Amador County – Amador Pines Subdivision reported about 600 homes without power Tuesday, where at least 25 power lines were down, while one utility crew worked to make repairs.

Jack Magee, a member of the Amador Pines Homeowners Association board, said “its going to take a couple of weeks or more crews” to get power restored at Amador Pines.

PG&E crews are scattered all over the Sierras, and one PG&E crew is working in Amador Pines, where Magee said about 25 power lines are on the ground.

PG&E’s hotline and local crews, and CDF working at the bottom of East Inspiration Drive, all were surprised to learn there were more than one line down at Amador Pines. Magee directed CDF to five more on a street they were working at.

He said: “It’s amazing how strong these wires are.” The “snow seems to be so wet that it’s hanging in the trees, and the trees are just collapsing under the weight.” His wife was nearly hit by a 15-inch diameter tree that fell in the back yard and “missed her by an inch,” when she was getting firewood.

Some of the trees are heavy enough to take the power lines all the way to the ground, some are just hanging there, and some are big enough to snap the poles. He said they have lost four or five power poles along Amador Pines’ 26 miles of roads. The area has about 600 homes, and all of them are out of power.

Magee is a volunteer snow plow operator for Amador Pines Homeowners Association, and is Maintenance Chairman and Snow Plow Chairman. He said: “I’ve got 5 snow plows running pretty much around the clock.”

His power has been out for 3 days, but like many in the subdivision, he has a gasoline generator.

Some have propane generators, like his neighbor, who ran out of fuel and was leaving to stay in a hotel Tuesday, as another storm was expected.

Kamps Propane may deliver and “roads are clear, so they could get in here, but if there is a wire in the middle of the road, that’s all the farther they are going to go.”

He told his plowing crew that when they “see a wire on the road, back up and go another direction.” If the plow runs over the wire, there is a chance it could pick up the wire, and pull down a pole, he said. “And on electricity wires, you don’t assume that they are dead.”

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

Amador County – Authorities in Amador County have been inundated with emergency calls this week, as a snow storm dropped power lines around the upcountry.

On Monday, power lines were down on New York Ranch Road, and 200 feet of power lines were down in the 900 block of Evergreen Drive, and Highway 88 was closed between Meadow Drive and Sugar Pine Drive because of power lines being down. Another line was down in the 26000 block of Woodland Road. Power lines were also reported down across a roadway in the 2000 block of Pardee Drive.

A citizen’s assist was requested on Carson Street due to snow, with the residents asking to be aided to “get to warmer climate, otherwise it might turn into a medical issue.” A possible structure fire in the 1000 block of Moran Road turned out to be a tree fire.

At 11:22 a.m. Monday, a vehicle reportedly went over an embankment at Coal Mine Road and Reservation Road in Jackson Valley. A blue pickup truck was reported to have crashed into a tree on Highway 88, east of Shake Ridge Road.

At about 3:42 p.m., an 8-inch tree was reported to be laying across power lines on Highway 88, east of Dew Drop, and blocking one lane of the highway. It was hanging to about 10 feet off the roadway. CHP closed the highway at 4 p.m., diverting traffic through Inspiration Drive to Dew Drop.

On Tuesday (November 23rd), a car overturned with a person possibly trapped in a vehicle rollover. The accident was reported at 10:13 a.m., and responders found a single vehicle in the ditch, but did not report finding any occupants.

On Wednesday morning (November 24th) Highway 88 remains open, but chains are required on all vehicles except for four-wheel-drive vehicles with snow tires from Dew Drop in Amador County to 3.5 miles east of Woodfords in Alpine County.

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

Amador County – Authorities in Amador County have been inundated with emergency calls this week, as a snow storm dropped power lines around the upcountry.

On Monday, power lines were down on New York Ranch Road, and 200 feet of power lines were down in the 900 block of Evergreen Drive, and Highway 88 was closed between Meadow Drive and Sugar Pine Drive because of power lines being down. Another line was down in the 26000 block of Woodland Road. Power lines were also reported down across a roadway in the 2000 block of Pardee Drive.

A citizen’s assist was requested on Carson Street due to snow, with the residents asking to be aided to “get to warmer climate, otherwise it might turn into a medical issue.” A possible structure fire in the 1000 block of Moran Road turned out to be a tree fire.

At 11:22 a.m. Monday, a vehicle reportedly went over an embankment at Coal Mine Road and Reservation Road in Jackson Valley. A blue pickup truck was reported to have crashed into a tree on Highway 88, east of Shake Ridge Road.

At about 3:42 p.m., an 8-inch tree was reported to be laying across power lines on Highway 88, east of Dew Drop, and blocking one lane of the highway. It was hanging to about 10 feet off the roadway. CHP closed the highway at 4 p.m., diverting traffic through Inspiration Drive to Dew Drop.

On Tuesday (November 23rd), a car overturned with a person possibly trapped in a vehicle rollover. The accident was reported at 10:13 a.m., and responders found a single vehicle in the ditch, but did not report finding any occupants.

On Wednesday morning (November 24th) Highway 88 remains open, but chains are required on all vehicles except for four-wheel-drive vehicles with snow tires from Dew Drop in Amador County to 3.5 miles east of Woodfords in Alpine County.

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

Amador County – Amador Pines Subdivision reported about 600 homes without power Tuesday, where at least 25 power lines were down, while one utility crew worked to make repairs.

Jack Magee, a member of the Amador Pines Homeowners Association board, said “its going to take a couple of weeks or more crews” to get power restored at Amador Pines.

PG&E crews are scattered all over the Sierras, and one PG&E crew is working in Amador Pines, where Magee said about 25 power lines are on the ground.

PG&E’s hotline and local crews, and CDF working at the bottom of East Inspiration Drive, all were surprised to learn there were more than one line down at Amador Pines. Magee directed CDF to five more on a street they were working at.

He said: “It’s amazing how strong these wires are.” The “snow seems to be so wet that it’s hanging in the trees, and the trees are just collapsing under the weight.” His wife was nearly hit by a 15-inch diameter tree that fell in the back yard and “missed her by an inch,” when she was getting firewood.

Some of the trees are heavy enough to take the power lines all the way to the ground, some are just hanging there, and some are big enough to snap the poles. He said they have lost four or five power poles along Amador Pines’ 26 miles of roads. The area has about 600 homes, and all of them are out of power.

Magee is a volunteer snow plow operator for Amador Pines Homeowners Association, and is Maintenance Chairman and Snow Plow Chairman. He said: “I’ve got 5 snow plows running pretty much around the clock.”

His power has been out for 3 days, but like many in the subdivision, he has a gasoline generator.

Some have propane generators, like his neighbor, who ran out of fuel and was leaving to stay in a hotel Tuesday, as another storm was expected.

Kamps Propane may deliver and “roads are clear, so they could get in here, but if there is a wire in the middle of the road, that’s all the farther they are going to go.”

He told his plowing crew that when they “see a wire on the road, back up and go another direction.” If the plow runs over the wire, there is a chance it could pick up the wire, and pull down a pole, he said. “And on electricity wires, you don’t assume that they are dead.”

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

Amador County – October home sales dropped throughout the region in October, but Amador managed to remain the only county not to go negative.

In total, 45 home sales were made during the month in Amador County, while sales in the rest of the Sacramento-area remained at there lowest levels since the mid-1990s. The data was provided by La Jolla-based researcher MDA DataQuick.

In the region’s largest market, Sacramento County, sales fell 23.3 percent compared to one year ago. Excluding Amador County, the remaining four counties in the Sacramento region saw sales decline 22 percent in October, with the median home price falling 4.3 percent to $180,000.

Statewide, existing home sales dropped by 19.6 percent while home prices rose 2.3 percent to $304,220.

The sales decline is being blamed on a weak economy and lack of jobs.

“We’re really seeing two different housing markets - one at the lower-end driven by first-time buyers and investors, which is keeping prices stable, and one with nostalgic sellers who set unrealistic asking prices,” said California Association of Realtors vice president and chief economist Leslie Appleton-Young in a report released Tuesday. “Sellers need to consider current market conditions when pricing their home in order to facilitate a shorter time on the market.”

The Sacramento-area has been one of the most difficult markets in the country. Since October 2009, it has seen the third-largest drop in home prices in the state.

Nationally, the National Association of Realtors reported that the number of homes sold fell 2.2 percent from September to an annual rate of 4.43 million. The rate was down 25.9 percent from 12 months earlier.

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

Amador County – Ione City Council last week discussed changes it faces to lift a cease and desist order on its wastewater treatment plant.

City Attorney Kristen Castanos said the city received an OK from the Regional Water Quality Control Board in October 2009 for its solution to fill in 200 feet of storage Ponds 5 and 6, moving the ponds 200 feet from Sutter Creek.

Castanos said last October, filling in the ponds was OK’d as a solution to address possible seepage, but “now, the Regional Board has changed their minds.”

Dominic Atlan of Castle Oaks said it is “almost getting ridiculous” and “it costs us money.” A year ago, Castle Oaks Golf Course was OK’d to put linings it its storage ponds, but “now it’s not OK,” he said.

Atlan said “a duck can go in there and urinate and then it can be mistaken for effluent.” People laughed, but Atlan said: “I know it sounds funny, but it isn’t. It’s true.” He said the problem was “not our experts and staff,” but the Regional Board.

Councilman Jim Ulm said: “I think our people are doing their job,” and it was not a Regional Board problem.

Councilwoman Andrea Bonham said: “I think the thing that will save us in the future is tertiary,” and to spend $5,000 to save us $100,000 in a no-brainer.”

A National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit would require “$100,000 just for monitoring.”

Kerr said “staff does not recommend an NPDES permit unless it is the last resort for the city.” She said the Regional Board is “definitely happy we’re going to tertiary,” which will allow the city to treat effluent to a level that might be used commercially, including supplying water to Unimin, which now buys raw water from the Amador Water Agency. She said the question is whether the city can give them the same or better quality of water. She said they could not produce enough water to meet Unimin’s needs for a year. Kerr said the city might also be able to serve the two prisons and CalFire.

The council voted 4-1 (with Ulm dissenting) to approve a $5,000 isotope study of water seeping from a wall on the bank of Sutter Creek. The study could prove conclusively whether or not it is seepage of effluent from the Ione wastewater treatment plant storage pond. A positive result could require the city to get an NPDES permit.

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