Amador County – Jackson City Council on Monday approved a $109,000 contract to line the city’s water storage pond and also agreed in principal to move the Caminetti Monument to Vista Point, pending a check of the cost.

City Manager Mike Daly said the city water system storage pond is made up of four concrete panels that have shifted, and become leaky. The liner was seen as the most effective way to stop the leak. Two bids came in for the project. One for $90,000 did not meet specifications of the bid, including material and warranty.

The other, for $109,000, did meet specs for quality of material, and Daly recommended the latter, saying the city cannot approve a contract that does not meet bid specifications.

The Council also voted to approve in concept the moving of the Caminetti monument, a 15-foot tall, four-and-a-half foot wide granite obelisk that has been in the same location, at the intersection of Highway 49/88 and Sutter Street, since its dedication in 1938. Daly said it was once part of the Detert Property that was given to the city, but since that time, the property has been divided from the monument with the building of Highway 49/88.

Councilman Keith Sweet brought the idea to move it to Vista Point, for which he and Rene Chapman wrote a successful grant to restore Vista Point and improve its facilities. Councilwoman Marilyn Lewis said it was a really great idea.

Sweet said he only brought the idea forward, as it came from two or three comments posted on Facebook, where people suggested moving the obelisk up there to Vista Point. He said he researched old newspapers from 1938 to see if there was a description of how they physically constructed the concrete pad on which the Caminetti monument sits, but found none.

Councilman Wayne Garibaldi said there has been various designs to realign Sutter Street and he assumed the moving of the Caminetti monument would eventually happen with that project. Garibaldi thought they ought to find out how much it’s going to cost to move, and if it will be $15,000, they may want to wait until Sutter Street’s realignment occurs, and fund it at the same time.

One man spoke in public comment, saying moving the Caminetti monument was a good idea. He also the Garbarini monument, below the Civic Center next to Jackson Creek, also deserved a better location. He said Garbarini was the city’s first mayor, dedicated 30-40 years of his lifetime to the city, and was a former stamp mill superintendent, and in 1897 was in charge of keeping 60 stamp mills running 24 hours a day, year-round, with Christmas and Easter excepted.

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