Amador County – The Amador County Transportation Commission last week unanimously ended discussion of a new tri-county Memorandum of Understanding with Alpine and Calaveras counties, which may help the Pine Grove Corridor Improvement Project move forward faster.
In negotiations, Calaveras County officials insisted on its project moving ahead, which Amador saw as beneficial to Calaveras, but no benefit to Amador.
Calaveras County Council of Governments Executive Director Melissa Eades (EEDS) said the Wagon Wheel project to straighten Highway 4 between Copperopolis and Angels Camp, was estimated at $72 million to $80 million. Supervisor Chairman and Commissioner John Plasse said the project’s phasing, starting with right-of-way acquisition, was more likely to lock in funds in repeated years, which could hurt ACTC projects.
ACTC Executive Director Charles Field said the agreement, “MOU 2 is no longer like MOU 1. We don’t see the win for Amador County, in the way things have evolved.” Field said “what the win is for Caltrans I’m not sure.” He wasn’t sure the Dec. 15 deadline would be a big advantage for the $80 million project.
“We would want something similar and they have not come close,” he said. Another $30 million to $40 million project was asked to be programmed for Amador County, and rejected by Calaveras.
Field said: “These meetings have taken a heck of a lot of staff time, and Neil (Peacock, Pine Grove Corridor program manager) and I are way behind.” Field said “if we pull out, we think we can advance the Pine Grove project faster.”
Supervisor and Commissioner Richard Forster asked what would happen if the partners wanted back their share of $1.7 million allocated for the Pine Grove project from the State. Field said ACTC would probably lose a few hundred thousand dollars to a million dollars. He said he would rather split now than later when more funds might be involved. He said they “can no longer go forward with an MOU that we interpret differently, very differently.”
Forster said they should also point out that “Amador County was there every step of the way to make their project whole.” Field said: “To the tune of $30 million” for the Angels Camp bypass. Commissioner Michael Vasquez said: “I didn’t know that we were using our staff time for their project.”
Commissioners and Field said the parties feel no “ill will” in the separation. He said ACTC could continue to seek other regional partnerships, and could “come back to Calaveras with a better deal.”
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
