Amador County – Plymouth City Council and Planning Commission last week discussed the status and details of two housing developments in an information workshop.

City consultant Richard Prima said developers Reeder/Sutherland have finished the Environmental Impact Reports for its Zinfandel and Shenandoah Ridge residential subdivisions. He said the city has “comments from agencies and we’re working on responses to those.”

Prima is working on 13 pages of “Conditions of Approval,” which are so lengthy due to a lack of recent history of development and construction details in the city, due to a moratorium. He said they must document conditions being approved, and should get design guidelines to serve as zoning because the area to be annexed is not currently zoned by the city. A “development agreement” also must be approved.

Part of the process will be establishing an assessment district, or Community Facilities District to fund infrastructure. Bob Reeder, partner of Reeder/Sutherland, said with the wide spread of homes, they are “looking at a cost per lot to us somewhere around $100,000 per lot,” for infrastructure.

Reeder and Stefan Horstschraer showed design methods to preserve “tree canopy” with homes plotted using a hand-held Global Positioning System unit while on the property. He said they intend to have 2,000- to 3,000-square-foot homes on lots of one-quarter acre, up to a full acre in size. The average lot size is one-third of an acre, in Zinfandel, with 360 homes planned on 365 acres, and 140 acres of open space, Horstschraer said.

Reeder said phasing was market driven, developers are realistic, and “there’s going to be a limit to the number of homes you can sell, even in a good market.” He said they “do not need the prices to come back to the peak of 2005.” He said: “I got very nervous when prices got that high, because I didn’t think it could last.”

He said it was optimistic to hope to start building in two years, and he cited Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as looking for a 10 percent recovery to show the housing market was “really back on its feet.”

Mayor Greg Baldwin asked about home design standards, and if these would change if the subdivisions are sold. Prima said design guidelines in the project will be imbedded in building standards.

Asked about agricultural buffer zones, and Horstschraer said: “We started our discussion with neighboring agricultural owners well before the General Plan,” and all but one owner has made an agreement on buffers. The one hold-out is developers JTS Properties.

Councilwoman Sandy Kyles asked if the council would hold separate public hearings on the projects, and Councilman Jon Colburn said the attorney has recommended that they be kept separate.

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Amador County – A bill first introduced last year by Congressman Dan Lungren was approved and sent forth from the Ways & Means Committee last week, and with 270 supporters in the House of Representatives, potentially moving it closer to final approval.

Senior Field Representative Robert Ehlert announced in an e-mail Thursday that the bill is “poised for passage.”

The bill, which would repeal part of the Health Care Reform Bill, and repeal legislation that requires 1099 tax filings with the Internal Revenue Service by businesses and non-profit organizations for purchases of good or services in amounts larger than $600.

Last Thursday (Feb. 17), the Committee on Ways and Means approved the bill introduced by Congressman Dan Lungren (R-CA). The bill is titled: “H.R. 4 – The Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011.” The bill was first submitted last year, then resubmitted again this session, after growing support, including support from Democrats.

Ehlert said the “bill will repeal the burdensome 1099 reporting provision enacted in 2010,” and he issued a statement from Lungren upon his “hearing the news that his bill was one step closer to final passage.”

Lungren said: “I was pleased to hear the Ways & Means Committee swiftly marked up my bill and brought it closer to a vote in Congress. Burdening small businesses, who are the real job creators of our economy, with additional tax filing requirements, hinders growth.”

He said: “When I introduced this bill last year, I wanted to remove roadblocks so entrepreneurs could worry about growing their business not keeping their heads above water. Today was a victory. Momentum for passing this bill is on our side.”

Ehlert said Lungren’s bill “repeals the onerous new Form 1099 information reporting requirements that were imposed on small businesses to help pay for the Democrats’ Health Care bill.” He said more than 175 organizations and small businesses support the 1099 repeal.

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Amador County – About 40 people attended an economic forum in Plymouth last week, with the state director of USDA Rural Development as the top guest.

Plymouth Interim City Manager Jeff Gardner said Dr. Glenda Humiston presented findings of a series of statewide forums on rural development held across California in 2010.

Gardner said the crowd included different organizations, talked about resources and ways to collaborate at county and city levels.

Humiston pointed out one big thing about the USDA is its widespread geography over which it must preside. She said California has 13 regional offices in its 58 counties. A comparable area in southeastern United States, in the same square mileage, has 400 counties and 400 field offices.

Gardner said money is allocated accordingly, and “it is hard for Congress to get their head around the fact that we need stuff out here in California,” and in Amador County, which is still classified as a rural county.

He said Humiston is looking at how money is spent and trying to turn it around. There is money for large urban areas and for very poor rural areas, but that leaves out rural areas of 20,000 to 30,000 population, like Amador County, which kind of fall through the cracks and miss out on funding.

Gardner said the meeting gave good information, and helped get people in the room talking to each other, exchanging cards, and looking for ways to interact and work together.

Humiston said the forums last year showed a common problem in rural areas, that a lot of time and resources are spent, and in many cases, those efforts are being doubled, and tripled sometimes around a county.

Humiston said USDA is opening a regional center in Livingston with state-wide, and federal resources to help drive a regional concept and approach to attack problems. The Livingston office opens Feb. 25.

Gardner said the report had innovative information on agricultural economics aimed at rural areas, developing resources, production, technology, small mobile meat processors, aggregate sites and shipping hubs for small farmers.

Gardner said he found it very informative, and a lot of people who don’t spend a lot time talking to each other listened to people. There was a lot interaction of people talking about ways they can interact and help each other with common goals.

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El Dorado County – El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department announced discovery of nearly 250 roosters in a cockfighting operation in Garden Valley, and the arrest of two men.

El Dorado County Sheriff’s Spokesman Bryan Golmitz said deputies stopped a vehicle for minor traffic violation about 3:30 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 13 in Diamond Springs. Deputies noticed “a box in the rear of the pick-up, which appeared suspicious to them.”

Golmitz said: “Deputies inspected the box and located two roosters inside. Both roosters appeared to have incurred injuries consistent with cock fighting.” A vehicle search revealed several “slashers,” used in fighting roosters.

The driver, Saul Cuevas Ayala, and passenger Rogelio Reyes-Higareda, were arrested for possession of bird fighting equipment, possession of a fighting game cock and conspiracy. Both were booked into El Dorado County Jail. ¶ At 1 p.m. that day, deputies and El Dorado County Animal Services served a search warrant at the Ayala residence at 4325 Brush Bunny Lane in Garden Valley. During service of the warrant, several items related to cockfighting were located and collected as evidence.

Nearly 250 fighting game birds were found at the residence in Garden Valley, and all were euthanized. Investigators found the birds with fighting implements, and other evidence of cockfighting.

El Dorado Animal Services Chief Henry Brzezinski said it appeared to be “a significant operation,” and “typically, large amounts of money, drugs and weapons are involved in cockfighting matches.”

He said there “are also often other crimes and violence associated with these activities,” and it is “definitely a situation we want to address if we suspect it is happening.”

Cockfighting is illegal in the United States, and is a misdemeanor in California, with penalties including jail and/or fines up to $5,000 for a first offense, and $25,000 for a second offense. Brzezinski said states surrounding California consider cockfighting a felony, and “this may be one of the reasons why we are seeing more cockfighting operations here.”

Brzezinski said “hidden cockfighting operations” are “more common than most people realize.” He said the birds are “bred” to be “aggressive by injecting them with powerful chemicals, stimulants and hormones, and by subjecting them to inhumane training methods.” Before fighting, a “slasher” knife “is attached to one of the legs of each rooster and the birds are taunted into fighting one another until one usually dies from its injuries.”

None of the birds connected with the Feb. 13 raid could be saved, Brzezinski said. “The birds were humanely euthanized because they were either in bad shape physically or their behavior was too aggressive for them to be rehabilitated.”

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Sacramento – Millions of Girl Scout Cookies will flow into the Sacramento region Saturday during a “Girl Scout Cookie Mega Drop,” in anticipation of storefront sales beginning soon.

Jennifer Lemos of the Girl Scouts Heart of Central California regional district said the Girl Scouts will distribute a cool million boxes of cookies from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Cal Expo in Sacramento.

Lemos said semi-trucks full of Girl Scout Cookies will be for sale after the one-time mass distribution of cookies to local Scouts, and thousands of troop leaders will drive down a giant assembly line to fill their vehicles with cases of cookies. In the past, troop leaders have resorted to U-Hauls, trailers, even an old ambulance, creating a convoy to fill orders.

Regional sale director Helen Whitelaw said 958 pickups are scheduled, with close to 2,000 vehicles expected, and a crew of 500 volunteers will load vehicles, direct traffic and count cookies. The event is not open to the public, but afterward Girl Scouts will sell cookies in front of local stores, from Feb. 25 until March 20.

The local American Red Cross chapter will set up a kitchen to prepare food for Mega Drop volunteers through the day, using it as a training exercise for disaster volunteers.

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Amador County – The Amador County Recreation Agency plans its “Lonely Heart’s Club Disc Golf Tournament” Sunday, Feb. 20 at Mollie Joyce Park Disc Golf Course in Pioneer. The tournament is four rounds of nine holes, with a shotgun start at 9 a.m., and is a fundraiser for the disc golf course. ACRA program director Matt Nestor announced earlier this month that the agency will be getting four more new baskets, thanks to Steve and Karen Jackowski, Kip Taylor and participants in last month’s tourney. The event is “rain or shine,” though forecasts call for mostly sunny skies Sunday, with a 20 percent chance of rain. The park is on Woodfern Drive, off Carson Drive, in Pioneer. For information, call (209) 223-6349.

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Amador County – A State audit of Indian Gaming Special Distribution Funds released Tuesday pointed out problems in Amador County’s methods.

State Auditor Elaine M. Howle’s office reviewed tribal gaming grants received in fiscal year 2008-2009, and recommended Amador County make changes in how its benefit committees take action, and how the actions are recorded. The report said Amador County agencies had received 10 grants totaling $616,000 from the Jackson Rancheria Casino as of 2009.

The audit noted a California Gambling Control Commission reported that Indian tribes operated almost 65,000 slot machines in June 2010, and the National Indian Gaming Commission said “revenues from Indian gaming in California and Northern Nevada grew from $2.9 billion in 2001 to $7 billion in 2009.

The gaming special distribution fund allows disbursement of funds by tribes that have slot machines that predate state compact laws. Funds are placed into a county tribal account. The report showed Amador County has between 1,000 and 2,000 slot machines, and received up to $1 million in the county tribal casino account.

The report said Amador County Counsel Martha Shaver explained that Amador County’s grant award process differs from other counties “in that the applications are submitted directly to the chief executive officer of the local casino but are then reviewed by the benefit committee for selection prior to receiving tribal sponsorship.” That was unlike other counties, where tribal sponsorship seemed to determine grant awards. The audit said the “grant application also describes this process,” but “the county did not provide any meeting minutes or written procedures demonstrating how the applications were reviewed and processed.”

A “nexus set-aside” discrepancy was also noted, where $65,000 was set aside for Sutter Creek, “but the city was awarded only $31,000.” The audit said “Amador County set-asides were not documented.”

Amador was one of two counties where the benefit committees did not have “conflict of interest codes that meet the requirements of the Political Reform Act.”

The audit noted that the “benefit committee in Amador County provided a document with a conflict of interest code that meets the requirements of the Political Reform Act.” The County Clerk’s office reported the change “was on the benefit committee’s agenda for a meeting held less than a month before the 2009 filing deadline for statements of economic interests but there is no record that the code received approval.” Committee member filings were made, but two were late.

Howle’s report included a Jan. 19 letter from Amador County Administrative Officer Chuck Iley, who said the county “found the information provided to be useful and will use it in subsequent rounds of funding.”

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Amador County – A joint session of the Plymouth City Council and Planning Commission heard the latest news on the status of two residential developments in the city, which optimistically could be two years away from starting, and 10 years away from completion.

Bob Reeder of Reeder/Sutherland said that was the “goal,” to build out the two projects, with 485 homes, in 10 years, but they are fastened in the reality of the economy and housing market.

Stefan Horstschraer, partner with Reeder, said “our plan as it is today is to start building in 2013,” with work to begin first on the 370-home Zinfandel Subdivision, and two years later, the start of the Shenandoah Ridge Subdivision, with another 115 homes. The developers showed the rough sketch of the 10-phase Zinfandel, and the four-phase Shenandoah, and answered questions from the council and commissioners.

Councilman Jon Colburn said “we have been told previously that there would be a specific fiscal analysis of this,” and he asked about the status of that. City engineering consultant Richard Prima said it was not a document to approve separately, but would be a part of the development agreement and conditions of approval, both being looked at by Prima, and Interim City Manager Jeff Gardner.

Colburn said the analysis should show that the projects are not impacting current residents. Prima said it could be five years before they see any building, and it would be better to set up the mechanism for making that analysis, then get the actual numbers closer to the start of building, so costs are current, as opposed to five years old. He said “the developer has to agree with the city to do that.”

Colburn said City Attorney Mike Dean was scheduled to speak with the council next week about development agreements.

Prima said a chart of infrastructure phasing was one of the exhibits form the development plan, which may change, but which discloses the intent of phasing.

Stefan Horstschraer said it is all somewhat reality based and market driven,” and as Planning Commissioner Melvin Cossairt had said at the last public meeting, somewhat “Utopian” in its goal. He said the last market analysis was in 2009.

Reeder said: “That’s our goal to build out in 10 years.” He said: “A market analysis based on today’s market wouldn’t mean anything.”

He said: “Right now, the market analysis would say simply: Don’t start.”

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Amador County – A new state law requires all California public and private school students in seventh to 12th grades to be immunized against pertussis, commonly known as “Whooping Cough,” before they start school this fall.

Amador County Unified School District officials expect this to impact at least 2,000 students within the district. Amador County Public Health and Sutter Amador Hospital advise parents and guardians to contact their primary care provider now to “avoid the rush” since the law takes effect on July 1.

County Public Health announced the requirement Thursday, saying “state lawmakers passed the new policy after California experienced the highest increase in Whooping Cough cases since 1947. Last year, 10 infants died from the disease and more than 8,600 people were infected in the state.

The new immunization requirement can be met if the child receives one dose of the Tdap “tetanus/pertussis” vaccine on or after their 7th birthday.

Amador County Health Officer Dr. Robert Hartmann said the health department expects “the number of students who will need a pertussis vaccine this year to be much greater than previous years,” and he urged people not to wait. He said: “Ask your healthcare provider to vaccinate your child now and take the documentation to your school before the end of the school year.”

All students entering 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th grades – current, new, and transfers – in public and private schools will need to show proof of the vaccination before starting school in August. A copy of the immunization verification form can be found on the Amador County Public Health website.

Dr. David Stone, a pediatrician at Sutter Amador Hospital said: “Re-immunizing your loved one this year will not only protect your child but also scores of infants in the community who do not have the ability to fight off this very serious infection.”

Amador County Public Health officials have confirmed four new whooping cough cases reported in the county in early February. Pertussis is a lung infection that causes severe coughing fits, can have symptoms last for months and can be fatal, especially in young infants.

The immunity received in early childhood wears off over time, leaving older students and adults unprotected. Immunization with Tdap can protect students, schools and communities against whooping cough.

The child’s primary health care provider is the best resource to receive and document the pertussis vaccine. Other resources in the community include Amador County Public Health and some local pharmacies.

For clinic information call 223-6407.

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