Sacramento resident urges flood agency to respond to request to buy surplus levee land

Chris Rufe, identifying himself as a Sacramento County resident, asked the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency on March 19 to respond to his repeated requests to buy surplus land the agency owns near Powerline Road and Garden Highway.

Rufe told the board that the agency purchased about 92 acres for a levee project and used roughly 12 acres for the flood control work, leaving about 80 acres he described as excess. He said he submitted a written request in November 2025 with “about a dozen follow ups, emails, and letters” and has received no response. “We sent a note, on November in 2025 … and we have 0 response,” Rufe said during public comment.

Rufe said he does not plan to develop the property and estimated the purchase would bring “roughly $1,000,000” to the agency while restoring taxable ownership to a private party. He asked that agency staff provide “a responsible answer” to his inquiry.

The chair responded that off‑agenda items cannot be discussed in detail during the public comment period but said staff would follow up. The chair said, “Mister Campbell will follow‑up or someone from his staff,” indicating the agency will contact the speaker.

The next step is staff follow‑up to Mr. Rufe’s request; the board did not take formal action on the comment during the meeting.

Provenance: The public comment and the chair’s follow‑up promise were recorded in the meeting transcript during the public comment portion of the agenda (the speaker introduced himself and delivered the request, followed by the chair’s procedural response).