Amador County – State funding freezes have affected several Amador County agencies and projects in the last few weeks, and prompted various political bodies to gather lists of the more fund-able projects. New Amador County Board of Supervisors Chairman Ted Novelli gave a board of supervisors update to the Upcountry Community Council and 15 of its attending board members last Thursday at the Pioneer Veterans Hall on Buckhorn Ridge Road. He said Upcountry’s representation was looking up, with himself and his Planning Commission appointee both taking leadership roles recently in the county government. Denise Tober, Novelli’s appointee in the District 3 was selected by the Planning Commission as its chairwoman. But as talk looms over bailouts and the expected federal infrastructure care package on the horizon, he asked, “Is little Amador County going to get any of this? That is my question to the newly elected administration, President Elect Barack Obama.” Council member Nina Machado, representing Williams Road Tract, asked if any of the money would be earmarked for rural projects. UCC Co-chair Debbie Dunn said the local lobbyist in Washington, D.C., said there is going to be some rural consideration, with the determination yet to be made on the state agencies to distribute funds. Novelli said in the ballpark of $700 Million to $1.5 Billion, “how much does Amador get?” One among 58 counties in the state, Novelli said California is third largest geographically, and Number 2 in forest lands. Dunn said the Fed is “looking for projects ready to go now,” for bridges, pipelines and the like. Novelli said the Amador Water Agency’s Gravity Supply Water Line is one of those projects and something needed in the Upcountry. “We need this water to be gravity-flowed down to the Buckhorn Water Treatment Plant,” Novelli said. The gravity flow supply line would operate solely on gravity and eliminate the need for electric pumping of water to Buckhorn, erasing half of the annual budget of the Central Amador Water Project. Story by Jim Reece
Sunday, 18 January 2009 23:33
Upcountry Community Council: Update
Amador County – State funding freezes have affected several Amador County agencies and projects in the last few weeks, and prompted various political bodies to gather lists of the more fund-able projects. New Amador County Board of Supervisors Chairman Ted Novelli gave a board of supervisors update to the Upcountry Community Council and 15 of its attending board members last Thursday at the Pioneer Veterans Hall on Buckhorn Ridge Road. He said Upcountry’s representation was looking up, with himself and his Planning Commission appointee both taking leadership roles recently in the county government. Denise Tober, Novelli’s appointee in the District 3 was selected by the Planning Commission as its chairwoman. But as talk looms over bailouts and the expected federal infrastructure care package on the horizon, he asked, “Is little Amador County going to get any of this? That is my question to the newly elected administration, President Elect Barack Obama.” Council member Nina Machado, representing Williams Road Tract, asked if any of the money would be earmarked for rural projects. UCC Co-chair Debbie Dunn said the local lobbyist in Washington, D.C., said there is going to be some rural consideration, with the determination yet to be made on the state agencies to distribute funds. Novelli said in the ballpark of $700 Million to $1.5 Billion, “how much does Amador get?” One among 58 counties in the state, Novelli said California is third largest geographically, and Number 2 in forest lands. Dunn said the Fed is “looking for projects ready to go now,” for bridges, pipelines and the like. Novelli said the Amador Water Agency’s Gravity Supply Water Line is one of those projects and something needed in the Upcountry. “We need this water to be gravity-flowed down to the Buckhorn Water Treatment Plant,” Novelli said. The gravity flow supply line would operate solely on gravity and eliminate the need for electric pumping of water to Buckhorn, erasing half of the annual budget of the Central Amador Water Project. Story by Jim Reece
