Amador County – The Jackson City Council heard a report Monday that it may once again receive funding from the Jackson Rancheria Casino. After discussing city budget woes, City Manager Mike Daly said he had “good news: The Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund is back, after one year, after a slip of the blue pen by Mr. Schwarzenegger.” Daly recommended reviewing project ideas for the grant funding, with the application due to be submitted next Wednesday (February 18th) to the Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee. That committee includes elected officials from cities within four miles of the casino, along with two members each from the board of supervisors and from the casino. The committee includes Mayor Connie Gonsalves and Vice Mayor Wayne Garibaldi of Jackson, Mayor Gary Wooten of Sutter Creek and Supervisors Richard Forster of District 2 and John Plasse of District 1. The Jackson Rancheria’s Rich Hoffman and Bo Marks round out the committee, which Daly said “has agreed to use the same application and review process used two years ago,” the last time funds were allocated. The amount to be shared with the communities will be $616,826 – the same amount total shared in 2007. Jackson Police Chief Scott Morrison said one project he would like to see paid for with the funding would be to outfit a vehicle for a new police dog, recently flown into Jackson from Germany. He said the dog will be handled by Reserve Officer Al Lewis, a recent retiree from the Bay Area. The vehicle would be outfitted with a special protective cage to keep the dog and passersby safe. It would also have an alarm to warn the handler of harmful conditions within the vehicle. Garibaldi suggested parking and road improvement since the Rancheria has directed all of its traffic to enter the Rancheria via Highway 88 and Dalton Way. Gonsalves asked about funding for programs about related crime. Morrison said since that was last mentioned, he has received “boxes and boxes of free literature” for that purpose and his department is going through it. Daly said “the funds are there for mitigating impacts in the community,” while the state keeps other funds for programs such as Gamblers Anonymous. Garibaldi said this could be the last year for the funding, due to “sunset laws.” Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).