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Amador County – A group of Ione residents released a statement Tuesday urging the public to attend the Ione City Council’s meeting next week and urge the council to sue a resident who is petitioning for a referendum that would do away with the Ione Police Department. The statement was e-mailed to citizens by Sharon Long, who also contracts with the city and publishes its newsletter. City Manager Kim Kerr said the statement was issued without any involvement of the city, and it was not funded by the city in any way. Kerr said Long was working with a group of citizens who wanted to get information out about the issue. A majority of the city council has vowed to fight for and support the police department. Long’s e-mail, called a “Message of Support for the Ione Police Department,” was written by herself and Jack Brotherton. It was e-mailed to local citizens and a copy was forwarded to TSPN. Long urged people to attend the city council’s meeting next Tuesday, with expected speakers including Amador County Sheriff Martin Ryan, Jackson Police Chief Scott Morrison, and representatives from the District Attorney’s office and the attorney general’s office. The petition is being circulated to replace the Ione Police Department with contract services from the sheriff. The letter notes that City Attorney Kristen Castanos has called the proposed ballot measure illegal and unconstitutional. Castanos also advised the city council that they could file a lawsuit at any time, and aim that suit against Ione resident Denise Robertson. Long said the “Council has the legal right to vote to legally challenge this initiative, but has not done so.” The council considered a “lawsuit to challenge the legality of this initiative” in its last meeting, and will take up the issue again 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 16th at City Hall. Long said she and Brotherton in conversations with legal officials have found support, including from Sheriff Ryan, District Attorney Todd Riebe, and Jackie Long, commander of the Amador County Combined Narcotic Enforcement Team. She said all 3, or their representatives, will attend Tuesday’s meeting and speak in support of keeping the Ione Police Department. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in Local

Wednesday, 10 March 2010 03:48

Fire Coverage Among La Mel Customers' Questions

Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board this week will look at the La Mel Heights water service area, as the agency prepares to look at potential rate increases there. The agency is scheduled to discuss answers by staff to questions asked during a rate hearing last October. A report by engineering, finance and operations departments compiled by Interim Engineering Manager Erik Christeson recommends the board approve the responses and schedule another public meeting with La Mel customers. AWA and Lockwood Fire Protection District conducted fire flow and hydraulic tests to answer some of the 34 questions. The report said AWA took over operation of La Mel water system in 1987. To regain control, residents would have to form a home owners’ association (or similar district); transfer the system and public health permits into the name of the entity; and “enter into contracts with a licensed treatment and distribution system operators.” AWA took over La Mel water with $24,000 “on the books.” The report said $20,000 was spent to construct capital improvement, including a treatment and pump station building. The district underwent a $533,000 upgrade in 2005, with a $212,000 loan and a $148,000 grant, both through USDA. AWA paid $92,000; Volcano Telephone paid $31,000; and the county Water Development Fund paid $50,000. The project installed a new storage tank, and a new water main to all but 5 homes in the area. One question was why the system “collapses” when a fire tanker fills up using La Mel’s hydrant? The report said the “system has not actually collapsed, but it does experience very low” pressure (and possibly no pressure) “under high flows such as a fire hydrant flowing.” The report said “fire tanker trucks could reduce their fill rates to minimize impact to the system pressure.” The “new distribution main and fire hydrants accommodate some fire protection which did not exist previously,” the report said. But fighting a “ground fire” could result in “zero system pressure,” and a “boil water order” until multiple tests show no presence of coliform. The report said Lockwood Fire Chief Dave Long “has a plan which includes using a tender to take water directly form a hydrant at a limited rate and use the tender as the source with boosted pressures to fight structure fires at the La Mel subdivision.” Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in Water

Wednesday, 10 March 2010 03:41

Mother Lode Internet Seeks BOS Approval for Broadband Expansion Plan

Amador County – During their meeting Tuesday, the Amador County Board of Supervisors gave partial support to Mother Lode Internet for its pursuit of federal funding for regional broadband expansion. Titled the Mother Lode Broadband Project, the plan would eventually bring high-speed internet access to most of the rural areas of our region. MLI CEO Ben Hulet said it is important to act now while American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding for the estimated $30 million, 3-year project is still available. He said “it is such a challenge to create coverage because of infrastructure costs.” He said the project could provide a “significant injection into the local economy” in the form of money and jobs. MLI has already received $2.8 million in State funding and is set to receive another $3.1 million in order to “build a regional Community Network that includes a robust Middle Mile component to bring low cost bandwidth from Stockton and Sacramento.” The project is different from a similar undertaking supported by the Central Sierra Economic Development District and spearheaded by Calaveras County Chief Information Officer Howard Stohlman. Hulet said it is vital that MLI be involved in any local Middle Mile project or grant application because “competing applications will only fragment the grant application effort and reduce funding for each project.” He urged the Supervisors to approve a letter of support he drafted that lists the county as “Anchor Tenants,” or participants in his company’s grant application. Anchor tenants can also include schools, hospitals or organizations like the Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency, which last month presented a $250,000 study to gather information on how rural counties can gain 100 percent coverage for high speed internet. Supervisor Richard Forster said he did not want to be an “Anchor Tenant” and “tie ourselves to just one provider.” The Supervisors expressed support for keeping the market competitive. Hulet said supporting MLI does not mean they do not support other ISPs. He stressed his belief in the importance of investing in locally-based businesses like his own rather than “out-of-town national providers.” He asked the county to pledge to purchase services from MLI instead of AT&T so the money remains local instead of “going through a call center in Texas.” Chairman Brian Oneto simply said he needs to do “more looking at it and thinking about it.” Supervisor Louis Boitano suggested they have county staff redraft the letter in order to “soften up” the statement about giving full support and then revisit the item at next week’s board meeting. Forster said there are “no guarantees that the county is only going to be working with one provider.” Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in Local

Wednesday, 10 March 2010 03:39

Sutter Creek Attorney Impartially Analyzes Gold Rush Referendum

Amador County – Sutter Creek City Attorney Dennis Crabb presented an objective analysis of the city’s June referendum on the Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort, which the council accepted in a special meeting Monday afternoon. The ballot measure, designated by the county elections office as “Measure N,” asks whether the city council’s resolution to approve the Gold Rush project should be adopted. The council placed the referendum on the June 8th primary ballot and on Monday approved a city council statement of support that will be printed on the ballots. Crabb in the analysis said approval, or a “yes” vote on the referendum “upholds the decision of the city council approving the project with conditions, mitigation measures and a development agreement.” A “yes” vote would preserve “existing legislation,” or the resolutions approved by the city council January 4th. And a defeat, or “no” vote, on the measure “sets aside existing law. The site reverts to the former General Plan designation of Master Plan Area and zoning designation of Urban Plan Area/Light Industrial. The portion of the site in the county would be under county land use control.” Operation of the measure would turn on the vote, Crabb wrote. A “yes” vote on Measure N “would result in the Gold Rush Ranch Project, with conditions, environmental mitigation measures, and a development agreement remaining in effect.” Crabb said there “will be increased public service costs to the city, which are required to be offset by special taxes and fees paid by he new development and/or property owners within Gold Rush.” A defeat “would prevent Gold Rush” from “being developed on the site with no increased public service costs. If defeated projects may be developed on the site without further discretionary approvals by the city in compliance with previous regulations or projects may be proposed on the site requiring new discretionary approvals by the city council with new environmental and public service cost documentation.” Crabb said the 945-acre Gold Rush Ranch has 612 acres in the city, 333 acres in Amador County, (the latter to be annexed). It includes a public 18-hole golf course and related facilities, 60-room hotel, 300 timeshare units, 57,000 square feet of commercial development, 1,334 primary residential units, 64 secondary residential units, and 300 acres of open space and biking and hiking trails. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in Local

Tuesday, 09 March 2010 09:15