Willits council weighs billing Brooktrails $1.14 million for city solar project Wednesday

A stone monument with a weathered wooden sign reading “Brooktrails” stands along a forested roadside, with tall evergreen trees, overhead utility lines, and orange traffic cones visible on the shoulder of the road. — A Brooktrails Township sign in Brooktrails, Calif., on Dec. 17, 2025. (Sarah Reith/Mendocino County Fire Safe Council via Bay City News)

WILLITS, CA., 10/13/26 — In May, Willits finished building solar carports, solar panels on raised frames that shade parking spaces, over the Sports Park and Skate Park parking lots. Now city staff say the Brooktrails Township Community Services District could owe about $1.14 million of the cost, according to a staff report for the City Council’s meeting Wednesday, Oct. 14.

The same report says Brooktrails hasn’t agreed. “Brooktrails was not consulted prior to the project being undertaken, and to date has not agreed that the project is a cost subject to the cost-sharing agreement,” wrote Davey Bowles, the city’s building and public works director.