Amador County – The Amador County Transportation Commission will get a presentation next week on what 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 less realistic or popular.

ACTC planner and project manager Neil Peacock said the commission “may take action on recommendations regarding the elimination of various alternatives” for the Highway 88 “Pine Grove Improvement Project that have been received to date from the project’s advisory committee”, “as well as issues, related to the project’s next phase.”

Peacock said Monday there were originally 13 alternatives for the road’s improvement, and staff will recommend elimination of 10 of those. The top 3 include the construction of a Northern Bypass, the widening of Highway 88 “Through Town”, or building a new “One-Way Couplet” highway south of town. The One-Way Couplet would convert existing Highway 88 into one west-bound, one-way road through Pine Grove, and then build a new east-bound road, starting just south of Pine Grove, at the foot of the hill.

The “Northern Bypass” option would go partially through the Caltrans maintenance yard, through the ACES transfer station, and part of the Crestview neighborhood. It would cross Volcano Road, pass around the backside of the elementary school, and come out near Mount Zion Road.

The “through town” expansion would widen the road to 4 traffic lanes and a center turn lane. It would be required to be built on an 80-foot right-of-way, measuring 40 feet from the center line of Highway 88 on either side of the road.

In November, the Pine Grove Community Council proposed a 14th alternative, to build both Northern and Southern “one-way couplets,” while leaving existing Highway 88 to become a more, small-town Main Street type of road.

Peacock said Alternative 14 had not yet been evaluated, needed further study and was not part of recommendations for the commission. The proposal will be given the same evaluation as other alternatives. He said building two roads could double the project cost and double the right-of-ways needed.

The project has a limit of $40 million, Peacock said, and “$33 million to $45 million “is the ballpark were looking at right now,” for the three alternatives he will recommend, but they all need more focused analysis.

The public is encouraged to attend and will be given an opportunity to provide further input directly to the commission. The meeting is 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 19 at the County Admin Building, at 810 Court Street in Jackson.

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Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors set its Land Use Committee to work on looking at lifting a moratorium, to the county’s General Plan amendments, to make way, for more work in the mining-related industry.

Planner Susan Grijalva requested “direction to staff regarding, whether to consider the possibility of adding an exception to the county’s moratorium prohibiting the acceptance of applications for general plan amendments”, which are on hold while the General Plan is being updated.

Grijalva said in a staff report that “the highest paying jobs in Amador County are mining related”. At a recent economic development workshop, it was asked if the board might consider amendments “to allow applications that would provide for ‘value added’ product manufacturing and processing operations which utilize the county’s existing natural resources.”

She wanted to consult with General Plan consultants, EDAW, to make sure there are no ramifications to the General Plan update.

Supervisor Ted Novelli asked if there would be a cost to look into the issue, and if so, how much. Grijalva said she was concerned that an amendment could create a “need to redo anything we’ve done in the General Plan so far.”

She said any application would be separate, and “being that they are General Plan amendments as opposed to zoning changes,” it may be different, but she expected applicants would pay for the cost of changes.

Supervisor Brian Oneto asked if they could charge the applicant, if indeed there were costs. Grijalva said she was unsure, but an example would be the cost to rerun a traffic model, which she thought likely, would be a cost to the applicant. She said EDAW has been through this before and would know the answer.

Novelli said he would like to “have the land use committee say, why they want to go forward with this.” Forster said he did not want to hear EDAW say a $3,000 study was needed to look at this feasibility. He said “it doesn’t involve major housing complexes being located in the county. This is something completely different.”

Chairman John Plasse said they should “question but verify” what EDAW says about the situation. He said for the sake of economic development and revitalization, the “government can get out of the way,” in this case, for the “harvesting of natural resources.” He said the self-imposed regulations of the General Plan were passed by the state in 2005, and the county still has not completed the update it began in 2008.

The board voted 5-0 to refer the issue to the land use committee, as Forster motioned, “to let them come up with a recommendation and bring it back to the full board.”

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Amador County – The city of Ione’s requested changes to its city limits and its “Sphere of Influence” will be heard next week by the Amador County Local Agency Formation Commission.

The LAFCO board of directors is scheduled to start the meeting, in part, by selecting its new chairman and vice chair. The board will then consider a resolution to amend Ione’s Sphere of Influence, and open a public hearing on the matter.

Ione proposes a Sphere of Influence amendment to add portions of four parcels and remove a portion of another from its sphere. The resolution says the “addition includes the city’s wastewater treatment plant, the Castle Oaks Water Reclamation Plant, and privately owned properties.” As part of the proposed change, there would be concurrent amendments “to remove the same lands” from the Spheres of Influence of the Amador Fire Protection District, the Amador Resource Conservation District, and County Service Areas 5, 6 and 7.

LAFCO next week will also consider an annexation of just over 33 acres of land into the city of Ione, making up the land that holds the city’s wastewater treatment plant. The property is owned by the city, and also the Fitzgerald and Dutschke parcels.

The agenda notes that the “proposal is exempt from the requirements for notice and hearing.” The city of Ione is lead agency in both the amendment and the annexation. Both were subject of a joint meeting of the Amador County Board of Supervisors and the Ione City Council, who on the LAFCO board’s request came to an agreement about the changes.

The LAFCO announcement said that all people are “invited to testify and submit written comments to the commission,” and if someone challenges a LAFCO board action in court, “you may be limited to issues raised at the public hearing or submitted as written comments prior to the close of the public hearing.”

All material regarding the meeting is available for public review at the LAFCO desk at the Amador County Planning Department.

The meeting is set for 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20 in the supervisors chamber at the county admin building, in Jackson.

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Amador County – Assemblywoman Alyson Huber announced a change in her “mobile office hours” in her second term of office, and she will continue to have a monthly office open in Amador County.

Aide Jennifer Wonnacott announced the change Monday, saying Huber will continue to hold office hours as she did for the past two years, although “details have changed slightly.”

Wonnacott said “with the opening of the Rancho Cordova district office in Sacramento County last year, mobile district offices will only be held in Amador and El Dorado counties now and will occur the same day of each month.”

Huber’s staff will be present at all listed mobile district office hours and “residents are encouraged to bring their questions, ideas and solutions regarding state legislative issues that affect the community.”

The Amador County mobile office day is each second Wednesday of the month, falling this week, on Jan. 12. The office in Amador County is open 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. each second Wednesday, in the Human Resources offices of the Amador County Administration building at 810 Court Street in Jackson.

Huber’s El Dorado Hill mobile office is open 1-2 p.m. also on each second Wednesday of the month. That office is located in the El Dorado Hills Community Services District, in the Parks Conference Room, at the corner of Saint Andrews and Harvard streets.

Wonnacott said if those office hours do not work, constituents can contact one of Huber’s district offices in Lodi or Rancho Cordova to schedule an appointment.

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El Dorado County will host a workshop on preventing the spread of Yellow Starthistle Jan. 28.

The free workshop includes biology, and mechanical, cultural and chemical control methods. Learn techniques specific to controlling Yellow Starthistle in orchard and vineyard settings. Learn to prevent introduction or further spread of Yellow Starthistle and other invasive weeds on property, and protect un-infested and priority or high-value areas.

Registration is recommended, not required. Call (530) 621-5503. The free workshop is 1:30 to 3 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28 at the El Dorado County Admin Building, in Placerville.

Sponsors are the El Dorado County Invasive Weeds Management Group, University of California Cooperative Extension and the El Dorado County Agriculture Department.

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Amador County – The Amador Water Agency has requested public water system customers in the Upcountry of Amador County to voluntarily conserve water until further notice, due to heavy rains having filled up storage pond used by the Buckhorn Water Treatment Plant in Pine Grove.

Agency General Manager Gene Mancebo said in an e-mail to TSPN Thursday that customers along the Highway 88 corridor from Mace Meadow Golf Course down to Pine Grove are being asked to conserve water until further notice.

Mancebo said “recent heavy rains have filled water treatment plant backwash ponds at Mace Meadow to emergency levels, as determined by the Regional Water Quality Control Board.” To prevent the ponds from spilling over into nearby creeks, the agency “is asking for voluntary water conservation by all public water customers of Mace Meadow Mutual Water Company, Rabb Park Community Services District, Pine Grove Community Services District and AWA’s Central Amador Water Project Retail System.”

Mancebo says he doesn’t know how long the voluntary conservation notice will be in effect. He said: “It all depends on the weather,” and “if we get an extended spell of dry weather, there may be an opportunity to get the pond levels down.”

He said “if it continues to rain like it has the past couple of weeks, we’ll have to keep pressing for conservation. We will let customers know as soon as the situation improves.”

The agency gave some simple steps that could help reduce water consumption. If people suspect a water leak, call the AWA at 223-3018. Also, do not use the dishwasher or washing machine until you have a full load.

Another conservation tip is to limit showers to five minutes and turn off water while brushing teeth. People can also shut off all outdoor landscape watering, if they haven’t already done so. People can also protect their outdoor plumbing from freezing to avoid pipe breaks.

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