Amador County - The Amador County Board of Supervisors brainstormed ways to best take advantage of funding that will be made available if and when the federal government passes a new Economic Stimulus Package. During Tuesday’s meeting, Supervisors and General Services Administration Director Jon Hopkins listened via conference call to County Federal Lobbyist David French list off the best methods for obtaining a portion of the estimated $700 billion to $1 trillion stimulus. “In general, there has been a great amount of enthusiasm over a new stimulus package from the Obama administration,” said French. “There hasn’t been a definition as to what kind of restrictions, but the majority will be 100 percent grants,” he said. He added that the best way to take advantage of this funding would be to focus the County wish list on infrastructure, or “green projects.” These include energy, broadband and road repair. He also stressed the importance of projects that our “shovel ready.” Main support on a state level is coming from the office of Senator Barbara Boxer, who plans to have a revised request for California’s portion on the President’s desk by President’s Day.

He said Senator Diane Feinstein is also pushing for $150,000 or more for Amador’s proposed Community College. French stressed that in order to get its fair share, Amador County must be proactive, reaffirming ties through existing avenues with those who have granted funding in the past. Hopkins presented an ambitious Infrastructure/Energy Project list covering everything from updates to the Animal Control Livestock Facility to the Sheriff’s Office Detention Facility. Supervisors were in agreement that staff should begin taking action now in ensuring potential funding could be obtained for the most needed projects and updates. Public Works Director Larry Peterson had a separate list put together detailing $45 million exclusively for road upgrades and repairs, although he pointed out that only a small portion of this was beyond the proposal stage. ACTC Director Charles Field said there is a “local road funding crisis” and reminded council that there will be further discussion of road infrastructure at Wednesday’s ACTC meeting. Story by Alex Lane (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).