Amador County – The City Selection Committee was scheduled to meet today to consider approval of appointments or reappointments to the local LAFCO and the ACTC boards of directors.

The Committee’s assignments must be agreed to by the simple majority of the committee. The City Selection Committee is made up of the mayors of the five City Councils in Amador County.

The county’s current sitting Mayors are Aaron Brusatori of Amador City, David Plank of Ione, Connie Gonsalves of Jackson, Greg Baldwin of Plymouth and Tim Murphy of Sutter Creek.

Appointments include the committee’s own chairman, who would serve a one-year term. Another appointment will be to the Amador County Local Agency Formation Commission. The agenda lists the “review and possible recommendation relative to the current membership roster and how it relates to the term of succession policy adopted by the Committee in 2009.”

A third appointment to consider would be to the “Airport Land Use Commission,” and the Committee would review and approval of current membership roster and recommendations for appointments to vacancies.”

A fourth appointment to consider would be for the Amador County Transportation Commission. The Committee will have a “review and possible recommendation relative to the current membership roster and recommendations for appointments of vacancies.” Those include “two city members and one city alternate.”

The Committee could schedule another meeting if needed, to complete the appointments. The City Selection Committee meets at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 19 in Conference Room A of the County Administration Center in Jackson.

ACTC its scheduled to get a presentation later today on what its staff sees as the top 3 proposals for the Highway 88 Improvement Project, and could take action to eliminate 10 other alignments found to be too costly or otherwise less popular.

ACTC staff last week encouraged the public to attend, and the public will be given time to comment directly to the commission about the alternative routes, which will be discussed in detail.

The Highway 88 Pine Grove Improvement meeting is 6 p.m. today, that is, Wednesday, Jan. 19 in the Supervisors Chambers in Jackson.

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Amador County – The Amador Water Agency Board of Directors last week adopted a hiring freeze, and also reduced its own compensation, and removed all of its benefits.

AWA General Manager Gene Mancebo announced the moves in a release last week, saying the actions were part of “ongoing efforts to cut costs to meet reduced revenues.”

Mancebo said the “agency has been operating under an unofficial hiring freeze for two years.” He said the “temporary policy adopted Thursday ,formalizes the policy and aligns the water agency with Amador County government’s hiring freeze.”

The Agency has reduced staff by 20 percent since 2008, “through voluntary and non-voluntary means,” Mancebo said. “These positions are being held vacant, given the current economic and financial conditions facing the Agency.”

Under the new policy, the board will consider any proposal to fill job vacancies, “on a case-by-case basis,” Mancebo said.

“Board members also reduced their own pay and eliminated the directors’ benefit package”.Mancebo says. “The Board approved a maximum compensation for seven meetings per month for directors, down from 10 meetings per month. Reimbursement for the Board president will remain at a maximum of 10 meetings. Directors are paid $119.80 per meeting day.”

The reduction in benefits effectively dropped all health, dental and life insurance coverage for the five directors. District 1 Director Paul Molinelli Senior had already made a campaign commitment to refuse any compensation for his service on the board.

A voluntary water conservation notice remains in effect for AWA public water customers of Mace Meadow, Rabb Park, Pine Grove CSD and AWA’s CAWP Retail.

Recent heavy rains have filled water treatment plant storage ponds at Mace Meadow Golf Course, triggering an emergency contingency plan, as determined by the state.

To prevent the ponds from spilling, the plan requires the AWA to ask for voluntary water conservation.

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Amador County – The Jackson City Council last week took a recommendation from its Sewer Rate Committee to look at options for the city wastewater system.

City Manager Mike Daly said the “main option now is taking some of our effluent and discharging it onto land, whether that is onto ranchland, or storing it until a wetter time of year, when there will be more dilution.”

The Regional Water Quality Control Board has a Basin Plan and “strongly discourages agencies from discharging into intermittent streams or otherwise impaired bodies of water – any bodies of water.”

Because Jackson Creek water is used for a potable water source downstream, after it flows into Lake Amador, the California Department of Public health has been vocal on the permit. Daly said the Buena Vista Road treatment plant for Oaks Community mobile home park near Ione uses the lake’s water for drinking.

Due to that, the city has been required to have a permit to discharge into a waterway, the Jackson Creek, and to renew it every five years. It was last renewed in 2007, and in 2012, Jackson will be required to meet state code which says that the city’s effluent discharge must make up less than 5 percent of the volume of Lake Amador at all times.

“That’s the driving force,” Daly said, looking at options for alternatives. City consultants Stantec, formerly ECO:LOGIC, recommended a preferred alternative in a report last July that would cost $7 million. That prompted formation of the Sewer Rate Committee, which discussed supplemental discharge of raw water into the creek, and “directly piping effluent to Lake Amador, so it doesn’t go into Jackson Creek.”

Jackson also looked into purchasing raw water from the Amador Water Agency and releasing it into the creek to dilute the effluent, but Daly said “there were lot of issues that were identified” by the AWA attorney, and “there appear to be other options that are more affordable.”

He said, assuming the city must cease discharge into the creek, they “must submit a water rights petition, to stop discharging into the creek.” The process has some documentation required by the California Environmental Quality Act requirements associated with that permit request.

Daly said there will be an environmental review of various options that have been proposed, and are under consideration for solving the Jackson “permit situation.”

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Amador County – As Amador County Fair CEO Troy Bowers prepared last week to head to the Western Fairs Association annual convention this week in Reno, he had both bad news and good news.

The bad news was the proposed governor’s budget cut of 100 percent of state fair funding in California. But the good news was the Western Fairs Association has selected another former Amador County Fair director for induction into the Western Fairs Association Hall of Fame.

Bowers said it is a “huge honor for Amador County and for Susie Clark” of Plymouth, who will be inducted into the WFA Hall of Fame this year for her work at the El Dorado County Fair, the Amador County Fair, and the Western Fairs Association.

“She’s unique in that she will join her husband Ralph in the hall of fame,” Bowers said, noting that “they are the only husband and wife team that is in the WFA Hall of Fame.”

They will join Ciro Toma as the third member of the WFA Hall of Fame from Amador County. Bowers said Toma was formerly the only fair director to serve as president of the Western Fairs Association, until this year’s induction of Michael F. Treacy.

Susie Clark, according to the WFA Hall of Fame announcement, “has spent the last 25 years dedicated to the fair industry. She served as the CEO of the El Dorado County Fair, the Redwood Empire Fair and the Amador County Fair,” and “various boards and committees.”

The WFA said her “passion and enthusiasm for the fair industry, along with her innovative business skills, have proved to be extremely effective with individual fairs, committees, boards and the personnel she has taken under her wing.”

With three Amador County Fair inductees, Bowers said “we’re among the elite for sure.” Toma was inducted in the 1980s, and Susie’s husband, Ralph Clark also served as WFA president and was inducted in the late 1990s.

The WFA represents all fairs west of the Mississippi, Bowers said. This year’s other WFA Hall of Fame inductee, Michael F. Treacy, was a longtime CEO of Kern County Fair, and Jackson County Fair. He was also executive director of the Division of Fairs and Expositions, and “worked with other key industry players to acquire the $32 million general fund continuous appropriations for fairs” in California.

That allocation is now being considered for cutting from the state budget proposed by the governor.

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Amador County – The governor’s budget proposal last week included a reported elimination of 100 percent of annual funding for 78 fairs in California, $32 million statewide including a $200,000 allocation to the Amador County Fair,

Troy Bowers, CEO of the Amador County Fair, said Friday that those who would be affected by the cuts include district fairs, considered agricultural state agencies, and also festivals, such as Lodi Grape Festival.

“We know that everybody needs to be part of the solution, and we fairs, we all knew there would be a reduction from the state,” Bowers said. “We all think that a 100 percent reduction is pretty heavy. So obviously, we are in the very early stages of this negotiation, and we’ll see where it goes.”

California Fairs have representation, the Western Fairs Association, “who will be advocating on our behalf,” and negotiating. “We know that there’s a huge need,” Bowers said. “It’s a huge problem and we need to be part of the solution.”

The smaller the fair, generally means the larger the allocation. Amador is ranked a 3 on the size scale of 1-5, with 1 being the smallest.

“Amador County Fair normally gets $200,000 a year from that allocation,” Bower said. “That represents about 25 percent of our operating budget.” He said the “serious reduction” will require a lot of effort, thought, and sacrifice, “but we’re ready for the challenge.”

“We’ll work hard to maintain the Amador County Fair as we all know and love it,” and people should know “there will be an Amador County Fair next year, and in 10 years, and for their children’s children. It may not look like it does this year, but it will still be there.”

Through facility rental year-round, Bowers said the fair generates “about $600,000 of our own, and that stays in the county. Sponsorships are a pretty good part of that too.”

Bowers said: “What I’m so grateful for is that we are not alone here.” The not-for-profit Amador County Fair Foundation is in its third year, and has a “mission to generate funds, through gifts of cash, or property to support the fair.” The Fair will have its third annual Valentines Ball Feb. 12 to support the Fair.

Last Friday, Bowers was headed to the Western Fairs Association’s 88th annual convention, which runs Jan. 16-19 in Reno. He said the “California budget will be topic one,” and “we should know a lot more by the end of the convention.” The convention ends Wednesday.

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