Amador County – Amador Water Agency board president Don Cooper has called a special meeting of the AWA board of directors for 1:30 p.m. Thursday, on the board’s regular meeting day, to discuss various issues of the Gravity Supply Line.

The agenda, under the listing “Agency General,” includes a presentation of a “new conceptual revenue plan for the Amador Water Systems,” with discussion and direction related to that issue.

The special meeting notice includes a note to the public saying “members of the public will have the opportunity to directly address the Agency Board of Directors concerning any item listed on this Special Meeting Notice before or during consideration of that item.”

Issues listed under the “Central Amador Water Project” include the Gravity Supply Line Project and discussion and direction regarding a letter of conditions from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s division of Rural Development. The board could also discuss and act on a GSL construction cost estimate and a “recommendation on construction bidding.”

The regular meeting starts at 9 a.m. and the agenda includes discussion of a report from Agency Counsel Stephen Kronick on the residency of AWA Board President Don Cooper, which was questioned by several members of the public at a previous meeting. In a report for the meeting, Kronick said that Cooper’s residency in Mace Meadows in District 3 was verified, according to various court rulings in other issues where people questioned water board residency.

Kronick, in part, noted that Cooper has a driver’s license with his Lodi address, but as part of a residency test, he intends his Mace Meadow home to be his permanent home. Cooper also has three motor vehicles registered with the DMV to his Mace Meadow address.

Because “the rule that ambiguities concerning the location of a domicile are to be resolved in favor of the right to hold public office, we conclude that Mr. Cooper’s domicile is his Mace Meadows home,” Kronick said. He concluded that “Cooper therefore may continue to serve on the Agency’s board of directors because he is domiciled in, and a voter of the Third Supervisorial District for which he was nominated and elected.”

The special meeting for the Gravity Supply Line discussion is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.