Tuesday, 03 March 2009 23:33

Amador Water Agency

slide3.pngAmador County – Board President Terence Moore called a special meeting of the Amador Water Agency board for today to consider starting preparation work for the agency’s Gravity Supply Line Project. Board secretary Cris Thompson announced the special meeting Monday. The agenda includes the single item of discussion and authorization for General Manager Jim Abercrombie to execute a consulting agreement to perform geotechnical work needed for the design of the Gravity Supply Line. The line would connect the Buckhorn Water Treatment Plant on Highway 88 in Pine Grove with Tiger Creek, via a 20-ince pipeline, 33,000 feet in length. Abercrombie in a summary of the project earlier this year said the “project will also include a strategic placement of fire hydrants along the route that will improve capabilities of fire suppression in a corridor vulnerable to forest and grass fires.” In November 2008, the AWA approved a $6,875-dollar contract with consultants PBS&J to complete “Federal Cross-Cutting Environmental Regulations, to evaluate the Gravity Supply Line’s potential effects pursuant to 13 different state and federal environmental laws. The Gravity Supply Line would serve the Central Amador Water Project, and replace a pipeline installed 30 years ago as an “emergency repair,” but which has been in place since. It was placed in service by the former local Water District during a drought, to restore lost water pressure and ease the district’s extremely high fire danger. The Gravity Supply Line is one of 11 projects the AWA listed as its top jobs for which to seek funding in the Federal Stimulus Package. The estimated cost of the project is $11 million dollars. The project would reduce electric use by the agency equivalent to “nearly 50 percent of the total annual operation and maintenance budget” of the agency. The AWA board was already scheduled to hold a special meeting today for a closed-session conference regarding its suit against Kenneth Perano, as Trustee of the Ernest W. Perano Exemption Trust. The closed session starts and 9 a.m. and the open session starts at 9:30 a.m. today in the AWA office, at 12800 Ridge Rd in Sutter Creek. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.