Amador County – In the wake of the confidential settlement of a civil rights lawsuit by a student, the Amador County Unified School District continues to increase its diversity programs and training.

Alesa Schachter, an attorney for the School District and its Tuolumne Joint Power Authority, said she could not comment directly on the settlement, signed last August and September. She said a confidentiality clause kept her from commenting directly about a part the settlement, which required the School District to put in place a diversity or tolerance program by the year 2011-2012. Schachter said she could provide information in general about tolerance and diversity programs in ACUSD, including past, present and future programs.

Schacter provided a list of diversity and tolerance training programs, including “programs and curriculum beginning in 2010-2011 and beyond.”

It said “Breaking Down the Walls,” which began in April 2008, and “is a powerful, interactive program that creates a unique environment of self reflection and community building.” Staff and students at Amador and Argonaut High Schools and Ione and Jackson Junior High Schools “have already all participated in and completed this training and workshop.”

In April, teachers and district leaders will participate in the Anti-Defamation League’s “A World of Difference Training.” The League in 2010 presented a training program, “Making Diversity Count,” for all high school teachers and administrators, “including Principals, vice principals and counselors.”

A “Tolerance and Acceptance Committee” meets the first Tuesday of each month during the school year, with “at least one representative from each school site, district administrators, parents and other community members.” It is open to all, and will “discuss and disseminate information regarding bullying, tolerance and acceptance” in schools and “how to effectively prevent intolerance, discrimination and bullying.” It will give school sites articles for discussion during staff meetings, to give “real world scenarios they can work through.”

In January was “Anti-Bully Week,” and the district is also in the process of adopting the “Peace Builders” program. There is a plan for “Holocaust Remembrance Day,” Sunday May 1, and the district will encourage sites and teachers to discuss the Holocaust during the week of May 2-6.

In August 2009, teacher Jennifer Norton, a certified trainer with the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C., provided training to the District’s principals for those principals to “work through their start of the year staff meeting discussion on the issues of inclusion, tolerance and cultural diversity.”

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Amador County – Sutter Creek City Council on Monday was to consider a mid-year budget report that showed an increase in revenue enough to fund the city swimming pool, and also pay the city’s share of a county narcotics investigation unit. But it also showed some errors in budgeted spending.

City Manager Sean Rabe in a report to the council dated Monday recommended approval of a resolution to update the city budget for the fiscal year 2010-2011 as of December 2010.

The draft resolution, in part, said “city staff has determined that certain estimated revenues in the General Fund can be increased.” It listed “revenue accounts amounting to $75,951 of increased resources for the fiscal year.” It also said “staff has determined that certain expenditure accounts will be needing additional funding or reductions in funding to conclude the fiscal year.” It showed expense accounts with “$52,487 of net increases.” The amendment would restore funding in the swimming pool program to its original budgeted amount.

Rabe in the report said: “In general, the budget is looking to be in good shape,” and noted “increased revenue projections result in the contingency fund increasing from the budgeted $72,000 to $91,000.” The contingency included his recommended budget restorations of the pool, and also participation in the Amador County Combined Narcotics Enforcement Taskforce.

The council in November transferred “$35,000 from the pool fund to the Police Department to offset the costs of the ACCNET positions, with the understanding that the council would revisit this by the end of February.” The actual cost to Sutter Creek for ACCNET was about $18,000 from December 2010 to June 30, he said.

Rabe said as a result of increased revenue, the city’s portion of the cost “does not need to come from the pool fund.” He said it was also possible the state would reimburse the city for costs associated with ACCNET.

Though increased revenue was “good news,” Rabe said “there is significant concern over a potential property tax reduction of $60,000.” The “issue is still not completely decided yet and involves issues with the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund,” which “frankly puts Amador County in the unenviable position of being a test case for the state.”

“In terms of other revenues,” Rabe said “all other sources are hitting their targets or are performing better than anticipated.” Transient Occupancy Taxes are ahead of budget. He said some expenses are exceeding budgeted amounts, and a majority “stem from erroneous budgeting.” One example was no budgeting of fuel for Public Works vehicles. Other errors included under-budgeting police hours, and “an unrealistic budget assumption” in police overtime.

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Amador County – The Amador County Recreation Agency and the Jackson City Council are taking input from the public on what they want in Jackson in terms of a park or other facilities at the Oro De Amador park property.

The city and ACRA are teaming to get a grant for the revitalization of the park, and ACRA Executive Director Tracey TownerYep said public meetings will be held to take input on the Oro de Amador Property in Jackson. A couple of those sessions are next week.

Towner-Yep said Monday that the “Amador County Recreation Agency and the city of Jackson are applying for grant funding through California State Parks for a new park development in Jackson.” She said the city and ACRA “are currently holding public meetings to get the opinions of Jackson residents to ensure that the park we build is the park that you want.”

City Manager Mike Daly said a couple of city council committees have looked at developing ballparks at Oro De Amador, to supplement Detert Park, the only city ball field. Another idea was interpretive trails, or a trail system connecting the tailing wheels, which could easily connect with the rest of town. Daly said there have been thoughts about a skate park, or an approved aquatic facility, though the latter would require high operational costs.

Daly said the key to the project is grant funding, and ACRA would be lead agency in seeking the highly competitive Proposition 84 recreation grant, through the California Department of Park & Recreation. The grants max out at $5 million.

Oro De Amador Park is a 160-acre property between New York Ranch Road and North Main, which the city acquired in December 2006 for free from Chubb Insurance Company, which acquired it after a real estate foreclosure in the mid-1980s.

Towner-Yep said the “meetings and public input are necessary to qualify for the funding so please help us by coming to a meeting or filling out a survey online.”

Two upcoming meetings are next week. The issue is on the Jackson City Council agenda at their meeting starting 7 p.m. Monday, March 14 at the Jackson Civic Center. ACRA and the city will also host a kiosk outside City Hall from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 19, during Dandelion Days.

People may check the ACRA website or Facebook for more information and more upcoming meeting dates, or they can call (209) 223-6349.

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Amador County – The Amador County Sheriff’s Office is seeking public comments on its proposal for the 2011-2012 State of California Off-Highway Vehicle grant program.

According to state requirements, public comments can submitted from March 8 through April 4.

Sheriff Martin Ryan said in a release Friday that “this year a two-step application process will be required to allow public comment and feedback before final submittal. The preliminary application is due March 7.”

The application submission opened a 30-day public review and comment period. After that will follow the final applications, which are due on Monday, May 2. The State is using an Internet-based “On-Line Grant Application” process as the means to apply for State funding.

The Amador Sheriff’s Office grant application is for law enforcement activities. The preliminary application will be available online by visiting the California State OHV Grants and Cooperative Agreements program website. Hard copies may be requested by contacting Amador County Sheriff’s Sergeant Andrew Mendonsa at (209) 223-6785.

Current State regulations require annual public participation in the fund allocation process. The agreements support Off-Highway Vehicle management activities within the national forest, including operations and maintenance, restoration, law enforcement, education and safety.

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Amador County – Resource Connection seated its new Executive Director George Chimiklis March 1, and he hopes to see the good of his work first hand.

Chimiklis said Monday he was born and raised in Stockton and has spent years working for the Sacramento-based Rural Community Assistance Corporation, helping local rural communities expand their infrastructure.

Chimiklis said he came into the Rural Community Assistance Corporation “as employee number 18 and when I left we had grown into 130.” It was “established when I came along, but I was very much a part of its growth and maturing.”

RCAC helps small communities develop their own infrastructure by developing water and sewer and other special districts, mostly in the four-state area of New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Oregon. It helped organize and set up agencies and train people to run them.

In California, Chimiklis worked with Mercy Housing in Jackson and Amador County on water line or sewer line extensions, about 10 years ago. RCAC did mostly California-based projects in the 1980s then expanded field offices in the four states. Chimiklis first did grant writing and fund development, was an out-of-state field person for three years, and then went into management for nine years.

At Resource Connection, Chimiklis said he “would not put infrastructure out of the discussions,” as affordable housing remains an issue. But he didn’t think Resource Connection “is going to be putting hammer to nail” anytime soon. He said “market dynamics are such that you don’t just go out and build a 40-unit complex.” It must start at a smaller level.

He said Resource Connection programs include Head Start, Early Head Start, Women Infants and Children and a crisis center. It runs a 24-hour intervention hotline, a safe house for escape from abuse, and counseling programs. It operates the Oats Thrift Store in San Andreas, and a food bank and emergency shelter in Calaveras.

Chimiklis said Resource Connection could not operate without its dedicated staff, achieving success with the “outrageous hardships” of economy, making it though the holidays with dozens of donations. He said the Calaveras food bank last year distributed more than 1 million pounds of food.

They don’t just write a check and it is paid by Washington D.C., he said: The “money comes from your neighbors and yourself,” people “doing good things for neighbors and friends.”

Chimiklis said: “It’s great to be here,” and he is often asked why he is here. He said: “It has everything to do with living among the people that we are serving, and seeing the results of what we are doing.” He “never got to see the end result of what we were trying to do” at RCAC, but he expects a different experience at Resource Connection.

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Amador County – The Sutter Creek City Council declared an emergency Monday to start $20,000 in repairs work on a broken sewer pipeline on Karsan Drive, after a sewer spill.

City Manager Sean Rabe showed the council photos of the sewage spill caused by heavy root growth within underground pipes, which were cleared only to clog again a few days later. The photo showed the sewage pooling in the yard of a house on Karsan Drive. He said the spill was contained and cleaned up and the site was sanitized.

Combining to the clog and leak was that there was no manhole for repairs, and the clog was caused by unknown reasons. Pipes in the area are a “mishmash,” Rabe said, made of metal, terra cotta clay and plastic. He asked that the council “declare that an emergency exists due to potential health and safety issues for a sewer line replacement on Oak Court and authorize work to be done to replace the required amount of sewer line.”

He asked for the emergency to sidestep the formal bidding process so repair work could begin 7 a.m. the morning after the council meeting.

In public comment, Mimi Arata asked which city funds would pay for the project. Rabe said the money would come from the “collection system” fund and from the “line replacement” fund.

Rabe said after the original clogging of the sewer line, on Karsan Drive, city staff worked to try to unclog it, and were unable to removed a piece of equipment from the line. Rabe authorized staff to call Amador Mechanical to help with repairs, and they were able to get the wastewater flowing.

The repair clogged again a few days later, and the city crew again tried to unclog the line. “Amador Mechanical was called out again, due to the immediate health and safety issues of sewer leakage.”

Rabe said he and the city sewer engineer recommended the emergency declaration, and also recommended hiring Amador Mechanical to do the work because the “firm has already been involved in the examination of the line and knows what will be involved in the repair.”

A preliminary estimate of the line replacement cost was approximately $20,000, and Rabe said “staff would bring back any additional funding request if the repair goes over the estimate.” The council approved the declaration, and also the hiring of Amador Mechanical.

The work includes making needed replacement of sewer lines, and installing a manhole at the location, as the “pipe has collapsed on itself and there are several lines connecting at one point, without a manhole.”

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Amador County – The Jackson Revitalization Committee meeting was canceled this week to give members the chance to work with the Amador Council of Tourism on the upcoming vacation season.

Jackson City Manager Mike Daly in an e-mail to members said: “This month is another one in which the JRC meeting and the Amador Council of Tourism meeting occur at the same time,” Thursday evening.

Daly said: “The ACT has invited the JRC, as well as members of the Jackson Business and Community Association and the Sutter Creek Business and Professional Association to join them this month as everyone gears up for the 2011 tourism season.”

The ACT meeting is 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 10, at the Holiday Inn Express in Jackson. Daly said “JRC will be canceling its regular March meeting to take advantage of this networking opportunity,” and told JRC members, “you are welcome to join us at the ACT meeting to hear all the exciting plans underway.”

Amador Council of Tourism Executive Director Maureen Funk thanked Holiday Inn Express owner, Atul Patel, “for hosting our first evening meeting of the year. ACT will continue to hold one evening meeting per quarter on second Thursdays in an effort to include our partners, who want to hear more details about what we are doing and cannot attend our morning meetings.” Other meetings are at 9 a.m. each second Thursday.

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Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved $12,500 to the Amador Council of Tourism to finance the building and maintenance of the Amador County fair booth for this year’s California State Fair.

Executive Director Maureen Funk said the exhibit designer and builder will be Richard Bey, who built the fair exhibit last year. After the board’s approval, she showed a mock-up of the fair booth idea, which will have a railroad “speeder” car, without a top, at the center of the design.

At the center will be a map with signage and a video, and other aspects of Amador County will be reflected, including with a display of county wines, a mine head frame and mining car, scale models of the Kennedy Mine head frame and tailing wheel, and snow-covered mountains in the distance. The drawing also showed a camping tent, and a girl on a horse.

Funk was excited about the fact that Amador County will have a corner booth space at this year’s fair. The funding included $10,000 for building the exhibit, and $620 for fair passes and parking passes for volunteers, for the 150 volunteers needed to man the booth through the fair.

It also included $250 for four meetings, and $400 for booth set-up and maintenance.

Funk said part of the approval included the request to show supervisors a “return on investment,” and she planned to do that with a coupon booklet to be handed out at the fair. She said another way to do that would be the incorporation of an Amador Tourism “Smart Phone App.”

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