Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-2-11 - TSPN's Tom Slivick sits down with Dr. Ken Terry of the Community Christian School to discuss the opening of online high school classes at the School.

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-2-11

·       Ione City Manager Kim Kerr resigns to take assistant CAO position at El Dorado County.   

·       Supervisors discussed donating its wooden train to a Colorado RR Historical Society.

·       AWA designated 8 vehicles as surplus property, and will test out new policy to offer trucks for sale first to public agencies.

·       Trade talks show possible links between Durango, Colorado, and Amador County, beyond the Emma Sweeney train.

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-2-11

·       Ione City Manager Kim Kerr resigns to take assistant CAO position at El Dorado County.   

·       Supervisors discussed donating its wooden train to a Colorado RR Historical Society.

·       AWA designated 8 vehicles as surplus property, and will test out new policy to offer trucks for sale first to public agencies.

·       Trade talks show possible links between Durango, Colorado, and Amador County, beyond the Emma Sweeney train.

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-2-11 - TSPN's Tom Slivick sits down with Dr. Ken Terry of the Community Christian School to discuss the opening of online high school classes at the School.

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.”

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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 – 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 – 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 News, TSPN TV News Video, 4-29-11

·       Amador Supervisors respond to a draft letter from California EPA, and its assessment of the County Environmental Health Department.

·       Amador Water Agency cash flow report shows $1.6 million and change.

·       18^th Annual Jackson Rotary Mother’s Day Brunch get a new venue at Thomi’s Banquet Room, May 8.

·       Latter Day Saints to work at Kennedy Mine, Fairgrounds, and full military ceremony will help dedicate the Ione Veterans Memorial Park Saturday.

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.