Amador County – A state audit of 2008-2009 Indian Gaming Special Distribution Funds was released Tuesday, with Amador County among seven counties receiving scrutiny.

Six of seven counties randomly audited, including Amador County, were reported to have problems in distributing the grants. Among those reviewed was tribal gaming funding given by the Jackson Rancheria Casino to the Amador County Sheriff’s Department, through the “county benefit committee,” in the amount of $88,200. The audit report said “Amador County was unable to explain why it awarded the amounts it chose.”

State Auditor Elaine M. Howle’s office conducted the audit of 20 grants distributed in the seven counties, which were chosen, the audit said, for the amount of funding received and for their geographical area. Amador County was the first county audited by the Bureau of State Audits. The audit recommended that “the county auditor review each grant application to ensure a rigorous analysis of a casino’s impact and of the proportion of funding for the project provided by the grant.”

The report recommended that “benefit committees should consider a grant application only when the county auditor certifies that the applicant has quantified the impact of the casino and verifies that the grant funds requested will be proportional to the casino’s impact.”

The report said Riverside and Amador Counties “disagreed with various determinations we made regarding the relationship of casino impacts to the grants their benefit committees awarded.” The report said Amador officials “suggested that the current grant requirements are rigid, unresponsive, and overly prescriptive.”

Amador County Administrative Officer Chuck Iley and Sheriff Martin Ryan both sent letters of comment about the draft audit report in January, and Ryan defended his department’s methods. He noted that in 2008, casino-related sheriff’s department activities, arrests and reports more than doubled all other county statistics, except in traffic citations.

The audit report noted that during fieldwork, the department “initially determined that the Amador County Sheriff’s Department was unable to quantify the impact of the casino for a grant it received.” In later review, the “sheriff’s department provided information that quantified the number of incidents the sheriff’s department indicated were casino related and showed a proportional relationship to the amount of grant funding received.”

The auditors concluded that “a sufficient number of incidents occurred at the location of the casino for us to consider that the impact was proportional to the grant funding.”

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Amador County – The Jackson City Council discussed some of its options for wastewater compliance Monday, and how they might be seen by the Regional Water Quality Control Board.

City Manager Mike Daly said the Sewer Rate Committee reviewed a wide variety of options, and recommended three sewer system upgrade options, plus a fourth “No Option plan,” which he and the Regional Board regulator said were not an option, due to discharge permitting regulations looming over the city.

Daly said Ken Berry proposed an off-stream storage reservoir to store runoff, to be able to release that water later to improve city dilution of its effluent discharged into Jackson Creek. Other options are land application, and Daly said area ranchers were interested in using that irrigation water from the city’s proposed system, which could be used to water livestock grain, or even crops.

Regional Board Regulator Kenneth Landau, attending Monday’s meeting, said federal and state policy and law discourages discharging treated wastewater into creeks and surface water, while with land discharge, you must worry about containment. He noted that a reservoir would still need a land application permit.

Sewer Rate Committee member Thornton Consolo asked about the property owners and when their names and contract details would be made public, in related land acquisition deals. District 1 Supervisor John Plasse, speaking as a “concerned citizen,” asked what property was under consideration for Berry’s reservoir idea.

Daly said it was “roughly on Jones Ranch property,” below French Bar Road and between that road and Jackson Creek. He said city staff had not spoken about the reservoir idea with the Fuller Land Trust group, which owns the land. He had spoken with Busi Ranch owners, who were interested in purchasing effluent to use on the ranch.

Councilman Wayne Garibaldi said he wanted to see the viability of options, and also to see if there were better ways to get funding than “raiding the general fund.”

Committee member Judy Jebian asked why sewer system upgrades had not been made. She said costs estimated in 2003 have now nearly doubled, to about $2.3 million. She said: “I support upgrades and a rate increase to cover it.” She also commended “staff for recommending competitive bids” for the environmental work.

Bill Condrashoff, who wrote a report on which Berry based his idea for an 86 acre-foot reservoir, told the council to beware of a large rate increase. He said a small, 21 percent increase proposed by the Amador Water Agency over three years was blocked by a protest. Condrashoff said they should make sure they base their cost estimates on accurate information.

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Amador County – The California Vaccines for Children Program recently recognized Sutter Amador Hospital Pediatrics Center for outstanding achievement in immunizing children of Amador County and surrounding communities it serves.

Dr. David Stone, director of the Sutter Amador Pediatric Center said “in order to be able to continue to offer this program to our patients, we have to be able to pass with 80 percent. We have received 100 percent the past two years – this is an extremely rare achievement.”

Stone said: “This is a tremendous achievement for our office and a testament to the hard work and commitment shown by our staff and care providers toward maintaining this program.”

Hospital information officer Jody Boetzer said Wednesday that the VFC Program is managed by the California Department of Public Health’s Immunization Branch and is administered at the national level by the U.S. Center for Disease control and Prevention. Enrolled VFC providers, such as Sutter Amador Pediatrics Center, are able to provide routine immunizations to eligible children without high out-of-pocket costs.

“We voluntarily enroll in this program to ensure that all children without insurance receive the vaccinations they need,” Dr. Stone said.

Program requirements include that all VFC providers comply with CDC’s Standards for Pediatric Immunization Practices, including periodical program audits. During Sutter Amador Pediatrics Center’s most recent audit, the state evaluator reviewed 30 patient charts for accuracy of vaccine administration and documentation. They were also reviewed for compliance in areas such as ordering procedures, vaccine storage and handling, program eligibility screening and record keeping.

Boetzer said “Sutter Amador Pediatrics Center did not receive any deficiencies and were commended in several areas including immunizing children on time and according to State law requirements.”

Sutter Amador Pediatrics Center has three board-certified pediatricians and a nurse practitioner who provide comprehensive medical care for children ranging in age from newborns to 18 years of age. The Pediatrics Center is located on the second floor of the Sutter Amador Outpatient Services Center, Suite 2600. For information, call (209) 257-1722.

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

Amador County – The Jackson City Council discussed some of its options for wastewater compliance Monday, and how they might be seen by the Regional Water Quality Control Board.

City Manager Mike Daly said the Sewer Rate Committee reviewed a wide variety of options, and recommended three sewer system upgrade options, plus a fourth “No Option plan,” which he and the Regional Board regulator said were not an option, due to discharge permitting regulations looming over the city.

Daly said Ken Berry proposed an off-stream storage reservoir to store runoff, to be able to release that water later to improve city dilution of its effluent discharged into Jackson Creek. Other options are land application, and Daly said area ranchers were interested in using that irrigation water from the city’s proposed system, which could be used to water livestock grain, or even crops.

Regional Board Regulator Kenneth Landau, attending Monday’s meeting, said federal and state policy and law discourages discharging treated wastewater into creeks and surface water, while with land discharge, you must worry about containment. He noted that a reservoir would still need a land application permit.

Sewer Rate Committee member Thornton Consolo asked about the property owners and when their names and contract details would be made public, in related land acquisition deals. District 1 Supervisor John Plasse, speaking as a “concerned citizen,” asked what property was under consideration for Berry’s reservoir idea.

Daly said it was “roughly on Jones Ranch property,” below French Bar Road and between that road and Jackson Creek. He said city staff had not spoken about the reservoir idea with the Fuller Land Trust group, which owns the land. He had spoken with Busi Ranch owners, who were interested in purchasing effluent to use on the ranch.

Councilman Wayne Garibaldi said he wanted to see the viability of options, and also to see if there were better ways to get funding than “raiding the general fund.”

Committee member Judy Jebian asked why sewer system upgrades had not been made. She said costs estimated in 2003 have now nearly doubled, to about $2.3 million. She said: “I support upgrades and a rate increase to cover it.” She also commended “staff for recommending competitive bids” for the environmental work.

Bill Condrashoff, who wrote a report on which Berry based his idea for an 86 acre-foot reservoir, told the council to beware of a large rate increase. He said a small, 21 percent increase proposed by the Amador Water Agency over three years was blocked by a protest. Condrashoff said they should make sure they base their cost estimates on accurate information.

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

Amador County – A state audit of 2008-2009 Indian Gaming Special Distribution Funds was released Tuesday, with Amador County among seven counties receiving scrutiny.

Six of seven counties randomly audited, including Amador County, were reported to have problems in distributing the grants. Among those reviewed was tribal gaming funding given by the Jackson Rancheria Casino to the Amador County Sheriff’s Department, through the “county benefit committee,” in the amount of $88,200. The audit report said “Amador County was unable to explain why it awarded the amounts it chose.”

State Auditor Elaine M. Howle’s office conducted the audit of 20 grants distributed in the seven counties, which were chosen, the audit said, for the amount of funding received and for their geographical area. Amador County was the first county audited by the Bureau of State Audits. The audit recommended that “the county auditor review each grant application to ensure a rigorous analysis of a casino’s impact and of the proportion of funding for the project provided by the grant.”

The report recommended that “benefit committees should consider a grant application only when the county auditor certifies that the applicant has quantified the impact of the casino and verifies that the grant funds requested will be proportional to the casino’s impact.”

The report said Riverside and Amador Counties “disagreed with various determinations we made regarding the relationship of casino impacts to the grants their benefit committees awarded.” The report said Amador officials “suggested that the current grant requirements are rigid, unresponsive, and overly prescriptive.”

Amador County Administrative Officer Chuck Iley and Sheriff Martin Ryan both sent letters of comment about the draft audit report in January, and Ryan defended his department’s methods. He noted that in 2008, casino-related sheriff’s department activities, arrests and reports more than doubled all other county statistics, except in traffic citations.

The audit report noted that during fieldwork, the department “initially determined that the Amador County Sheriff’s Department was unable to quantify the impact of the casino for a grant it received.” In later review, the “sheriff’s department provided information that quantified the number of incidents the sheriff’s department indicated were casino related and showed a proportional relationship to the amount of grant funding received.”

The auditors concluded that “a sufficient number of incidents occurred at the location of the casino for us to consider that the impact was proportional to the grant funding.”

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Amador County – Law enforcement agencies regularly join forces at the Preston Youth Correctional Facility in Ione and Saturday was no different, despite a looming threat of closure of the facility.

Ione Police Chief Michael L. Johnson said Monday that “law enforcement efforts continue on the state grounds in the spirit of helping protect the community and maintaining the long standing professionalism at the institution.”

Regular partners, the Ione Police Department, Amador County Combined Narcotics Enforcement Team, and the Preston Tactical Team collectively organized a visitor search detail Saturday “to intercept illegal drugs, contraband, and address other violations occurring on the state property,” Johnson said.

Preston, like other California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation facilities, is tasked with responsibilities of keeping drugs and other contraband from entering their facility, Johnson said. “The task requires diligence in the correctional officers’ efforts to screen, interview, search, and always keep a watchful eye on both the wards and the incoming visitors.”

The grounds are clearly posted with signs warning visitors that all entries on the property are subject to search of their person, vehicle, and personal property. At random times and dates each year, law enforcement details are organized to search all incoming vehicle and people as a matter of compliance checks to maintain the integrity of the institution, Johnson said. The combined agency effort is a “no tolerance” approach to those who attempt to introduce prohibited items into the facility via visitation.

Johnson said in total on Saturday, “two adults were arrested for being under the influence and in possession of methamphetamine, three vehicles were towed, marijuana was seized, drug paraphernalia was discovered and a Taser was confiscated.” He said in addition, “suspended and unlicensed drivers were cited, gang intelligence was intercepted, and several of the visitations were cancelled due to administrative action pursuant to discoveries in the searches.”

Johnson said Ione police drug enforcement agents of the county Combined Narcotics team typically “provide support to the operation by handling the criminal matters that are discovered during the searches.” IPD’s narcotics detection K-9 “Hawke” conducts numerous vehicle searches and locates concealed drugs.

“The operation was a success and a tribute to the Preston facility and staff,” Johnson said, and even as “personnel at the facility are working under the duress of displacement, layoffs, and for some, termination of employment, the dedication and commitment to duty was without flaw.”

He said the “Ione Community is grateful for their contributions.”

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