At their
meeting last Thursday night, the Plymouth City Council once again revisited the topic of participation
in the Amador Regional Planning Committee, a discussion that has been underway
for months. The Amador Regional Planning Committee is the brainchild of
Sutter Creek councilman Tim Murphy, and was established in early 2007. According
to the Committee’s Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, the committee was
created in order to “require a more formalized structure to address the
increasing regional pressures upon infrastructure, municipal services, and land
use planning.” Since its inception, the County
of Amador, as well as the cities of
Sutter Creek, Jackson,
and Ione, have joined.
The committee consists of one elected official from each participating city and the Amador County Board of Supervisors. Plymouth Council members discussed proposed changes to the Memorandum of Understanding that they will present to the Regional Planning Committee Members. The Council’s primary issues with the MOU center around subjects such as revenue sharing, increasing rates for services, as well as the possibility that the committee could become the major power in determining the direction of planning and associated revenue in the county. The changes to the MOU proposed by the council included provisions that would require the unanimous approval of all cities and the county before any changes are made to the “duties, responsibilities, and limitations” of the committee.PlymouthBaldwin stated, “Joining this committee could put us on a level playing field with the county. They have been a big player in our planning process. Now I think its time they step up to our plate and live up to their words.”
The Council would also like to see a limitation placed on the number of committee members, requiring them to be actual elected officials of the cities and the county. If the committee agrees to accept the changes, then the city council will consider joining. Vice Mayor Pat Fordyce and Councilman Greg Baldwin will attend the next Regional Planning Committee Meeting to discuss the proposed changes. At the close of the discussion,
