Amador County – Candidates for the Amador Water Agency board discussed Upcountry issues at a forum Monday, including whether to repair and replace the Tiger Creek pipeline or build a Gravity Supply Line.

In public comment, Dutch Green asked candidates to address the cost to completely replace the Tiger Creek pipeline, which delivers water to the Buckhorn water plant and customers of the Central Amador Water Project service area.

John Asmus said if there is a good operation and maintenance analysis of the Tiger Creek pipeline, he has not seen it, and he would like to see what it would cost to get a 25 percent increase out of the pumps.

Dale Turner said it would take $4 million to bring the Tiger Creek pipeline up to par, with no grants and no loans.

Bill Condrashoff said “it’s not an either or” situation, because if they build the GSL, the agency still must keep up the Tiger Creek pipeline and pumps, because the GSL will be down six weeks a year for servicing of the reservoir.

Robert Manassero said the 1978 Central Amador Water Project pipeline was put in as a temporary system in 1978, and it costs about $20,000 a year to service. He said: “You can’t put $4 million into the pumps on a 38-year-old line.”

He said “obviously, down hill, gravity is better,” and “a $5 million grant is better” than a $4 million pump repair project with no grants.

Debbie Dunn said “the pumps go forever, and the pipe itself, bare minimum, has 10 more years of life left.” She said there are no loans or grants because the agency “didn’t look for them.”

Art Toy said replacing the pumps was looked into, and the agency decided to pursue the GSL. He said they should keep pursuing the GSL, unless they want to throw away $1 million already spent on the project.

Asmus said unless there is a tremendous need for capacity, he supported operation and maintenance to “make it better.”

Turner said the project could save about $375,000 a year in PG&E costs. He said: “We have no backup system now,” and the “ideal plan would be to build the GSL and keep the existing pipeline running,” because “if it is not running 100 percent every day,” it will prolong the system’s life.

Condrashoff said it actually would save about $150,000 in PG&E electric costs when using the GSL instead of the Tiger Creek pipeline’s pumps, with about $100,000 lost annually on “power foregone.”

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Washington, D.C. - Many small business owners and a number of lawmakers in Congress have galvanized around efforts to repeal an expansion of Form 1099 tax reporting included in the new health care bill.

According to the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, “The changes will force millions of businesses to issue hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, of additional IRS Form 1099s every year.” In other words, it would require businesses of all sizes to track all spending, from electric bills to property purchases, and send 1099 forms to all those providers. The Cato Institute calls it an attempt “to raise revenue for an increasingly rapacious Congress.”

As a result, alarmed businesses have pushed their congressional representatives in recent months to amend or repeal that part of the healthcare bill- so far with no success.

Recent amendments that died in the Senate in September were sponsored by Senators Mike Johanns (R-Nebraska) and Bill Nelson (D-Florida). Johanns would have repealed Section 9006 entirely, paying for it with cuts to spending from a new public health fund, while Nelson proposed scaling back reporting requirement to total purchases of more than $5,000 per year and excluding companies with fewer than 25 employees.

Other amendments have also been proposed or are in the works.

The Obama Administration reportedly supports amending the section in some form, but does not support a full appeal.

Section 9006 is slated to go into effect for payments made after Dec. 31, 2011, requiring businesses to get a head start on record keeping.

“Businesses would have to report almost every transaction to another business during the course of a year,” says Bill Rys, tax counsel for the National Federation of Independent Business, in an interview with Compliance Week. His group is part of a coalition of more than 120 organizations calling for the provision’s repeal. “This will basically turn every small business owner in the country into an accountant,” he said.

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Amador County – Amador Water Agency candidates participated in a forum for the upcoming Nov. 2 general election Monday, with much talk on the Gravity Supply Line project.

The AWA approved the project for a funding application in March, on a 3-2 vote with President Bill Condrashoff and Vice President Debbie Dunn against.

Paul Molinelli Senior asked the crowd how many of them lived in District 3, and if they supported the GSL. He counted a slight majority in favor.

During public questions, Thornton Consolo of Jackson asked who would pay for the GSL in a 40-year loan.

Dunn said the Amador Water System gave a living example of how developers planned to pay for the Amador Transmission Pipeline. All three dissolved, and “those people now are funding it 100 percent.” She said there is no growth, and the GSL is too big for needs.

Robert Manassero said: “You can’t vote ‘no’ forever,” and called Dunn and Condrashoff’s “no” votes “a quick fix.” He said: “Is it oversized, or do we build it just for the needs right now?”

Manassero said they should let engineers do their work, and with construction costs subsiding, the $13 million estimate could be a high figure. He said yes, it will be paid for by ratepayers, but they need to continue study on the project, and look to reduce costs.

Condrashoff said the GSL is a “major issue” for the Central Amador Water Project service area, but: “I’m with Debbie” on opposing the project’s size. He said the Amador Transmission Pipeline “was built for three times the need” and triple the current capacity. And it left the AWA with a “$1.5 million mortgage.”

Molinelli agreed with Condrashoff and Manassero. He said the GSL “may be too expensive, but it’s worth looking at,” and a gravity-fed water supply is the best for fire fighting because it doesn’t rely on electrical power.

Dale Turner said future users and developers would fund the GSL, and the agency should work to get some of the $5 million it is owed in fees. He said the “GSL will last for at least 25 years,” and “the difference in cost is minimal between the size Bill wants and its design.”

Turner said as mayor of Livermore, he saw the city build a $21 million sewer treatment plant to meet needs five years out. Now Livermore faces a $100 million price to increase the plant’s size. He said: “Sometimes being a cheapskate doesn’t pay.”

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Amador County - Cooler weather and recent rains allowed the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to lift the burn suspension for our region on Monday, Oct. 11 at 8 am.

This began the transition toward the “winter preparedness level” in the Amador-El Dorado-Sacramento-Alpine Unit, or AEU. This transition allows AEU to release some seasonal firefighters, reduce staffing on fire engines and eventually close some remote wildland fire stations over the following weeks. However, CAL FIRE is always prepared to call resources back if fire weather conditions dictate.

The Air Quality Management Districts will be determining “burn days” or “no burn days.”

“We were very lucky this year with the uncharacteristically mild summer temperatures throughout the state,” said AEU Chief Bill Holmes. “We had anticipated a very dynamic fire season due to the large amount of fuel left on the ground from the December 2009 snow storm. In some places, there is as much as 33 percent more fuel on the ground than last year because of this storm and we are encouraging everyone to do their part by continuing to clean up their properties with the goal of creating defensible space around their homes.”

For more information on defensible space, burning safely and other fire prevention topics, visit www.fire.ca.gov.

To check on burn status and burn permit requirements, call the burn information line immediately prior to burning. You can also call Amador County’s burn information line at 223-6246.

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Calaveras County - The California Transportation Commission (CTC) today is holding a town hall meeting at Ironstone Vineyards in Murphys, where they plan to gather local input on transportation issues affecting the Mother Lode region.

The regional meeting is jointly sponsored by Amador, Alpine Mariposa and Calaveras counties.

All four counties are partners in a memorandum of understand that allows for the pooling of state transportation dollars. This meeting is considered a big deal because road issues in our area are often overshadowed by mammoth construction projects in other parts of the state.

Charles Field, executive director of the Amador County Transportation Commission (ACTC), said that in recent years the CTC started holding meetings in rural areas to become more familiar with issues on a local level. He said most commissioners on the CTC are from urban or suburban areas.

Field will contribute to the meeting with a presentation on the decade-long process it took to construct the Highway 49 bypass project.

“Many of the commissioners are new appointments and not familiar with what we went through, so I will provide some history,” he said.

His presentation will include background on the various steps it took to complete the project, including choosing from one of a dozen alternatives, helping Caltrans with the environmental certification process, and working with the community.

Neil Peacock, program manager for ACTC, will also give a presentation on the developing Pine Grove/Highway 88 Improvement Project, which includes 12 different alternatives for route modifications at a price tag not to exceed $40 million.

All sponsor counties are expected to attend today’s meeting with the exception of Mariposa.

Also in attendance will be John Garamendi, representative of California's 10th Congressional district.

The transportation meeting began this morning (Wednesday, October 13th) and is expected to last until the afternoon.

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Amador County – Three candidates for the Amador Water Agency District 5 seat also answered individual questions at the Upcountry Community Council candidates forum Monday at the Upcountry Veterans Hall on Buckhorn Ridge Road.

The three challengers for the seat vacated by retiring Director Terence each fielded a different question about AWA issues important to UCC members.

Candidate John Asmus was asked what “water conservation action” he would take on the board. Asmus said of the 40-50 percent of water coming to cities through the AWA, a small amount goes to Upcountry. The rest of the residents are on wells.

He said they should find out the average water used per area, and create a method of incentivizing saving water, possibly in a cistern for area irrigation use.

Asmus said for sewerage, in District 5, they could possibly use water from the Arroyo Ditch to help clean the sewage, and the ditch water could be used about nine months a year.

Candidate Arthur Toy was asked “what responsibility does AWA have to provide water for fire protection services?” Toy said he was sure AWA engineers would be happy to study engineering and flow needs for fire protection, but funding would need to be agreed upon and located in those areas.

He said pipe diameters are “1-and-a-half inches on some mains here,” and it was “major capital improvement project to get mains upgraded,” with still another capital improvement project to build adequate storage for fire fighting.

Toy said people of the districts would have to plan on that, and he did not see it happening this year, or next year.

Candidate Dale Turner was asked: “What are the primary issues of the AWA water conveyance system?” He said he did not know.

District 1 candidate Paul Molinelli Senior said “the primary one is paying for it.”

Turner was given a new question, and was asked: “What is the scope of responsibility of the AWA and its board.” He said the AWA board should provide policy and direction for the general manager to run the agency.

He said “that is not happening now, because the general manager is being micromanaged,” and he “spends all his waking hours just getting ready for special meetings.”

Turner said when he was Mayor of Livermore, his city council met once every two weeks, for no more than 4-5 hours, while the AWA board meets for 6, 8 or 10 hours. He said shorter meetings allow people to give input, without having to wait too long for items of their interest to reach the floor.

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Amador County – About 20 people attended a forum for all Amador Water Agency board of director candidates Monday, hosted by the Upcountry Community Council.

UCC Chairwoman Lynn Morgan introduced the format, which allowed 3-minute self introductions, then gave each candidate a random question. Morgan said questions were created by the unelected and highly informal Upcountry Community Council because as future board members, “everything you do does affect Upcountry.”

District 1 incumbent President Bill Condrashoff took the first question, which was to explain the Central Amador Water Project, and issues it faces. He said it was formed in the late 1970s to supply water from the Tiger Creek Reservoir to the Upcountry area, due to failing wells.

He said primary issues CAWP faces are the cost of water, and a capacity nearing maximum, with room for about 60 homes, while “hundreds of homes have been paying standby fees,” prior to hooking up. He said the Gravity Supply Line project was a major issue for CAWP as well.

District 1 Challenger Paul Molinelli Senior was asked his position on annexation to CAWP. He said a recent annexation on Suncatcher Lane had “much more debate than was absolutely necessary.” He said there was talk it might lead to seven other parcels.

Molinelli said if the water is there and it is a legitimate request, it is OK, and with a hook-up fee of $9,300 each, it would be good income for the agency. He said it would be $37,200 for the four parcels, which is four percent of what AWA owes the county for its $900,000 loan due December 31st.

District 4 challenger Robert Manassero was asked his opinion on consolidation, and giving all customers an equal rate. Manassero said it was something they should look at. He said there are 14 different budgets prepared at the agency, with each coming from a different “pocket system.”

He said getting a price that is fair for all customers may be difficult, but it could be helpful, especially in economic rough times. He also said he would support trying to lower costs of water in Plymouth, Pine Grove and Sutter Creek.

District 4 incumbent Vice President Debbie Dunn was asked how to solve the “insufficiency of fire hydrants” in the Upcountry. Dunn said: “That is somewhat an agency responsibility,” but it was more an issue that should have been handled by developers and state regulations in place at the time of development.

Dunn said the issue should go back to the county and supervisors, who could fund programs and get fire groups, or “the big fire conglomerate” to address the issue.

She said “when and if we have time, we will be doing something about” testing hydrants.

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Amador County – The local high schools opened Mother Lode League varsity football action last Friday with winning contests.

In TSPN’s Game Of The Week, Amador High School took a 37-21 win over Linden, moving to 5-1 on the season. Amador scored in every quarter and led 17-13 at halftime. The 16-point margin was a relief from the Thundering Herd’s last two wins, each taken by a single point.

The Buffalos this week play Summerville, which last week opened MLL play with a 46-14 loss to Calaveras. Summerville is 4-2 with wins over Denair, Mariposa County and Castlemont-Oakland.

It was the fourth straight win for Amador, which is averaging 87 yards passing a game, and 270 yards on the ground, according to stats at Max-Preps.

The Buffaloes are averaging 32 points a game and 61 tackles. They also have 22 completed passes for a .564 passing percentage, 21 by quarterback Clinton Tremelling.

Amador hosts Summerville in Sutter Creek this week.

Also Friday, Argonaut High School opened league play with a 49-14 road win over Bret Harte at Angels Camp.

The Mustangs also moved to 5-1 on the season, and take a two-game winning streak this week into a Friday night contest against Calaveras in San Andreas. The Redskins are also 5-1, and opened league with a 46-14 win over Summerville.

The Mustangs lead the league in scoring, at 41 points a game, and also defense, holding opponents to 15 points a game. The Redskins are a close second in both categories, averaging 36 points a game, while holding opponents to 16 points a game. Amador, Argonaut and Calaveras all enter Friday’s games with 5-1 records.

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