Amador County – The California Department of Transportation this week announced the appointment of a new director for District 10 which covers eight Central Valley counties, including Amador County.

Stockton-based District 10 will now be led by Carrie L. Bowen, who was announced Tuesday as the new District Director. Caltrans public information official Michele Demetras announced the appointment in a release, saying Bowen is the first female director in District 10’s history.

“Bowen has more than 25 years of diverse experience in planning and delivering transportation projects,” Demetras said. “She began her career with Caltrans in 1991 as an associate environmental planner and worked on Fresno County projects, preparing complex environmental documents for a number of new freeways.”

Demetras said Bowen “rose to the position of deputy district director for the Central Region Environmental Division, overseeing Caltrans’ environmental work in 20 counties and staff in four districts.”

Prior to her current post, Bowen was “on loan” for the past 18 months to the California High Speed Rail Authority and served as its Central California Regional Director. She functioned as the focal point, for regional project issues, including resolving high-speed rail concerns with state, regional and local elected officials, as well as planning organizations and the general public.”

In 2005, Demetras said, “Bowen was appointed to the State Center Community College District Bond Oversight committee, where she served until 2009. She was appointed to the California Oil Spill Technical Advisory Committee from 1997 until 2000.” From 1985 to 1991, she served on the staff of then-Assemblyman Jim Costa, advising on a variety of key Central Valley issues, including transportation and high-speed rail.

As District 10 Director, Bowen will oversee “multi-million-dollar capital construction projects within the eight counties comprising the district,” which are Amador, Alpine, Calaveras, Mariposa, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tuolumne Counties. Bowen will also direct maintenance and operations for the district.

Bowen will be responsible for 524 employees and 3,670 miles of State Highway routes in District 10. She will oversee “an annual budget of $74.6 million and $4.5 billion worth of highway construction projects and programs throughout the eight counties.”

Bowen replaces District 10 Interim Director Richard Harmon.

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

Amador County – About a year after it began, the Amador Fire Safe Council, on tuesday will present its Pioneer and Volcano Community Conservation and Wildfire Protection Plan, to the Upcountry community.

Cathy Koos-Breazeal and Jim Simmons of the Amador Fire Safe Council will give, a summary of findings and recommendations of the plan to the Upcountry Community Council Fire Protection Committee Tuesday, with a discussion to follow.

Koos-Breazeal said Friday that the plan began with a public “stakeholder” meeting January 2010, at Amador Pines, and the final meeting will be Tuesday, then the plan will be taken to the Amador County Board of Supervisors. She said the plan already has the support of local and regional agencies, so the “signature page is kind of a formality.”

The Pioneer and Volcano population is probably 5,000 to 8,000 people, Koos-Breazeal said, and Fire Safe Council has been doing stakeholder meetings throughout the last year, at various homeowner association and other group meetings. Meetings have been really well attended, and they “received really good feedback.” Another good aspect, she said, is its “real strong conservation element.”

The county-wide fire plan divided the county into nine units, and “Pioneer/volcano was the most at risk of all those areas in the county.” The plan they put together includes 300 pages, plus maps, and shows neighborhood evacuations, fuel reduction, and other plans, and lists priorities of the work.

Koos-Breazeal said most agencies will not give funding if your plan does not include numbered priorities, for the different fire plan projects. In the Pioneer and Volcano plan, fuel reduction and public education are the top priorities.

A map shows fire hydrants in the area, she said, and there are “not that many in the Upcountry.” Most come from Amador Water Agency systems. A map also shows helicopter landing zones, a few of which are formal heli-pads, while other areas are just designated as “you could land here.”

After the Pioneer and Volcano wildfire plan is completed, the Fire Safe Council will start work on the Pine Grove plan, using further funding from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy.

Koos-Breazeal said the plans are used for planning by fire agencies and the County Planning Department, and are required by federal agencies.

The Upcountry Community Council Fire Protection Committee meeting is 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25, at the Veterans Hall on Buckhorn Ridge Road.

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

Amador County – The Amador Child Abuse Prevention Council plans its third annual “Bowl-A-Thon” March 26, and as of last week about nine spots remain for teams to join.

Program director Robin Valencia said Amador Child Abuse Prevention Council said Friday that 15 teams had signed up and that nine more slots remain open. She said the Child Abuse Prevention Council couldn’t do many of its special services “without the funds raised through our annual Bowl-a-Thon.” The public can join by forming a “five-person team, and collecting a minimum of $250 per team in donations.”

Bowlers get free pizza, soda, and a chance to win prizes. People can also donate a raffle prize or a silent auction item, or become an event sponsor. Valencia said: “One of our council members once commented,” that “we get a lot of bang for our buck,” and “when you look back at our activities for 2010 we hope you will agree.”

She said more than 1,000 community members benefitted from Amador Child Abuse Prevention Council’s free workshops. They hosted eight Child Abuse & Neglect Mandated Reporter Training sessions with 104 attendees. She said more than 200 school faculty and staff were presented information.

The Council held 22 Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention workshops that reached a total of 595 people, including all students in freshmen health classes at Amador and Argonaut high schools. The Council held 11 Digital Safety and Cyber Bullying Prevention workshops, attended by a total of 268 students and parents. And the Council’s 12 Stranger Awareness presentations gave information to 104 children and their parents or guardians since the program was started in July.

Valencia said: “We accomplished all of this with a volunteer Council of community partners, part-time staff, and a whole lot of community support.” Valencia said 120 people participated in the 2010 Bowl-a-Thon, which raised more than $13,000, and donated 194 pounds of “kid-friendly” food to the Inter Faith Food Bank.

Donations have already been received, for prizes and the silent auction, for this year’s Bowl-A-Thon. Prizes gathered so far include a $500 certificate from SunFlower Pro Cleaning, an electric toothbrush from Jackson Creek Dental, two treatments from Amador Acupuncture, a one-night stay at Shenandoah Inn, a case of wine, two sets of books from Volcano Press, and a $25 Raley’s gift card.

To reserve a team lane, call Valencia at 223-5921.

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

Amador County – The Plymouth City Council at its last meeting decided to reject three bids, and re-advertise a well-drilling job, at the city’s wastewater treatment plant. After finding the bids seemingly incomplete, Interim City Manager Jeff Gardner said council members had some issues with the bids, and they agreed to reject them, and place more ads to get a new round of bids.

Public Works Director Selby Beck had recommended the apparent low bid of $10,642 by Hunt Well Drilling on the project, which said the city would be “providing the trenching, backfill, electrical and water line to the panel and tank.”

Gardner said City Hall received three bids, and he “chose the one that looked the most complete.” The well will be used to supplement the wastewater treatment plant on property on Old Sacramento Road. It would supplement a headwater that feeds the new plant, but was found to have flow insufficient to run the plant.

Part of the issue is filling a new 10,000-gallon water tank. The tank is new to the system, which Gardner said is functioning, and gives the city a little bit more capacity. Expansion of the plant is not complete, as Development Director Richard Prima is working with the Regional Water Quality Control Board on trying to get the city’s discharge permit upgraded. The plant is still a secondary-level treating facility, with land application on 200 acres of land.

Gardner said power costs have gone up, and he is looking into solar power for the sewer plant. He has looked at solar applications, and talked to some people about it.

He said the Amador County Fair runs a 35-megawatt solar application on the fairgrounds, and he was told by Pacific Gas & Electric that the city sewer plant would need a solar power application of about the same power output to operate. He planned to talk to Amador County Fair CEO Troy Bowers about the fair’s facility.

Gardner said if they can produce that kind of power on some of the 200 acres at the plant facility, they can “zero out” the cost of energy, which is about 15 percent of the overall cost for the sewer plant’s operation.

Gardner also reported that a water main has been permanently repaired, after it was temporarily repaired Jan. 7. The break affected about one-third of the town, so the city made an appointment to schedule a more permanent repair, at a time when it would least affect customers. The final repair was made a week later.

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

Amador County – About a year after it began, the Amador Fire Safe Council, on tuesday will present its Pioneer and Volcano Community Conservation and Wildfire Protection Plan, to the Upcountry community.

Cathy Koos-Breazeal and Jim Simmons of the Amador Fire Safe Council will give, a summary of findings and recommendations of the plan to the Upcountry Community Council Fire Protection Committee Tuesday, with a discussion to follow.

Koos-Breazeal said Friday that the plan began with a public “stakeholder” meeting January 2010, at Amador Pines, and the final meeting will be Tuesday, then the plan will be taken to the Amador County Board of Supervisors. She said the plan already has the support of local and regional agencies, so the “signature page is kind of a formality.”

The Pioneer and Volcano population is probably 5,000 to 8,000 people, Koos-Breazeal said, and Fire Safe Council has been doing stakeholder meetings throughout the last year, at various homeowner association and other group meetings. Meetings have been really well attended, and they “received really good feedback.” Another good aspect, she said, is its “real strong conservation element.”

The county-wide fire plan divided the county into nine units, and “Pioneer/volcano was the most at risk of all those areas in the county.” The plan they put together includes 300 pages, plus maps, and shows neighborhood evacuations, fuel reduction, and other plans, and lists priorities of the work.

Koos-Breazeal said most agencies will not give funding if your plan does not include numbered priorities, for the different fire plan projects. In the Pioneer and Volcano plan, fuel reduction and public education are the top priorities.

A map shows fire hydrants in the area, she said, and there are “not that many in the Upcountry.” Most come from Amador Water Agency systems. A map also shows helicopter landing zones, a few of which are formal heli-pads, while other areas are just designated as “you could land here.”

After the Pioneer and Volcano wildfire plan is completed, the Fire Safe Council will start work on the Pine Grove plan, using further funding from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy.

Koos-Breazeal said the plans are used for planning by fire agencies and the County Planning Department, and are required by federal agencies.

The Upcountry Community Council Fire Protection Committee meeting is 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25, at the Veterans Hall on Buckhorn Ridge Road.

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

Amador County – The Plymouth City Council at its last meeting decided to reject three bids, and re-advertise a well-drilling job, at the city’s wastewater treatment plant. After finding the bids seemingly incomplete, Interim City Manager Jeff Gardner said council members had some issues with the bids, and they agreed to reject them, and place more ads to get a new round of bids.

Public Works Director Selby Beck had recommended the apparent low bid of $10,642 by Hunt Well Drilling on the project, which said the city would be “providing the trenching, backfill, electrical and water line to the panel and tank.”

Gardner said City Hall received three bids, and he “chose the one that looked the most complete.” The well will be used to supplement the wastewater treatment plant on property on Old Sacramento Road. It would supplement a headwater that feeds the new plant, but was found to have flow insufficient to run the plant.

Part of the issue is filling a new 10,000-gallon water tank. The tank is new to the system, which Gardner said is functioning, and gives the city a little bit more capacity. Expansion of the plant is not complete, as Development Director Richard Prima is working with the Regional Water Quality Control Board on trying to get the city’s discharge permit upgraded. The plant is still a secondary-level treating facility, with land application on 200 acres of land.

Gardner said power costs have gone up, and he is looking into solar power for the sewer plant. He has looked at solar applications, and talked to some people about it.

He said the Amador County Fair runs a 35-megawatt solar application on the fairgrounds, and he was told by Pacific Gas & Electric that the city sewer plant would need a solar power application of about the same power output to operate. He planned to talk to Amador County Fair CEO Troy Bowers about the fair’s facility.

Gardner said if they can produce that kind of power on some of the 200 acres at the plant facility, they can “zero out” the cost of energy, which is about 15 percent of the overall cost for the sewer plant’s operation.

Gardner also reported that a water main has been permanently repaired, after it was temporarily repaired Jan. 7. The break affected about one-third of the town, so the city made an appointment to schedule a more permanent repair, at a time when it would least affect customers. The final repair was made a week later.

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