Amador County and the State, through CALFire and the
California Youth Authority, have reached a mutually beneficial barter program-
youth authority muscle, for Amador County Public Work’s asphalt. The program, approved Monday morning
by the County’s Administrative Committee provides for cleaning and clearing of
roadsides, ditches and general roadside maintenance by Pine Grove Camp crews in exchange for county crews
providing asphalt paving to the parking lots at the California Department of
Juvenile Justice’s Pine Grove Camp.
The Pine Grove Conservation Camp is located east of Pine Grove on Aqueduct Road. The camp houses about 110 wards
ranging from 17 to 25 years of age with personnel from two state agencies
staffing the camp.
The California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation is the custodial agency and is responsible for the health,
welfare, discipline, housing, and education of the wards. CAL-Fire, formerly
CDF, is responsible for
training and supervising wards working on public works projects and emergencies.
Since CAL-Fire is an "all risk" emergency agency, the wards respond
to wild land fires, floods, earthquakes, and other disasters. In addition to
emergencies, the wards perform public work activity. Working at no cost to the
government agency, these crews perform work which otherwise might not be
completed. The agencies using the services of the crews range from federal
agencies to the smallest special districts and in this case include Amador County.
Amador County, in exchange for the asphalt gets routine maintenance
completed for a fraction of the costs generally associated with the hiring of
crews. Another benefit to the county is that permanent county employees
can continue with their regular yearly duties saving the county time and money.
The proposal will now move on to the full Board of Supervisors.
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