Amador County – A hunter formally contracted by East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) to reduce Canadian geese populations at Lake Camanche has been issued citations for various hunting violations following an investigation by wardens from the California Department of Fish and Game. Patrick Foy, Fish & Game’s Public Information Officer, said contractor Nick Catrina and a group of hunters he was working with received 7 citations within the last few weeks for multiple violations, including failure to report and retrieve bird carcasses and hunting without a license or state and federal duck stamps. Foy said Catrina was hired to kill the birds using “strictly legal hunting means” and was “the only person authorized to hunt.” If convicted, the hunters could receive up to a $1000 fine and six months in county jail, although it depends on the specifics of each citation. “As part of the conditions for his permission to hunt, Catrina was supposed to be following all fish and game laws. Unfortunately, he failed to do so,” said Foy. Another violation charged was herding, in which one hunter approaches a flock of birds and attempts to herd them toward another hunter. All hunters involved in the alleged poaching activity were cited after an investigation by multiple wardens from Fish & Game. The exact number of hunters working with Catrina could not be verified at the time this story was published. Foy dispelled rumors that the number of geese killed was in the thousands. He said “EBMUD does, however, have a couple thousand geese at this time on its Lake Camanche property.” Under state law, EBMUD is allowed to contract out to hunters to reduce geese populations because fecal matter produced by the birds can potentially contaminate the water to an unsafe level. One area hunter passed on additional information to Amador County Supervisor Louis Boitano claming the geese were being thrown away in dumpsters. The Supervisors discussed the issue last week and stated their hopes that the violators would be penalized accordingly. Foy said EBMUD was “very cooperative” once they learned the violations had occurred. EBMUD is working closely with Fish & Game in monitoring poachers and avoiding future violations. EBMUD has since terminated its contract with Catrina.

Amador County – Plymouth City Council last week selected Councilwoman Patricia Fordyce as the mayor for the next year. The council voted 4-1 Thursday to select Fordyce as mayor, and they also selected Vice Mayor Greg Baldwin to serve another year as vice mayor. Councilman Mike O’Meara was the only “no” vote, and voted against the appointment because he said Fordyce was hesitant to take the position. Fordyce will look over committee assignments for the board, and the city council will discuss the appointments at its first regular meeting of next year, January 14th. The council does not meet again this year, and the planning commission meeting that was scheduled for today has been canceled. Also last week, the city in closed session discussed extending an “exclusive negotiating agreement with the Shenandoah Water Company.” City Clerk Gloria Stoddard said after closed session, the council announced that it had given direction to its negotiating team, and also directed staff to make the extension of exclusive negotiating with Shenandoah Water. Stoddard said it would be the third extension of agreement, if the company agrees. City Manager Dixon Flynn said last week that he and 3 or 4 staff members were going Monday to visit the city of Yountville, near Napa. Flynn said the city is small but has been very successful. He said it is a city of 3,600 residents, with “Transient Occupancy Tax” receipts of $3.6 million annually. City Finance Director Jeff Gardner said Plymouth’s TOT tax income is $150,000 annually. Flynn said “they have generated quite a few jobs throughout their community with good salaries,” and they thrive on what Flynn calls “agri-tourism.” Flynn said they want to hear about their programs and how they mad them succeed. Flynn said the point of the trip was not to make the city look like Yountville, because “we are Plymouth.” He said he wants to “make Plymouth a better place to live, work and play.” The group, including Community Development Director Barry Siebe, Stoddard and a couple of council members, including Jon Colburn and Mayor Fordyce, took the trip to Yountville Monday. Stoddard said it was a worthwhile trip, and the council likely will get a full report. She said in a way, Plymouth is better off than Yountville because they are in the middle of wine country, while Plymouth is “the gateway to the wine country.” Yountville is about 9 miles from Napa itself. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Plymouth City Council last Thursday voted to extend an emergency ordinance for 10 months to prohibit the establishment of a medical marijuana dispensary in the city. City Attorney Steven Rudolph urged the council to extend the emergency, temporary ordinance for 10 months and 15 days, as the city can await results of some court cases that are focusing on medical marijuana laws throughout cities in the state. The council approved a 45-day prohibition on November 12th, and the attorney last week urged a longer ban. The council opened a public hearing on the issue. Sutter Creek resident Robert Allen spoke in favor the use of medical marijuana, saying his family “extended my mother’s life for 2 years with medical marijuana” and “it was a medical miracle.” Allen said: “I would like to urge you as a city to look at it as a future source of revenue.” He said the current “hands off” urging of the Obama administration was a prefect condition for medical marijuana because it “becomes locally governed.” Maria Nunez Simon said she knows a lot of people in town who have licenses for medical marijuana. Councilman Jon Colburn said he was contacted by one person who said medical marijuana helped her husband quite a bit. Rudolph told the council that staff would study city zoning issues and the city to look for appropriate locations suitable for medical marijuana dispensaries. He also said several lawsuits are pending across the state. Rudolph said one suit is seeking a ruling on “whether cities can adopt a total ban on medical marijuana dispensaries.” He said “a large number of cities have adopted total bans.” Colburn said he did not want to waste any more staff money on studies until the lawsuits were resolved. Vice Mayor Greg Baldwin agreed, saying they should table it. Baldwin said: “I’m guessing this is going to jump up to the Supreme Court level,” and he said “we could have a different president in 3 years.” City Manager Dixon Flynn said: “I think we’ve bought ourselves some time until we find out what the courts are going to do.” The city last month put in place the ban. It also faces the fact that its zones for medical pot dispensaries (industrial and light industrial areas) were removed from city limits by the newly adopted city General Plan. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County Public Health received word yesterday that certain lot numbers of injectable pediatric H1N1 vaccine, indicated for children 6 months through 35 months, decreased in potency between shipment and current testing. “Most importantly, there is no safety issue associated with these lot numbers of the H1N1 vaccine and this dose does not need to be repeated,” affirmed Dr. Bob Hartmann, Amador County Health Officer. “This advisory does not apply to any of the nasal mist vaccine,” he said. Original testing revealed adequate strength, but in routine follow-up testing the antigen potency had dropped slightly below guidelines, prompting the request to return these doses to the manufacturer. “Although another dose to replace this vaccination is not necessary,” stated Lori Jagoda, Amador County Public Health Immunization Coordinator, adding: “all children under the age of 10 years will still need to receive their second dose of the H1N1 vaccine, available in January 2010.” A TSPN TV Report This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

 

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 12-16-09 

·       Some pediatric doses of H1N1 are recalled.

·       A goose hunter and unauthorized partners are cited for multiple violations at EBMUD Lake Camanche property.

·       Plymouth extends its emergency ban on medical pot dispensaries.

·       Plymouth selects a new mayor.

·       The AWA will discuss a regional reclamation grant with Huber

 

 

Amador County Public Health received word yesterday that certain lot numbers of injectable pediatric H1N1 vaccine, indicated for children 6 months through 35 months, decreased in potency between shipment and current testing. “Most importantly, there is no safety issue associated with these lot numbers of the H1N1 vaccine and this dose does not need to be repeated,” affirmed Dr. Bob Hartmann, Amador County Health Officer. “This advisory does not apply to any of the nasal mist vaccine,” he said. Original testing revealed adequate strength, but in routine follow-up testing the antigen potency had dropped slightly below guidelines, prompting the request to return these doses to the manufacturer. “Although another dose to replace this vaccination is not necessary,” stated Lori Jagoda, Amador County Public Health Immunization Coordinator, adding: “all children under the age of 10 years will still need to receive their second dose of the H1N1 vaccine, available in January 2010.” A TSPN TV Report This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – A hunter formally contracted by East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) to reduce Canadian geese populations at Lake Camanche has been issued citations for various hunting violations following an investigation by wardens from the California Department of Fish and Game. Patrick Foy, Fish & Game’s Public Information Officer, said contractor Nick Catrina and a group of hunters he was working with received 7 citations within the last few weeks for multiple violations, including failure to report and retrieve bird carcasses and hunting without a license or state and federal duck stamps. Foy said Catrina was hired to kill the birds using “strictly legal hunting means” and was “the only person authorized to hunt.” If convicted, the hunters could receive up to a $1000 fine and six months in county jail, although it depends on the specifics of each citation. “As part of the conditions for his permission to hunt, Catrina was supposed to be following all fish and game laws. Unfortunately, he failed to do so,” said Foy. Another violation charged was herding, in which one hunter approaches a flock of birds and attempts to herd them toward another hunter. All hunters involved in the alleged poaching activity were cited after an investigation by multiple wardens from Fish & Game. The exact number of hunters working with Catrina could not be verified at the time this story was published. Foy dispelled rumors that the number of geese killed was in the thousands. He said “EBMUD does, however, have a couple thousand geese at this time on its Lake Camanche property.” Under state law, EBMUD is allowed to contract out to hunters to reduce geese populations because fecal matter produced by the birds can potentially contaminate the water to an unsafe level. One area hunter passed on additional information to Amador County Supervisor Louis Boitano claming the geese were being thrown away in dumpsters. The Supervisors discussed the issue last week and stated their hopes that the violators would be penalized accordingly. Foy said EBMUD was “very cooperative” once they learned the violations had occurred. EBMUD is working closely with Fish & Game in monitoring poachers and avoiding future violations. EBMUD has since terminated its contract with Catrina.