Amador County – Plymouth officially joins the Amador Regional Planning Committee this week. Plymouth City Councilwoman Patricia Fordyce has attended several meetings over the last few months and was impressed enough to recommend joining the Regional Planning Committee. Fordyce has said that she was the skeptical member of the council when it came to the committee, but was convinced otherwise by its members’ professionalism and willingness to cooperate. Fordyce will represent Plymouth on boards of LAFCO and Amador County Recreation Agency and also the city PR & Community Events and Public Service committees. She will be the newest member of the board, which now has four new members for 2009. Those are Supervisor Chairman Ted Novelli and Supervisor Brian Oneto, and Amador County resident Rene Chapman. Chapman was selected January 7 by the Planning Committee as the “public member at large” on the committee. Fordyce said Chapman was selected from 10 “excellent” and “very qualified applicants,” for the post, vacated by Fiddletown resident and former Plymouth Councilwoman Elida Malick. The remainder of Planning Committee members are Councilman Tim Murphy of Sutter Creek, Mayor Connie Gonsalves of Jackson, and Councilwoman Andrea Bonham of Ione. Plymouth City Council in its December meeting approved membership in the Amador Regional Planning Committee, to be represented by Fordyce. Fordyce said last week that she took note of comments by Plymouth Councilman Greg Baldwin for some suggested changes to the Planning Committee’s “Memorandum of Understanding.” The annual review of the MOU is the topic of one of Wednesday’s agenda items, with possible updates listed as potential action. Also on the agenda is a “City of Plymouth Update.” Another agenda item will allow individual committee members to give updates on the status of the potential standardization of “Traffic Impact Analysis Guidelines.” Also, there will be a presentation by the City of Sutter Creek entitled “Revenue sharing as an Economic Development Tool” … “followed by discussion of the committee’s plans for this open agenda item.” Rounding out the agenda will be discussion of potential committee projects for 2009. The Amador Regional Planning Committee meets at 7 p.m. today in the Sutter Creek Community Building, 33 Church Street, in Sutter Creek. Story by Jim Reece