Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors announced plans for a budget workshop next week, and its president predicted a late balanced budget.

Board President Director Don Cooper said he expected the budget to be finalized by mid-July, after the start of the fiscal year. Agency General Manager Gene Mancebo said negotiations continue with employee bargaining units.

In “public matters not on the agenda,” Bill Condrashoff asked for the May “cash flow chart.” He also mentioned that information requests by the public were delayed or denied. Mancebo said “there are some pretty voluminous requests” and “some are not clear, and we’re asking for requests to be a little bit more definitive.” He said the cash flow chart typically takes about 10 days to produce.

Thornton Consolo said he was concerned about how much money the AWA owes to Sutter Creek, and if it was delinquent. He asked if there was an amount “agreed upon” to be owed for municipal wastewater capacity improvement.

Mancebo said “there is no agreement for past due dollars,” and the agency is waiting for a response from Sutter Creek. He said the agency paid some invoices, but there will not be more payments until Sutter Creek makes the final computation of the cost share. At their last meeting, Mancebo said Sutter Creek’s City Manager Sean Rabe was awaiting confirmation of numbers from City Finance Director Joe Aguilar, who needs to get the right numbers to find the correct shares.

Mancebo said “we are making an attempt to settle this.” Consolo asked him if the agency had a “minimum amount agreed upon” that it owed Sutter Creek. Mancebo said there was not. Agency Counsel Stephen Kronick then stopped Consolo, saying that the “public comment period is for comment. It’s not for cross examination or interrogation.”

Consolo said “there should be a summary given” and he believed “you owe Sutter Creek more cash than you have.” Director Paul Molinelli said “it is safe to say the agency owes Sutter Creek some money.” The directors said they fully intend to pay the city what it was owed.

Mancebo said until the numbers are finalized, they did not know the amount, though they could estimate the cost the agency owes.

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