Amador County – City Manager Kim Kerr explained how Ione went without reporting samples from its wastewater treatment plant since 2006. The California Water Quality Control Board in a letter said the city could face a maximum fine of $2.56 million, and the Ione City Council discussed the matter Tuesday. Kerr said the fine amount is a “worst-case scenario,” and Councilwoman Andrea Bonham said it seemed to be based on a possible $1,000-a-day fine. Kerr said she did not expect the fine to be the full $2.56 million. Vice Mayor Skip Schaufel asked who was responsible for the failure to submit quarterly reports for 454 days. Kerr said the contracted chief wastewater plant operator, Julio Guerra, was immediately responsible, but she was ultimately responsible for the last 18 months as city manager. The problem spanned 3 years and she said the failure to report was blamed on “a multitude of various excuses … basically, it’s a health issue, it’s this, it’s that.” She said she “never got information to this extent.” Schaufel asked if Guerra ever “talked to you about getting reports on time.” Kerr said that did not happen, though since last February, they had talked about quarterly reports, but she “did not have totality to see that there were issues” from 2006 forward. Kerr said “we are now looking at trying to have everything done 10 days before the due date.” All past due reports had been submitted in the last week except 3, expected to be completed this week.

Councilman Jim Ulm said the board “doesn’t accept excuses” and “we need to have things done … I want it done, whatever it takes to do it. We have to have oversight on this, and ultimate responsibility is the council members’.” Ulm said it’s the city manager’s responsibility to take care of the reporting, and “if nothing is done, I don’t have any problem taking care of that too.” Ard said he saw the city following the process to right the errors. Schaufel said reports were 34 months late and he wanted to see “letters of completion on reports” and receive “a copy of the report that was mailed.” Kerr said reports are on file in City Hall, including every report issued since July 2008, and “you can see the due date and when it was submitted.” Schaufel said: “The people we are contracting with need to be talked to – I don’t want to use the word shot. If I contracted with someone who works like this, they would have been fired a long time ago.” The council directed staff to have a standing agenda item for wastewater plant operation status reports and also to look at options for hiring a contractor for the entire operation of the plant. Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).