Amador County – The Sutter Creek City Council heard and approved an annual report for the Regional Traffic Mitigation Fee program on Monday, which showed funding going into the program totaled about $100,000 in the last year, down from about $1 million or more countywide in better times.

Amador County Transportation Commission Executive Director Charles Field said the total of $143,000 that went into the fee program, from builder mitigation fees, included about $43,000 in interest earned, meaning the program only took in $100,000 among its county-wide members through building fees. He told the council that the amount was down from more than $1 million taken in through the program in some years.

Field said the report for fiscal year 2009-2010 was an annual report required by law. He said the report showed that Sutter Creek owed $400,000 in funding loaned within the program for road work.

Field said there is no new recommendation, with the exception” being “to pay back those loans.” He said there were “no fee increases” recommended “at this time or foreseen for next year.”

The Regional Traffic Mitigation Fee Program oversight committee recommended that the program’s “nexus be amended to reflect actual traffic numbers in this county, instead of national averages.” Field said they also want to work on simplifying the program.

Field requested a $9,000 reimbursement from Sutter Creek to ACTC for its share of the nexus study, and the council approved that with a resolution, also approving the annual report.

He also reported that the California Transportation Commission had OK’d a grant written by Dokken Engineering for the road alignment project at Bowers Drive and Prospect Drive, “but the state probably will not have bonds issued until next fall, which means we might miss the construction season.”

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.