroville for some time, who Albanese said came out with an ax toward code enforcement officers when they pushed his rock stacks down.

“Now I can’t agree to, you know, ax-wielding behavior, but I do enjoy the man’s work,” Albanese said.

He said he was looking to find any ordinances related to banning the practice of stacking small rocks on each other on public property, but nothing came close. So he asked the council if people can actually get in trouble for doing so.

Code Enforcement Director Ron Belser said the property owner where the rocks are being stacked did not want them there, and that rocks picked up from the river and put onto the levee can disrupt both waterways and the levee, and is “actually criminal.”

“It’s not OK. We’re not going to tolerate it, we’re not going to allow it,” Belser said.

Councilor Shawn Webber said the issue of rock stacking also brings liability concerns to the city.

“As I understand like national parks, you can’t just go in there and disrupt the land. But I mean we got a community that leaves little rocks and things, so it’s a public interest matter,” Albanese said.

Other business

Brian Ring said Oroville city staff and Mayor David Pittman have met recently with Sen. Adam Schiff to keep the senator up to date on Oroville’s interests, and will meet with and Sen. Alex Padilla on Wednesday.

Councilors approved a number of other items Tuesday including:

• Passing ordinances approving assessments for landscape, lighting and maintenance districts and benefit districts for 2025 to 2026. Councilors were selected by the rule of necessity on voting for some of the ordinances, because a quorum couldn’t be established in some cases, according to City Attorney David Ritchie. The assessments are adjusted each year to match costs of each district.

• The annual budget for the Oroville Downtown Business Association’s business improvement district.

• An increase to the 2025 to 2026 sewage tax roll for a total of $53.59 per month, up from the previous year of $47.41.

The Oroville City Council meets the first and third Tuesday of the month at 4:30 p.m. at the Oroville City Council Chambers at 1735 Montgomery St. Closed session starts at 4 p.m. Meetings are free, open to the public and are also streamed on Zoom and YouTube. The council agenda and links to live feeds can be found at cityoforoville.org.