Amador County – The Amador County Sheriff’s Department on Wednesday announced the arrest of a Volcano couple in relation to a burglary in Pioneer in July, with help from the Nevada County Narcotics Taskforce.

The Amador Sheriff’s Department said Doris Patricia Anderson (also known as Doris Feise) age 45, of Volcano, was arrested Dec. 29 while driving a 1987 BMW that was taken from a home in Pioneer on July 7, 2010. Her estranged husband, Richard Gene Anderson, 46, of Volcano, was also arrested at his home, where a lawn tractor stolen from the Pioneer burglary was found in his possession.

Both Andersons were being held without bail due to charges of probation violation, and both have pending charges related to residential burglary and/or possession of stolen property.

The July 7 burglary of a home in a secluded Pioneer area, included theft of a “significant amount of property,” the Sheriff’s Department said. Items included several firearms, televisions, the lawn tractor, a 1983 Chevrolet pickup and the BMW. No viable suspects were identified at the time.

On Dec. 21, Amador Sheriff’s detectives were contacted by a potential burglary victim in South Carolina, reporting that a home of her recently deceased stepmother may have been burglarized in Volcano. The report included theft of a vehicle.

Also Dec. 21, ACSO detectives “received information from the Nevada County Narcotics Task Force that several suspects from Nevada County were traveling to Amador County for the purpose of burglarizing an unoccupied residence.”

Based on the information from Nevada County, Amador Sheriff’s detectives “were able to link the suspects in Nevada County to the burglarized Volcano home, and a 1987 Mercury Topaz stolen from the same residence.” Further investigation connected the Nevada County suspects, to the BMW stolen from Pioneer in July.

Nevada Narcotics surveillance in Nevada City led to Doris Anderson’s arrest in the BMW, and when arrested, Anderson “was found in possession of credit cards, personal identifying information, documents and records belonging to the deceased Amador County resident.”

Property stolen from Amador County burglaries was later recovered in Grass Valley, and the Mercury Topaz was discovered abandoned in brush, near Ponderosa Way in Volcano.

Amador detectives are in the process of identifying additional stolen property and suspects, and obtaining arrest warrants for specific suspects in both Amador and Nevada counties.

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Amador County – At a workshop Thursday, the Amador Water Agency Board of Directors voted to make slight changes to the agency “Vision Statement,” which was revised by the previous board.

Board President Don Cooper said, part of the revisions still gives him “heartburn,” and that was the part that said, their vision was to “achieve affordable rates.” Cooper said, the board is preparing to ask customers to pay higher rates, “and I think we’re setting ourselves up for criticism”, because “we will raise rates.” He said the term, “affordable rates” does not mean the same thing to individual customers, because what is affordable depends on the finances of each person.

Cooper suggested removing that phrase “affordable rates,” and instead saying that, they wish to “achieve and maintain financial solvency, through responsible planning and management.”

Director Art Toy said his vision was to turn over the operation of the agency, to its professional staff, for the setting of priorities, projects and budgets, and take it out of the hands of the “amateurs.” He also noted that the Vision Statement did not contain a verb. Director Robert Manassero suggested the word “ensure.” And Cooper suggested changing a phrase, saying that they meet the county’s “demands,” to instead say that they, “meet Amador County needs.”

They also suggested and removed the term “transparency” from the Vision Statement, saying it was a catchall phrase, was part of state law, and was also included in the Mission Statement, which was left unchanged.

They voted 5-0 to approve the new Vision Statement, which gave as its purpose: “To ensure long term management of water resources, and systems to meet Amador County needs, and maintain financial solvency, through responsible planning and management.”

Director Paul Molinelli Senior asked about the Mission Statement addressing and protecting the environment, and why that should be included, because it was already “incorporated in law.”

Cooper said it was the duty of the board to “be good stewards of the water,” and it “helps bridge a relationship” between the agency and environmental groups, such as the Foothill Conservancy.

General Manager Gene Mancebo said there are certain laws they need to follow, and there is also a movement, that is not law but that looks toward protecting the watershed. He said “that’s just part of the movement where people are going,” to protect water quality.

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Amador County – The Amador Water Agency Board of Directors discussed its Strategic Plan in a brief workshop Thursday, and set about to study it, in more depth on their own, with a return to another workshop on the issue, possibly in early February.

They discussed some of the issues, and General Manager Gene Mancebo went through a top priorities list, for the various water and wastewater systems.

Director Art Toy asked about the Strategic Plan to “Develop a Replacement Reserves Program,” and why it was listed under a “target date” of 2013-2014.

General Manager Gene Mancebo said it was an analysis of the systems, and their pipelines, tanks, and pump stations, to see the life left in them, and the time left before they had to be replaced. It would set up financial plans, and funds to make replacements.

Mancebo said the original plan was to do the Replacement Reserve Program study internally, but because of limited staff time, and other priorities, it has been deferred. He said it was an inventory of all the infrastructure of the systems, and was a “huge undertaking.” It would determine “what we’re going to do and when we are going to do it.”

Mancebo thought the term “Reserves” was misleading, and Finance Manager Mike Lee suggested they call it “Capital Assets.” Director Gary Thomas said the action should be to “Develop Capital Assets.”

Chairman Don Cooper said the goal was to start to develop the program in 2013. Mancebo said “it will probably take multiple staff people, a couple of years” to complete.

On Cooper’s suggestion, the board agreed to make a deeper individual study of the Strategic Plan, and come back to discuss it with staff, possibly at the Feb. 8 meeting.

Mancebo went over a list of big issues, with potential financial impacts, which staff thinks are important. Engineer Erik Christesen said “it’s not a wish list, it’s things that will come back and bite us a lot more catastrophically.” One was an estimated $900,000 cost, to increase storage for the Buckhorn treatment plant’s backwash, known for a long time but never funded.

Cooper said they have had criticism from the public in the last two years for not assessing equipment or collecting money to replace it. Mancebo said some of the Strategic Plan items had funding, while others would not be funded until they were placed in a financial plan.

The list of top priorities by system included, the Ione and Tanner treatment plant capacities in the Amador Water System; the Gravity Supply Line in Central Amador Water Project Wholesale; CAWP Retail’s distribution pressure and fire flow capacity; Camanche Well 14 rehabilitation and wastewater storage; and wastewater treatment capacity in Martell.

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Amador County – Girl Scouts Cookie Season has officially begun, and will help raise funds and teach future leaders among the 29,000 Girl Scouts in 18 counties of the Sacramento region. Girl Scouts officials said the 2011 cookie selling fundraising season officially begins Jan. 14.

Jennifer Lemos of the “Girl Scouts Heart of Central California,” based in Sacramento, said the annual cookie sales season runs Jan. 14 through to March 20.

The cookies are $4 per box, and this year’s flavors and features include eight different labels. They are: Thin Mints, Carmel deLites, Peanut Butter Patties, Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Shortbread, Lemonades, Thanks-A-Lots, and the newest cookie, Shout Outs, a Belgian-style caramelized cookie.

In another change this year, Lemos said, the Thanks-A-Lots cookies will have a new “green” packaging which “will eliminate 150 tons of paperboard” from the recycling stream.

Girls Scouts was founded 99 years ago, in 1912 and Lemos said it is “still the leading authority on girls’ healthy development, and builds girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place.”

The local council, “Girl Scouts Heart of Central California,” is headquartered in Sacramento and serves nearly 29,000 girls in 18 counties in central California.

Lemos said: “Through Girl Scouting, girls become leaders in their daily lives and prepare for their bright futures.” She said the cookie sales program “provides an important ingredient for leadership by helping girls develop five key skills” of “goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics.”

After paying the licensed baker, all proceeds from the Girl Scout Cookie sales program stay within the local council area to help support troop activities and provide essential services to membership. Lemos said the program is one of the few youth programs in the country that “allows girls to make a decision, on where a portion of the profits are applied.”

For information, go online to girlscoutscc.org.

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Amador County – The Amador County Sheriff’s Department announced the late December arrest of an Amador City man after he allegedly pointed a shotgun in the face of a Jackson man. He was later charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, and also possessing a stolen gun.

Sheriff Martin Ryan’s office issued a release Wednesday saying Michael Shawn Smith, 35, of Jackson, reported going to the house of his ex-wife to check on her welfare because she had been ill. He visited the residence at about 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 30 on Highway 49 in Amador City.

“Smith reported that he was greeted by a Hispanic male,” who “pointed a shotgun at his face.”

Amador County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the home in Amador City, and deputies contacted Smith’s ex-wife, as well as Umberto Valencia, 28, of Amador City. The report said “Valencia denied brandishing a firearm at Smith, but admitted to possessing a shotgun, which was subsequently found hidden in his bedroom closet. The shotgun, a Mossberg pump action .12 gauge, was loaded with four rounds.”

The Sheriff’s Department said a “search of the Automated Firearm System showed the Mossberg shotgun was reported stolen from Modesto,” and “upon further investigation it was determined that Valencia is a convicted felon and as such precluded from possessing firearms.”

“Valencia was arrested and charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm,” the Sheriff’s office said. “Additional investigation is being conducted by sheriff’s detectives “in relation to the allegations that Valencia brandished a firearm at Smith.”

Valencia was booked into the Amador County Jail, where bail was set at $45,000.

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Amador County – The Amador County Unified School District board of trustees will be discussing its makeup Jan. 26, with the idea of moving to a five-member board, from the current seven members.

Superintendent Dick Glock said the board will be taking that up the 26th, and some interesting events have led the board to already have five members, while in the process of applying to make the board smaller.

Glock said Trustee Janelle Redkey resigned to relocate out of Amador County, and then in the previous election, only one person applied for candidacy in Ione, that being Trustee Rose Oneto, for the November election.

Glock said “through strange set of events,” the school board has moved toward “what our waiver request was for this summer,” to drop to a five-member board, with members representing Supervisorial Districts.

Since 2001, the Amador County trustee areas have been along the former school districts in the county, but the district allows everybody in the county to vote on all of the trustees. With the formal change by the state, that will change, so that only people in trustee areas can vote for their trustees. Those will be along the five supervisorial districts.

The current Amador County Unified School District board of Trustees is also the county Office of Education Board of Directors. They are President Wally Upper, and Trustees Mary Walser, Pat Miller, Rose Oneto, and Lynette Lipp.

Lipp was appointed when only one candidate filed for November, leaving a vacancy.

Walser and Upper both are in terms that expire next November, and Miller, Lipp and Oneto all are in terms of office that run through November 2014.

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Amador County – The Sutter Creek Planning Commission on Monday selected its chairman for 2011 as Mike Kirkley, and also selected its Vice Chairman to be Frank Cunha.

Kirkely is the appointee of Mayor Tim Murphy, and Cunha is the appointee of Vice Mayor Linda Rianda. The commission includes Ed Arata (appointed by Jim Swift), Robin Peters (appointed by Sandy Anderson), and Bob Olsen appointed by Gary Wooten.

The commission on Monday discussed and made a preliminary recommendation for a bridge design on the Main Street Bridge that crosses over Sutter Creek near City Hall.

City Manager Sean Rabe said the commission liked the slab bridge idea with a simulated truss on the sides to match the new walking bridge, but with a painted finish, rather than a rust look. Dokken Engineering gave a presentation on the bridge and took direction from the commission, for presentation to the council. Rabe said at least one more public meeting will be held on the issue.

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Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 last week to join the Sustainable Forest Action Coalition, with Supervisors Brian Oneto and Ted Novelli to represent the board and the county.

Recent past Chair Oneto said he brought the issue to the board to ask if it wanted to join, saying it was “a group advocating better use of the forest.”

Supervisor Richard Forster said if they joined and had Oneto or someone else represent the county, they “need to be careful about language they use,” such as using the term “thinning” for management of “forest health to avoid catastrophic wildfires,” instead of “cutting down a bunch of trees.” Oneto said if they don’t reduce fuels, they “will see catastrophic burns, like we have seen time and again.”

Forster said they would get a lot more “buy in” if they frame language a certain way, and he noted a webinar on which Jim Branham wanted and had some “well-connected” environmental groups. Forster said: “I don’t want to be part of a group that is going to inflame the situation.”

Oneto said “it’s a bigger voice,” and he thought it noteworthy that he was supporting joining a group with the word “sustainable” in its title, a word he fought against in past board discussions. He said the coalition has a goal in making prospective members of Senators Boxer and Feinstein.

Plasse asked county consultant John Hofmann to comment on the county’s proposed membership to the coalition. Hofmann said if it was the business side trying to team with legislators, to “see what they can do to manage forests and help rural areas,” then it was a good coalition and worth a look.

Hofmann said if it was trying to “rebuild infrastructure,” to “build another sawmill that cuts 30- or 40- or 50-inch trees,” it was probably not a good coalition to join.

California Forestry Association lobbyist Steve Brink said “we are a member,” and SFAC was formed after the Wally Herger and Tom McClintock wildfire forums, which started with the wildfires of 2008.

Brink said the quarterly SFAC meetings have a lot to do with “active management on forests that are not reserved,” and they are “trying to get Feinstein engaged as well, since she holds the purse stings.” Forster asked about the cost, and Brink said it had no cost and was an all-volunteer organization.

One man in public comment said the best “way to see how a coalition speaks is to be a member of the coalition.” Forster asked for reports from the meetings, and wanted to see some information the coalition sends out.

The coalition next meets Feb. 23 in Sacramento.

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