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 – 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 Amador Water Agency this week announced a special meeting for discussion regarding a regional approach to a water reclamation grant with Assemblywoman Alyson L. Huber. The discussion with Huber, District 10 representative for Amador County, is the only item on the agenda. AWA Board President Bill Condrashoff called the special meeting for 10 a.m. Thursday at the agency’s office in Sutter Creek. The board also held another special meeting 2 p.m. Tuesday in Conference Room A to discuss an informational brochure that the agency is preparing to circulate regarding the Gravity Supply Line and its potential impacts on the Central Amador Water Project. Interim General Manager Gene Mancebo said the board approved an informational “white paper” to send out with financing information for the Gravity Supply Line, with projected costs to pay for the estimated $13 million project. The board approved the “white paper” to go out, but Condrashoff “asked to have the special meeting to look at the final draft.” In the meeting Thursday, there were changes discussed, and staff should have made changes from the direction. Mancebo said they were not major changes, but there were a “couple of numbers that seemed to have brought confusion,” and the board talked about clearing up those miscommunications. He said the board “mostly just talked about making it more understandable.” Mancebo said the board heard a report from the Association of California Water Agencies. AWA sent a letter disapproving of ACWA’s support of San Joaquin Delta Legislation, despite many members not agreeing. The AWA board voted November 20th to write a letter to ACWA’s board, and ACWA reportedly received the letter. Mancebo said ACWA’s board members took note of the letter from AWA, “but there was not a lot of reaction.” He said “there was recognition that there were some upset members.” Also opposing the Delta Legislation was the East Bay Municipal Utility District board of directors. Mancebo said the Legislature was going to be an important place for the AWA to try to get involved regarding water law, “specifically the Delta Legislation.” He thinks there will be some follow-up bills to that legislation, along with bills making clarifications. Mancebo said the California Legislature will be active on water issues, and he thinks the AWA should really be involved in it. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Jackson Police Department announced the issuance of arrest warrants for 4 San Joaquin County residents in connection with a $25,000 burglary of Coldwell Banker last New Year’s Eve in Jackson. JPD said in a release today that arrest warrants were issued December 4th for 4 people in connection with the early morning burglaries January 1st of this year at the Jackson Coldwell Banker Real Estate Office and an attached apartment. JPD said those facing charges are already in custody elsewhere for similar crimes. Facing charges in the Jackson crimes are Michael Oneill, 24, of Ripon; and 3 Tracy residents: Brian Correll, 26, Aaron Johnson, 24, and Jennifer Cowan, 24. The 4 were charged with first and second degree burglaries. The investigation by Jackson Police “revealed that the 4 accused suspects checked into a room at the Jackson Lodge on New Year’s Eve,” December 31st, 2008. JPD said: “The burglary was discovered when the occupant of the apartment below Coldwell Banker returned home around 4:30 a.m. The investigation revealed that the suspects made entry into the apartment and then into Coldwell Banker through a common door.” Both locations were ransacked and approximately $25,000 in jewelry, personal items and computers were stolen. JPD said: “The investigation focused on the 4 suspects soon after their departure from the Jackson Lodge as they left a multitude of items taken in the burglaries.” Additional stolen items were recovered a couple of weeks later when Oneill and Johnson were arrested at a motel room in Tracy. JPD said all 4 suspects are currently in custody elsewhere on similar but unrelated charges as they were linked to numerous burglaries in the San Joaquin Valley. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - Torrance Assemblyman Ted Lieu has joined County Assessors from Amador, Lake, Sacramento, San Joaquin and Yolo Counties to warn homeowners about misleading and official-looking property tax reduction solicitations and to highlight a new law, Assembly Bill 992, which officially outlaws these fraudulent letters beginning January 1, 2010. “With property values dropping across the state, scammers are preying on unsuspecting homeowners by offering to help lower their property tax bill,” said Lieu. “These unscrupulous companies offer to file property tax reduction requests with the county assessor’s office, in return for an unnecessary fee of several hundred dollars from the homeowner,” he said. County Assessor Jim Rooney has said this same service is provided for free from the local assessor’s office, and there is no need for anyone to pay a fee to facilitate a property tax reduction. AB 992, a new law authored by Lieu, puts an end to this scam by preventing these miscreants to send solicitations that look like official government letters that attempt to collect a fee, and in some cases, even threaten a late fee if not acted upon immediately. County assessors from across California are being inundated with questions and concerns from property owners who have received misleading mailers. They are urging homeowners to be on the lookout for these mailers and to contact their local assessor’s office directly to properly file for lower assessments. “Assessors routinely value property reductions to ensure taxpayers are assessed at fair and equitable values,” said Dan Goodwin, President of the California Assessors’ Association and the County Assessor from Ventura, adding: “Unfortunately, there are people who are offering fraudulent services that not only cause confusion but charge homeowners unnecessary fees for a service that assessors routinely do for free.” AB 992 is sponsored by the Los Angeles County District Attorney and supported by the California Assessors’ Association and the California Association of Clerks & Election Officials. Lieu is chairman of the California State Assembly Rules Committee. He represents the 53rd Assembly District. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Plymouth City Council last week testified before the Amador County Board of Supervisors in a winning effort to get an agreement in place on the Arroyo Ditch, and talked about this week getting closer to turning on its water pipeline with a rare test. The Amador Water Agency, partners in the potable water pipeline, must conduct a “hot tap” test on the pressurized water line. Engineering Manager Erik Christeson told the AWA board last week that anyone who had not seen the rather rare procedure should come to the “hot tap,” 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Plymouth water plant site. AWA Director Terence Moore of Plymouth said the “they tap into a pressurized line and it requires a little skill to do that.” Moore said Friday that Plymouth is having trouble with the state health department in getting its permit for the pipeline, but the state will allow them to release a little water to flow into the system. He said they were afraid that the water, treated at the Tanner plant in Sutter Creek, “would loose its chlorine residual” and “have to be treated again.” He said tests have showed that the water that travels through the pipeline reaches Plymouth still having enough chlorine to be usable. Plymouth City Manager Dixon Flynn told the council that the AWA needs “some flow in order to keep the water circulating so it won’t turn stale.” He said the city would be getting water into its storage tank. Mayor Jon Colburn said he found it “interesting that Joe Spanos (of the state health department) was holding up the activation of the pipeline.” Colburn said Spanos was also the one who started the city’s building moratorium with a cease & desist order “20 years ago.” City Attorney Steven Rudolph gave an update on what he called council members’ and citizens’ “excellent testimony” before supervisors last Tuesday on the subject of the Arroyo Ditch. Supervisors eventually voted to lift a freeze on an agreement with Plymouth that clears the way for an agreement between Plymouth and the Shenandoah Water Company on sales of water from the Arroyo Ditch, diverted from the Cosumnes River. Rudolph said it “finally clears the way for the county to finally execute” an amendment to a 1980s agreement with Plymouth. Mayor Jon Colburn said the amendment makes it so that ownership of the Arroyo Ditch “no longer reverts back to the county,” and it also “allows us to sell water outside the county if needed.” Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors put $31,000 toward preserving its computer data, and another $14,000 toward having a say in Delta Legislation by paying its dues with a state group. The board also approved $2,000 to host a quarterly Mokelumne River Forum. Director Terence Moore said AWA “volunteered to hold the meetings when times were good,” but the funds were removed from the budget. Interim General Manager Gene Mancebo recommended using operating expenses to pay for the forum, formed in 2005 with 14 member agencies. The board approved $31,000 for 2 generators for backup power supplies for computers. Engineering Manager Erik Christeson recommended the backups, one each at the Tanner administration office and its shop. Questions raised in the November meeting led staff to look at what other groups do for backup. Moore said “we had to bite the bullet” because “in today’s world of electronics, you have to protect your database.” He said in recent outages, the agency flirted with losing bases, and looked at other organizations’ generators. They looked at Calaveras County Water District, and Amador County, the latter of which uses one huge generator to back up its computers. Moore said their backup generators far exceed AWA’s. The agency has a 15-minute backup battery, before the system must be shut down manually to avoid a crash, and risks losing its customer data base, which could take weeks to restore. The board authorized buying 2 floor-mounted, propane generators. The board also authorized Mancebo to pay $14,000 in membership dues to the Association of California Water Agencies. Moore said the board sent a “nasty letter” to ACWA threatening to withhold payment because ACWA voted to support Delta Legislation, despite a split among membership over that support. Moore said they must remain a member of the state organization in order to be at the “table and protest.” He said it was “tokenism to withhold dues.” The board also tabled a presentation by agency attorney Steve Kronick on the Amador Regional Sanitation Authority. At the start of the meeting, Kronick said he had about 2-and-a-1/2 hours of presentations left to give on ARSA, as the board considers whether it will join that board. Kronick suggested having a special meeting to address it, and the board will likely set an ARSA workshop in a special meeting in January. The AWA board next meets January 14th. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.