Tuesday night’s Board of Supervisors vote was, strictly speaking, a vote to issue 23 million dollars in bonds to strengthen the county’s levees.  But to local officials, that’s only half the story. 
  
“In (19)86 when the Yuba River broke, we had the only mall in two counties. We had almost 60 businesses that were doing very well," said 3rd-district Yuba County Supervisor Mary Jane Griego. “After that levee break, none of them came back.  So in order to make sure that commercial investment is safe, they want to make sure that those levees are safe as well.”
 
Yuba County is very much relying on luring new growth.  That’s because they’re counting on development fees to pay back most of the bond money for the next 40 years.