Amador County – Amador Water Agency Board of Directors heard a cash flow balance report Thursday, which said the agency is on par to make its next big payment for the Amador Transmission Pipeline, a $1 million payment due in May.

Finance Manager Mike Lee said “at the end of March, we were at $1.6 million dollars and change.” He said April, is expected to end cash right at projections, and if a pending “receivable” of about $100,000, a check from the state, comes in, before the end of the month, “we’re above the forecast for April.”

Director Robert Manassero said the chart appeared to not be “picking up recent water sale declines.” Lee said it was a relatively good forecast, with cash $137,000 below projections, and he would begin to work on next year’s chart. Board President Don Cooper said the agency has its $1 million dollar debt service payment for the Amador Pipeline, and must pay another $500,000 next November.

In public comment, Bill Condrashoff said he was worried that “maybe you have gone over your Gravity Supply Line authorized expense of $70,000,” with all of the coffeeshop meetings held by Manassero and Cooper around the Upcountry. Manassero said: “I haven’t billed anybody.”

Condrashoff also asked why the Central Amador Water Project retail and wholesale service areas showed revenues that were “so much more than previous years.” He said wholesale had “just about tripled” over what it was the last two years. Condrashoff said: “I would be a little suspicious.” Lee said he would have to see where the “actuals” were posted in prior years, and see if it was different in this report.

The former president, deposed in November, Condrashoff also warned of high cash use in May. Director Paul Molinelli said: “I would say that every board member is aware of that.” Cooper agreed, saying they were all “very concerned.” Lee said part of that cost was removed with four engineering layoffs.

Condrashoff said the board should remember that “you had half a million dollars come out of nowhere last year.” Cooper said: “We’re well aware that we are getting to the bottom of the milkshake and the air is coming in.”

The Board also reported on recent coffeshop meetings held in the Upcountry talking about the Gravity Supply Line, and issues facing the Central Amador Water Project. General Manager Gene Mancebo said the agency has more survey responses than before, and will share those with the Board and public. Several people criticized wording of the survey, with Condrashoff saying it was a “flatout insult to the intelligence of the people out there.” Sherry Curtis said people living outside of Central Amador service area were seen by attendees at the coffeeshop meetings as brining negativity and making misleading comments.

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

Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors last week declared eight trucks as surplus, with the intent of cutting its vehicle fleet due to layoffs and the resulting lack of drivers.

AWA General Manager Gene Mancebo said Fleet Manager Barry Birge “identified some vehicles we don’t need,” and staff “recommended the board offer them to other public agencies, the public, and then lastly to the public,” per new AWA surplus policy approved in March.

President Don Cooper asked how they estimated the value, and if they ever took surplus vehicles to utility auctions. Birge said he looked into auctions that last year, but has not gone into that practice. Mancebo said there has been some interest in the vehicles shown by the city of Plymouth.

Mancebo said they determine the value using the Kelley Blue Book, the condition of the vehicle, and repairs needed. Birge said mileage is also looked at. He said “we are down on drivers” and “I would have to keep them maintained,” so it would be “better to let them go.” He said he would keep five spares, “one vehicle for each department,” so “I have five spare vehicles sitting there waiting to go.”

He said the eight trucks recommended for designating as surplus property are “all in pretty good condition, except for one that dropped a transmission. It would cost more to repair than it’s worth.” The board approved the surplus designation, 5-0.

The oldest of the surplus trucks are two 1996 Ford F-250 4X4. Three others are 4x4s, including two 2001 Doge Ram 2500s and a 2000 Chevy 1-ton. The list also included two ’98 Rangers (one with the dropped transmission) and a ’99 Chevy S-10.

The AWA board of directors in March approved a change to agency policy so that surplus property will first be offered for sale to other public agencies, then to the general public, and finally to Agency employees.

Mancebo said last week that “previously, Agency employees had the first opportunity to bid on surplus property. The Agency’s auditing consultant and the AWA policies committee recommended the change to avoid the perception of preferential bidding on used Agency equipment and vehicles.”

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

Amador County – A large group of church members will be doing their annual volunteer service workday on Saturday in two locations around Amador County.

Terry Saldate of the Jesus Christ Church of Latter Day Saints said this week that the Mormon Helping Hands will be at Kennedy Mine this Saturday, painting the mine house and repairing a guardrail on a bridge.

Supervisor John Plasse also announced the service day, saying the Mormon Helping Hands volunteer day will have about 120 workers of all levels and all stripes. Plasse said last year they painted five buildings at the Amador County Fair Grounds in Plymouth, and this weekend they will be working at the fairgrounds and at Kennedy Mine. He said they will be repainting the mine house building and restoring a railing on a bridge.

Plasse offered kudos to organizations like that, who organize the community service days, and other groups should heed the example.

Supervisor Brian Oneto said the Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints volunteer workday includes everyone from little children to grandparents and everyone in between. He said all ages pitch in to work, and the sharing and atmosphere are less like a workday and more like a family picnic.

Also this weekend, Supervisor Ted Novelli said Senator Ted Gaines will be in town for the dedication of the Ione Veterans Memorial Park on Saturday.

Supervisor Richard Forster said Ione expects to see 500 to 1,000 people at the dedication of the Park, and a memorial to fallen Ione soldier, Private First Class Jay-D Ornsby-Adkins, who was killed on April 28, 2007. A plaque in his honor will be displayed on a monument at the park. Forster said the parade starts at 10:30 a.m., and the dedication is at 11.

Ione plans a full military ceremony, including patriot guard riders, an honor guard, a flyover, a 21-gun salute, and patriotic music, with attendance planned by dignitaries from throughout the county and region.

A Veterans walk is scheduled at 10 a.m. starting at Ione Junior High School and ending at the Veterans Park, which is located at the corner of Main Street and Preston Avenue.

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

Amador County – The 59-year-old Rotary Club of Jackson is planning the 18th annual Mother’s Day Champagne Brunch Buffet May 8th at Thomi’s Banquet Room in Jackson.

Rotarian Pat Crosby said the Brunch began as the Chuck Conner Day brunch, and was an art show for the elementary schools, and “now it’s really expanded in being in Thomi’s.”

He said it will have “fantastic” menu, including a “carving center” with prime rib, roast pork loin and ham. Brunch Chairman Jim Wilmarth of Bank of Amador said Thomi’s Restaurant will cook and serve the food, except for a special treat. Wilmarth said he is “going to be doing a made-to-order omelet bar.” He said some people might like having the “banker doing the cooking for him.”

It’s also a champagne brunch, with mimosas, and every mom that comes will get a fresh carnation. There will also be a raffle, and “Stan lukowicz is our host and will be there in his tux all day.” Frank of Thomi’s provides the room, and his staff will cook and serve the food, and Jackson Rotary members will bus tables as they have in years past, when the Brunch was held at Amador Senior Center.

Jackson Rotary President John Swift said the club did not sponsor the Brunch last year, and Thomi’s had a Mother’s Day Brunch and donated to the club. He said Jackson Rotary is reinstating the Mother’s Day Brunch this year, as a fundraiser for the club’s many causes, including upcoming high school scholarships. Swift said “it should be a better location for us, and a better event.”

He said the club recently donated $500 to the Junior Mustang program, contributes to Amador Life Line, and gives several annual scholarships. He said Ron Floyd of the selection committee reported that the winners had been selected but not yet announced.

Wilmarth said Jackson Rotary gives $7,500 in high school scholarships every year with one given to a student from each of the high schools, including Amador, Argonaut, Independenence and Mountain Oaks Charter. Rotary also gives a music scholarship, and each of the scholarships is $1,500.

The Jackson Rotary Mother’s Day Brunch is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, May 8 at Thomi’s Banquet Room, at 627 South Highway 49 in Jackson.

To purchase tickets, call Jim Wilmarth at Bank of Amador, at (209) 223-7237.

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

Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors directed staff to answer a letter from the California Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday, regarding an evaluation of the county’s the county’s “Certified Unified Program Agency.”

Chairman John Plasse said he wanted to “let them know we’re not just going to roll over” regarding an evaluation Cal-EPA made after a February visit to the Environmental Health Department. Cal-EPA evaluated “whether the Unified Program is being implemented in Amador County in a manner consistent with applicable laws and regulations,” and Supervisors this week discussed a draft letter by Plasse commenting on the evaluation.

Plasse said one comment by Cal-EPA appeared to be personal opinion, rather than legal requirements, and another was a “misleading and false” statement.

Plasse said Deficiency 4 stated that the county does not make unannounced inspections, but it is not a legal “requirement that inspections be unannounced.” Israel said he would “continue to hammer” the state on that issue. Plasse said he thought inspection was to achieve compliance, not to find violation, otherwise it would be an investigation.

In “Deficiency 4,” Cal-EPA wrote that to date, the Board of Supervisors has “not approved any formal enforcement cases and, according to the CUPA, reject any monetary sanctions against serious and/or recalcitrant businesses.”

Plasse wrote that it was misleading because Amador’s Unified Program “has brought no such cases before the Board.” He said it is also false because “Supervisors, both collectively and individually, do not reject the imposition of monetary sanctions against entities regulated under the Unified Program, and have never expressed that opinion.”

Plasse pointed out “Preliminary Corrective Action number 4,” required Amador County to revise its Unified Program by a certain date “to fully implement its enforcement program without interference from the Board of Supervisors.” Plasse said he found it highly inappropriate to have the agency imply that Supervisors were somehow “meddling” in their own Health Department.

Public Health Director Mike Israel said it had been many, many years since a complaint had been received, and it went to a committee, not the full board.

Supervisor Richard Forster asked Israel to check with his team that worked with Cal-EPA and see if they got that idea from them. Supervisors Ted Novelli, Brian Oneto and Louis Boitano also agreed they should find the source of the Cal-EPA’s comments.

Forster said: “Your department needs to be speaking to Cal-EPA with one voice,” and “your analysis needs to determine if Cal-EPA was making statements or if he was given this information.” Forster also demanded removing a reference to legal action.

Supervisors directed Administrative Officer Chuck Iley to revise the letter, review it with Plasse, and send it in a timely manner.

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

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 4-29-11 - TSPN's Tom Slivick sits down with Amador Water Agency Board of Directors President Don Cooper to discuss the Central Amador Water Project service area and the Gravity Supply Line.

Amador County – Amador County Supervisors last week discussed possible trades of its wooden train to the Durango Railroad Historical Society, in exchange for possible relics of the mining industry that were forged in Sutter Creek’s Knight Foundry.

Supervisor Louis Boitano said when the Admin Committee discussed the issue, he wondered if they might have an item in Durango to trade, such as a product made by the Knight Foundry, which in the latter part of the 1800s was a leader in building mining stamps and other mining equipment and shipped it around the country. Boitano said he recently acquired an 1880s “stamp battery.” He invited Niederauer to tour the Knight Foundry, the only operational 19th century forge of its kind in the world.

Supervisor Brian Oneto asked Durango RR Society President George Niederauer if he had “any unique items related to the mining industry” for a possible trade. He said the train would “probably help you more than it would us.”

Niederhauer said the Emma Sweeney, life-sized model train would get thousands of visitors a year. He said a pavilion to house the train is already built. It was made for an engine the Society owns, but after it was refurbished, the engine has been kept inside.

Supervisor Chairman John Plasse said removing the train model would leave a “gaping hole” on the Amador County Historical Society property, and he encouraged Niederauer to look for a trade item. Plasse said “it would not surprise me if there were significant artifacts there that were manufactured right here in Sutter Creek, California.” He said that might include mining or timber industry items, such as a sawmill. Plasse also suggested Niederhauer contact a truck driver he knows who lives in Durango and visits his mother in Amador County.

Supervisor Richard Forster said Knight Foundry’s records could be researched to look at what was made and where it was sent, relative to the Durango area. Boitano, a member of the Knight Foundry Board of Directors, said he has a Knight production catalogue that could help identify items.

Oneto asked if the Durango organization could offer trading material, or “sweeten the pot a little bit,” and raise its offer of a $5,000 donation. Niederhauer said he would have to talk to his board. But he said “it’s going to be a heck of a lot of money for us to go forward,” and he realized “there’s a lot more work to be done” on the Emma Sweeney after seeing the train in person, and a “lot of parts need replacement.”

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

Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors last week discussed donating its wooden, life-sized Emma Sweeney train to a Colorado RR Historical Society, with discussion ranging from logistics of the move to the possible trading of a Mother Lode-area historical object in return.

The model train has been owned by Amador County for 32 years, since its donation, and the Durango Railroad Historical Society requested that the county donate it to their organization. The Durango Society’s president gave a presentation on the link of the fictitious “Emma Sweeney” engine, a copy of a real train engine, the both of which were used to film a movie in Durango. The real engine is now being refurbished for the Colorado Railroad Historical Society, in Golden, Colorado. The Durango organization offered to make a $5,000 donation to the Amador County Museum, to help fill the space where the wooden movie prop train now sits.

Amador Historical Society President Gary Reinoehl wondered if the Emma Sweeney, now labeled the “Amador Cannonball,” was part of a collection, and if the museum needed to handle its donation in a special way. GSA Director John Hopkins said the train was donated in 1979, but is not a part of a collection. Hopkins recommended the board designate it as surplus to make the donation, and he said there was no advantage to offering it for sale or putting it out for bids.

Durango Rail Society president George Niederauer said the society “asks that the county donate it to us just as it was donated to them.” He pledged the cash donation, and said moving the train would be a “substantial cost.”

Amador Museum Curator Georgia Fox said she read his request and “reluctantly agree” to the donation. She incidentally met Niederauer when he was looking at the train last week, and discussed moving it, with dismantling seen as the best approach.

Supervisors also discussed recognition of Amador County for the donation, and Niederauer said a sign would summarize Amador County’s relationship in the history of the Emma Sweeney, while a following book would more thoroughly illustrate Amador County’s role in preserving the engine. That includes the Oct. 25, 1980 dedication of the train by the Amador County Chamber of Commerce, after restoration by the Mule Creek State Prison community.

The train is painted with the name of “Amador Cannonball,” and its fuel car has the name of the Amador Central Railroad, the spur which linked Martell by rail with Ione.

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

Amador County – Ione City Manager Kim Kerr has resigned effective in 90 days and will be the next Amador County political executive to go to work for El Dorado County.

Kerr said today she has accepted the position of Assistant Chief Administrative Officer of El Dorado County. Kerr said she will be working with former Amador County CAO Terry Daly, who now is CAO of El Dorado County.

Kerr’s letter of resignation was accepted during a special City Council meeting Friday. Kerr announced her resignation in a brief statement announcing the agenda packet for Tuesday’s meeting. Kerr wrote that “the City Council announced that they accepted my resignation on a 4-1 vote tonight. I have provided a 90-day notice to the City Council. My last day at work will be July 29.”

Kerr said today that Dan Epperson dissented. She said that she will probably start her new job the week following her last day in Ione.

Her resignation may not have been a shocker to the City Council but they were not expecting it, she said, because she had not given them any indication that she was looking for another job.

Kerr said it is a great opportunity for her to be working for El Dorado County. She said “we’ve accomplished a lot” and she is proud of her work in Ione. She has been City Manager for just under 4 years. July 16th will be 4 years since she started.

She said her accomplishments include the General Plan update, the Master Plan for the wastewater plant, and an update of the city park plan. She said the city under her lead has also rewritten a lot of zoning code, and updated a lot of municipal code.

She said she is not taking any staff with her, as she will be an assistant CAO, and the CAO, Daly, will have the authority to hire. Kerr said: “I’m just the worker bee.”

Kerr said she is hopeful that Ione will get parameters of its wastewater plant in place before she leaves, and that she can get the city moving on that work to keep on schedule for meeting deadlines for its wastewater cease & desist order. She said after she leaves, “if council would like my assistance, I would be available to help.”

At its meeting Tuesday, the Ione City Council will discuss the next step to hire a replacement for Kerr, and in closed session will “talk about what I need to do to get things moving.”

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

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 4-29-11 - TSPN's Tom Slivick sits down with Amador Water Agency Board of Directors President Don Cooper to discuss the Central Amador Water Project service area and the Gravity Supply Line.