A downtown ARTS bus stop will soon have a new home. The stop in front of Hein & Company Used Books will be moved south to the parking lot next to Sue’s Shoppe on Main Street. The change stems from a transit development plan that stated the existing stop was not ADA compliant. ARTS hired LSC and Associates, a transportation consulting firm, to update their short-range transit development plans, which they are required to do once every five years. Sue Oneto, owner of Sue’s Shoppe, is not happy about the change. “I don’t like it,” says Oneto, “This parking lot is already congested (and I’m not looking forward to) people congregating in front of my store.” The new bus stop has even prompted Oneto to reconsider her Main Street location. “The Martell business park is looking better to me every day!” said Oneto. Hein & Company bookstore owner Wolf Hein says, “For us, it doesn’t really make much of a difference. Maybe we’ll (take this opportunity to) dress up the front a little bit and plant some trees.” Another option was to upgrade the current bus stop location to make it ADA complaint, but at a cost of approximately 10,000 dollars. Moving the stop was a much cheaper alternative. In addition to moving the sign, the City of Jackson will condense the existing parking spaces along Main Street from the new stop down to approximately JB’s Awards, to allow for more room in front of Sue’s for the ARTS bus. The entire project will be completed by next Tuesday, September 2nd, and ARTS will get the word out via signs at the old bus stop, notices on all buses, and on their website at www.amadortransit.com.

The Plymouth City Council and Planning Commission held a joint meeting Tuesday night in Plymouth and heard an update on the city’s General Plan. Plymouth Community Development Director Paula Daneluk and Bret Keast of the Kendig Keast Collective presented a working draft of the general plan, which Keast said they undertook nine months prior. Daneluk said the draft and presentation would be a way to discuss the plan, bring together loose ends and take a fine-tooth comb to it. She expected that the city would release a notice of preparation of an Environmental Impact Report on the General Plan soon after the meeting - probably in the next two weeks. Daneluk said that Tuesday night was not the only time to make comments on the draft EIR and that people could submit comments in writing to city hall. After the notice of the EIR is released, a thirty-day comment period ensues. After that, a draft EIR comes out for comments over a forty-five day period. The general plan update will include public hearings and likely a workshop. Keast said the plan projected Plymouth population to the year 2025, ranging from 2,102 to 2,542 people. He said the plan was built with comments from the public and included mention of an indoor multi-purpose center. Planning Commission Chair Sandy Fuller asked about a section on transferring population zoning density into outlying properties. Keast said that was a common measure used to control, pattern and manage growth. Fuller also asked about allowing higher population density within 300 feet of Highway 49. Keast said they were trying to avoid stripping all of the major roadways with commercial use. Bob Reeder of Reeder Sutherland, developers of two housing developments in Plymouth’s Sphere of Influence, said he appreciated the city’s moving along of the general plan process, saying it was good for the city and good for his company.

The City of Jackson has decided to extend their free parking on Main Street all the way through the holiday season. The original promotion was from Memorial Day through Labor Day, which would have ended this weekend. Normally, the city bags the meters for the holidays, but it didn’t seem to make sense to remove the “free parking” signs next week, only to have to replace them again at the beginning of the holidays. City Staff also recommended that the nominal citation fee of 11 dollars be extended to 25, as the city is currently missing out on about 80 dollars a day in meter revenue, which could translate into about 25,000 dollars per year. The Jackson City Council voted unanimously to increase the citation amount to 25 dollars for parking over the three-hour time limit, and extend the free parking promotion through January 7th in observance of Serbian Christmas.

Many Amador County residents have heard about the county-wide half cent sales tax increase that will be on the November ballot. Measure M, which is sponsored by the Amador Fire Protection Authority, or AFPA, would provide an estimated 2.4 million dollars to “allow for 24/7 coverage in existing fire stations across Amador County.” Two years ago, a similar measure, Measure L, almost passed with 62% of the required two-thirds vote. Proponents of this year’s measure are hoping it will get the green light, as funding for fire personnel is desperately needed. Jackson Fire Chief Mark Morton and Jackson City Manager Mike Daly will be giving a presentation on the measure at various locations throughout the county, as they did at Monday night’s Jackson City Council meeting. Morton and Daly dispelled some myths with their presentation, including the misconception that Amador County’s fire fighters are full-time employees. “ALL of the fire personnel in this county are volunteer,” says Morton. “They all have day jobs, and are just trying to put food on the table.” Morton also explained that most fire personnel respond to calls during their work hours. “Most of us have flexible jobs. Some actually take vacation time in order to (fulfill their duties as a firefighter),” explained Morton. In addition to the dire need for paid personnel, Morton noted that since 2001, call volume has increased by 44.4 percent, with the majority being medical aid calls. If this measure passes, the AFPA is looking at reorganizing the structure of Amador’s fire departments. The Amador Fire Protection District, or AFPD, which covers most of the unincorporated areas of the county, and the Jackson and Sutter Creek Fire Departments are looking at joining together and managing four fire houses: Jackson, Sutter Creek, one Upcountry station, and the newer Plymouth station. Each station would have a fire captain, with one “Operations Chief” overseeing all four. The AFPA has also been doing some research on how the Measure M funding would be spent. If you’d like to attend the next presentation to learn more about Measure M, it will be at the ACRA Board meeting on September 10th at 2PM at 810 Court Street, in the Board of Supervisors Chambers.

Officials representing Westover Airport and the County announced the official plans for an upcoming joint open house celebration. The announcement was made during the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, where General Services Director Jon Hopkins and Airport Advisory Chairman Chris Floyd outlined the many events planned for the ‘Wings and Wheels’ event on Saturday, September 6th. A plethora of activities are scheduled for what is being deemed the largest event in the airport’s history and the largest event of its type on the West Coast. According to Floyd, classic aircraft aficionados will fly in from as far away as Virginia to display their planes and in turn invest in Amador County through hotel stays and wine tours. “This will be a big airport open house for many…who are coming up to the airport for the first time,” Floyd said. A number of aircraft will be on display, as well as booths representing local businesses and services. These include fixed wing aircraft from the Highway Patrol, a CALSTAR Helicopter, a D.A.R.E. booth, demonstrations of remote controlled aircraft, and scenic helicopter rides from Helimax. But the biggest draw is free aircraft rides for children provided by the Experimental Aircraft Association, said Floyd. Over 20 booths are planned for the event. Hopkins mentioned “additional gray hairs” in reference to the massive traffic jam that could occur should parking not be organized in an orderly fashion. In addition to all the events on the hilltop, Animal Control will celebrate the grand opening of the newly redesigned shelter just down the road. Humane Society Representative Susan Manning spoke graciously of the County’s investment in a new shelter and a Board of Supervisors who are all “animal lovers.” She also jokingly referred to Supervisor Escamilla as “chef”, in reference to food he will be cooking and providing at the event. The Supervisors complimented all involved parties on their hard work.

Amador County Museum Curator Georgia Fox was honored in an emotional yet celebratory retirement presentation at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. Fox, who has worked for the County since 1989, has become the face of the museum and the champion of many local causes. Supervisor Richard Forster read aloud a resolution listing Fox’s many achievements during her lifetime. These include 10 years working for Union Oil, working as a model, presiding as President of the Sutter Creek Woman’s Club, service on the Amador County Sesquicentennial Committee, 15 years membership in the Amador County Historical Society, working with schools to increase youth interest in local history, and 30 years of contributions to the business community through her participation in a cooperative called Fox’s Den. Her time as a freelance model at Universal Studios gave her the opportunity to be photographed with celebrities like Jeff Chandler and Burt Reynolds. Each Board member took the opportunity to individually commend Fox for her years of dedicated service, and jokingly nudged her for stories about her time with Reynolds. Fox said she will miss the children more than anything, then added one final statement. “I’m willing to help with the museum someday and get started again; I will miss it very much. I love this county, you know.”

The Amador County Local Agency Formation Commission received some interesting numbers last week in an update to the recent county-wide Municipal Services Review. The MSR, which is mandated by the State, was presented to the County on July 14. The research and documentation contained in the MSR is no laughing matter, as it serves to provide LAFCO with information on the management of the County’s economic resources. It is the responsibility of LAFCO to create policy that regulates and resolves issues pertaining to spheres of influence between incorporated City lands and unincorporated County land, including annexation. In a County with a variegated history on the subject of entitlement to resources, issues and disputes surrounding property management and spheres of influence are often complex. Since the release of the MSR, the company who prepared the document, Burr Consulting, has been collecting comments from various agencies and government entities, which are, in turn, incorporated into the MSR’s content. LAFCO heard a presentation Thursday from research associate Jennifer Stephenson on the comments that have “impacted the document the most.” For example, as per request for more information from Councilwoman Pat Fordyce, a Fire Service Section was included in the MSR’s section on Plymouth. The added information included the fact that Plymouth currently pays a yearly rate of 22 dollars per capita for fire service to the Amador Fire Protection District. Stephenson noted that this is well below the county average; most Amador County cities pay between 35-48 dollars per capita for fire service. The Fire sales-tax initiative, which will be on the November Ballot, would add a total of approximately $53 dollars per capita county-wide for fire services, which is still well below the state average of $116 per capita. The LAFCO Board took no action on the commentary, but praised Burr Consulting, as well as LAFCO Executive Director Rosanne Chamberlain for their work in the preparation of the MSR. The Amador County LAFCO Board is also headed to Los Angeles for the State LAFCO Convention a week from Wednesday. For more information on LAFCO or the MSR, visit www.co.amador.ca.us/LAFCO.

It was a packed house Wednesday evening at the Amador County Transportation Commission meeting where close to 70 people showed up in full force to ask for Upcountry representation on the commission. Members of the Upcountry Community Council, or UCC, and the Pine Grove Council, or PGC, plus many Pine Grove and Pioneer residents want a representative from their region of the county, especially in light of the recent ACTC decision to widen Highway 88 to five lanes in parts of Pine Grove, a project that ACTC Commissioner and Amador County Supervisor Louis Boitano says, “is not cast in concrete.” Boitano says they will be using federal grant money to hold a series of public meetings, or “town halls,” to “find out what the Pine Grove residents want.” Pine Grove Council member John Carlson says, “I think they’ve already made the decision (to widen the highway). Holding town halls is like asking us what paint color we want,” referring to mundane details of what Carlson considers a pre-determined decision. Ginger Rolf, speaking on behalf of the Pine Grove Council, says, “Our objection is that (widening the highway) would wipe out the town of Pine Grove as we know it.” And as for fair and equal representation on the commission, the Board of Supervisors has the authority to appoint and/or replace up to three members of ACTC at any time. At Wednesday’s meeting, however, the commission expressed that they would not be making that recommendation to the board, as they want to first look into forming a Joint Powers Agreement, or JPA, with the five cities of Amador County and the county itself. ACTC Director Charles Field says that they have been researching the feasibility of a JPA for some time. The agreement would give ACTC the power to make their own decisions, including changing the size of the commission, as well as the make-up of its members. UCC member Debbie Dunn feels ACTC could have taken action at Wednesday’s meeting. “We offered them an opportunity to improve the democracy of the commission, and they chose not to do it. They didn’t even vote on it, “ says Dunn. Field noted that any member of the public could formally request that the Board of Supervisors appoint an Upcountry member. We’ll have more on this issue as additional details develop.

Amador County is one of five California Counties designated as primary natural disaster areas by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, along with Marin, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare Counties. Farmers in several other Counties adjacent to the disaster areas will qualify for government assistance programs, but special assistance will be designated to those areas hardest hit by statewide drought conditions. Amador farm operators will be eligible for low-interest emergency loans through the Department’s Farm Service Agency. Local farmers will have eight months from the time of declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their losses. Ongoing drought conditions and big winter freezes are primary reasons why farmers in Amador County have suffered underwhelming crop production. Although no local statistics are available, losses are mainly attributed to a freeze which occurred in March and April of this year. Crops of all types were affected, including Amador’s abundant grape yield. Dry conditions have also damaged at least 30 percent of farm crops in the affected counties, according to a memo by the farm bureau. For more information on the emergency programs available, visit the USDA website at the address on your screen.