Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors on Tuesday announced an overall reduction of employee salaries and benefits totaling $285,000.

General Manager Gene Mancebo made the announcement during a special meeting, saying there had been negotiations with all employee groups and unrepresented employees, and they had reached an agreement to reduce salaries and benefits, with the incorporation of furlough days. He said merit raises and Cost of Living Adjustments were eliminated, for an overall cut of 6-7 percent.

Mancebo said $285,000 is the estimated reduction for all of those reductions and changes. Finance Manager Mike Lee said the two areas of the budget, salaries and benefits, “very quickly will reflect the savings.”

President Bill Condrashoff said he would like to see all of the changes together to augment the budget at the November 18th meeting. Director Don Cooper said he agreed, but wondered if they should sub-note it, “because next year you will have these same battles.”

The special meeting was called to further discuss the first quarter financial report, and look at hiring out a study of the agency, toward reorganization.

Lee said salaries and benefits were reduced in the budget, and “that’s cash saved significantly from this year,” and that “will grow more in the next eight months.” Lee said that included four layoffs, and payment of money owed to those employees for things such as vacation time. Those savings will begin to show as well. He said the agency’s $10.5 million budget is balanced, “but cash doesn’t always come in on time.”

Cooper asked why “reserve contributions and contingencies” in the operating expenses were 51 percent under budget at the end of the first quarter, September 30th. Lee said “if you increase any line item … then theoretically you’re going to eat into your surplus.”

Cooper pointed out that the agency produced more water and collected less revenue. The report showed AWA water sales were $1.63 million for the quarter ending September 30th, and was down by $97,000 from the same time in 2009.

Condrashoff said the quarterly really only included two months of operating costs, and was therefore misleading. Vice President Debbie Dunn said the report, then, could be “painting too rosy a picture.”

Lee said “this is not a rosy picture, this is a specific picture of a static operating budget.”

Mancebo pointed out that operating expenses, at $1.69 million, were 35 percent under budget for this fiscal year, and were 7.54 percent lower than 2009.

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Amador County - The Amador County Board of Supervisors expressed frustration Tuesday over the arduous process of obtaining federal grants for local energy efficiency projects, but ultimately approved the grant when considering the necessity of the upgrades.

The Department of Energy allocated approximately $49.6 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding to the California Energy Commission (CEC), which in turn allocated $132,564 to Amador County. That amount was reduced to $122,922 after the cost of hard estimates for local implementation were developed.

Jon Hopkins, General Services Director, expressed frustration over the many “hoops” his department had to jump through over the course of a year to acquire the grants, including numerous online workshops, face-to-face meetings with state officials, mountains of paperwork and a consultant who lives in Florida.

To complicate matters further, he said the CEC now has further requirements before Amador County can start spending the grant funds. These are a waste management plan and a supporting wage rate determination assuring compliance with federal law.

Hopkins said “timing is critical” because the board authorized in December 2009 to take money out of the general fund to cover the project cost. The funds were taken out of the budget by the Auditor’s office. Therefore, re-budgeting these funds is necessary to carry the project forward.

“If we had known in 2009 that it would have taken all this work, we would have never taken this path,” said Supervisor Ted Novelli.

Hopkins said there are a number of “necessary upgrades,” specifically the 30-year-old air-conditioning units at the Sheriff’s office. He estimates an annual costs savings of $23,152 once the funds are reimbursed and upgrades are made. “Overall operating costs will be significantly reduced, which saves the taxpayers a lot of money,” he said.

Hopkins said grant acquisition is much easier for larger counties and population centers, which also receive the majority of the funding. He said he does not know why small counties were targeted for a different, more complicated process. “Whatever the case…we could use the $122,000,” he said.

“We would waste a lot of staff time that has already been expended if we didn’t move forward,” said Supervisor Richard Forster.

The board approved 5-0 a motion to have Jon Hopkins and staff move forward with the project and solicit bids. Hopkins said the solicitation process usually takes three to four months.

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Amador County – The Upcountry Community Council heard a report on two major transportation projects at their meeting Tuesday, including the announcement of an upcoming meeting on the Pine Grove/Highway 88 Improvement Project.

The report was presented by Pine Grove resident Gary Reinoehl, who serves as the council liaison for regional transportation issues, which includes serving on the Pine Grove/Highway 88 stakeholders group.

Reinoehl said the criteria for rating the route alternatives of the Highway 88 project has been completed. “All projects that were of very high cost (over 50 million) were removed from consideration as the excessively high price was considered a fatal flaw by (Amador County Transportation Commission) and agreed to by the Stakeholders,” said Reinoehl in his report.

The project originally included 12 different alternatives for route modifications at a price tag not to exceed $40 million. The ultimate project goal is to reduce congestion, improve operations and enhance safety between the intersections at Climax Road and Tabeau Road.

Reinoehl said that of the eight remaining alternatives, four were rated low and four were rated high. He said he also introduced an alternative as approved by the Pine Grove Council “that will also be rated using the criteria and performance measures as well as cost.”

He also discussed a November 3rd public workshop on the Highway 49 Transportation Concept Report. The meeting was hosted by Caltrans with the goal of gathering local input on a long range plan it is developing for Highway 49.

Reinoehl said the agency is looking at “future needs of the highway in 20 years and beyond.” He said “Caltrans received numerous community comments as they discussed the separate segments of Highway 49 and the projected needs.”

The most important announcement of the night was a reminder about the upcoming public meeting to discuss progress on the Pine Grove/Highway 88 Corridor Project. The meeting will take place Tuesday, November 16th at Pine Grove Elementary in Pine Grove. The open house begins at 5:30 pm. A formal presentation and public comment period will begin at 6 pm. ACTC will then facilitate a workshop with individuals to discuss the project alternatives and gather ideas and feedback on potential project solutions.

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Amador County – Sutter Creek Planning Commission received reports on medical marijuana dispensaries recently.

The planning commission was asked last month by Mother Lode Wellness and Patient Care to determine whether or not a medical cannabis dispensary is a permitted use in Sutter Creek.

City Planner Bruce Baracco in a November 4th report noted that the Planning Commission had determined that “allowing a medical cannabis dispensary under a conditional use permit did not apply” because “the proposed use was not essential or desirable to the public convenience or welfare.”

Baracco analyzed “whether or not a medical cannabis dispensary is similar to permitted uses contained in the zoning ordinance.” He said “drug stores,” normally considered “pharmacies,” are allowed in city zoning code, and some marijuana dispensaries call themselves pharmacies. He said “the operative question” becomes whether a medical marijuana dispensary is “the functional equivalent of a pharmacy, and therefore a permitted use.”

Baracco said the Federal Controlled Substances Act classifying marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, and “a medical cannabis dispensary is not the functional equivalent of a pharmacy, and therefore is not permitted within” the city commercial “C1 or C2 zone,” and “not eligible to be dispensed by a pharmacy.”

Assistant Planner Mary Beth Van Voorhis reported Monday that she attempted to gather information about medical marijuana dispensaries that are permitted within cities having population sizes similar to that of Sutter Creek.

She was unsuccessful in her “first five attempts to be able to talk to any owner of a medical marijuana dispensary.” She planning and building departments gave some information, but “lacked specifics on taxes collected or law enforcement issues.”

Van Voorhis said Rancho Cordova (population 62,937) “prohibits any use that is in violation of state or federal law.” Windsor (population 25,916) prohibited marijuana dispensaries “on the basis that it is not consistent with federal law.”

Sonoma County (population 472,000) and three other jurisdictions polled by Van Voorhis, allowed pot dispensaries under the state “Compassionate Use Act of 1996.” Sonoma and Shasta Lake (population 10,294) tax marijuana sales, while Colfax (population 1,993) also taxes cultivation.

Sebastopol (population 7,943) does not collect taxes, and has a use permit, annual review criteria, and procedures, under a specific ordinance. Colfax’s dispensary “came in under the radar” and opened with a business license. Colfax City Council passed an ordinance to prohibit additional dispensaries.

Shasta Lake allows the dispensary with a specific ordinance, and limits to a maximum of three establishments in city limits. It is also working on a cultivation ordinance. Sonoma County has a use permit and specific zoning districts.

Sutter Creek, had a population of 2,654 in 2009.

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Sacramento – A Joint Legislative Audit Committee of the California Legislature, chaired by 3rd District Assemblymember Alyson Huber, discussed the impacts of the planned Preston Youth Correctional Facility closure before a crowd of concerned Amador County citizens at the State Capitol last week.

Various other legislators joined Huber to analyze the criteria used by California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) officials to determine the closure. A Huber aide said she used the hearing to compel the CDCR to answer questions about how this decision was made and how they will mitigate the impacts of the closure.

At least 100 Amador citizens came in on buses chartered by District 2 Supervisor Richard Forster, who said he had “many reasons” to be there. Forster’s district is home to Preston, and Forster has experienced first-hand changes within the juvenile justice system as a longtime CDCR employee at (VIDEO) Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp in the upcountry.

During public comment, Forster countered a comment by CDCR Undersecretary Steve Kernan, who said part of the reason wards will be incorporated into the O.H. Close and N.A. Chaderjian youth correctional facilities in Stockton was because those facilities had more rooms as opposed to open dormitories.

“We’re not going to be doing the best thing for wards if they live in rooms,” said Forster. “They certainly aren’t going to live in rooms when they go out in society.”

Buena Vista resident Jerry Casessi countered a statement by Kernan about wanting to keep wards close to home and their families, saying he has “yet to see any statistical data that proves that point.” He said that as a former employee of that department, he always thought it beneficial to get wards away from often negative family and living situations.

Sergeant Don Dufraine, a longtime Preston employee, criticized the trend toward putting wards under county, rather than state care. “Counties can’t provide the services that we can,” he said. “Where are the people who care about these youth?”

He said the Stockton facilities have often come to the Preston staff for training on various programs because of Preston’s “reputation” for maintaining a high level of care for its wards.

Ione City Manager Kim Kerr said the closure will have a number of negative impacts on her city. She said Preston contributes to community projects, including an annual golf tournament fundraiser and free cleanup services in and around the downtown creek. She said the city gets vehicle license fees from Preston. She said Preston is on the city seal.

As planned, the closure will take place June 30th, 2011. As many as 400 staff will lose their jobs locally.

Huber clarified at the end of the meeting that the decision to close Preston was not supported by the legislature. She said another community meeting on the matter will be held in Amador County in December.

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Amador County – Lloyd Oneto, newly elected to the Ione City Council, said last week that “when three unknowns beat three incumbents” it tells him “people want change.”

Oneto, Ron Smylie and Daniel Epperson actually beat two incumbents, Lee Ard and James Ulm in the 2010 general election.

Smylie talks common sense and “feels the pulse of city, I’m sure more than I,” Oneto said, and Epperson “cares about the community and kids.” He said they “seem like good young men,” who have a lot of people depending on them: They “made a commitment” and now must “carry it through.”

Oneto was second in the vote count, with 753 votes, but said “it doesn’t matter if you win by one or a thousand. It’s still a win.”

He said: “On big issues, I like to have the people’s input,” such as a school crosswalk that needs paint, or a big hole in a street. He said he knows the new tertiary treatment plant needs to go in, but not at a $15 million to $30 million cost – the estimates he has heard.

He said maybe alternatives to the sewer plant were not looked at well enough, and “that’s the big, burning issue.” He knows Councilman David Plank has said those cost estimates were shown to be high.

Oneto said: “I don’t know for sure, but for me, if you sign on the dotted line, you better know what you’re buying,” and if city government changes, “the bill stays with the people.”

For campaign help, he thanked his wife, Rose Andrews-Oneto, who also starts a four-year term this year, having won a seat on the school board, unopposed.

Oneto said he wanted to bring transparency to Ione City Council. He said the way it is run “bothers me, otherwise I wouldn’t have ran.” He said they should “let the people paying the bills know how their money’s being spent, and where and why.” He said he “can’t really cite specifics,” and it is “not a personal vendetta thing.” He said he just wants to let people know what’s going on.

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Amador County – The Amador County American Legion Post 108 is planning a Veterans Day Parade for 10 a.m. Thursday, November 11th in downtown Jackson, with groups welcome to come early to sign up and participate.

Grand marshal of the parade Tony Mathos said organizers have about 20 groups signed up so far for the parade, set on Veterans Day and dedicated to showing respect for those that served in the U.S. military.

Mathos is the current president of the American Legion Employees Association, and is a member of Sons of the American Legion and is also past president of the American Legion Riders. He said all three of those groups are among those who will participate.

The groups include American Legionnaires, the Legion Auxiliary, and potentially every fire brigade in the county. Civic groups committed to the parade this year include the Boy Scouts of America and the Cub Scouts. The parade will also include American Legion Ambulances and personnel, who operate from four locations in both Amador and Calaveras counties.

Mathos said a car club from Calaveras County will bring its antique Jeeps from the World War II era, and there will also be floats, including one with Legion members.

He said the parade will be without a marching band this year, as the Argonaut and Amador high school combined band is not active this year.

Mathos said any group can come and sign up to march in the parade. They must arrive by 8:30 a.m. Thursday (November 11th) and sign a waiver to participate. Those already signed up will start staging at 9 a.m. on Main Street at California Street, just off Highway 49 in front of the TSPN TV studios, and Hein & Company Bookstore, at 206 North Main Street in Jackson.

The American Legion Color Guard of six to eight members will lead the parade, which starts at 10 a.m. and marches down Main Street, and will turn at Water Street and end at Bank of America.

Veterans Day got its start on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, with a “temporary cessation of hostilities” in World War I, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website. Seven months later, the Treaty of Versailles ended the war.

In 1926, Congress proclaimed it a holiday, and in 1938, a law was passed to make it a legal holiday, “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as Armistice Day.”

After WWII and the Korean War, the law was revised to call the holiday Veterans Day.

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