Jackson - The Amador County Board of Supervisors considered sending letters of support to prominent elected officials relative to the construction of a compressed natural gas (CNG) station, with the discussion tabled until the matter is addressed further by the Amador County Transportation Commission (ACTC). The proposed station would provide fuel for Amador Regional Transportation System (ARTS) vehicles and other potential future fleets. In a letter to the board, ARTS Transit Manager James Means said they are planning an expansion and possible purchase of the closed Ford auto complex and maintenance facility in Martell in order to convert it into a “regional service, maintenance and vocational education center.” Means said a local natural gas station will “position Amador County Transportation and ARTS as leaders in environmental responsibility and provide local impetus and infrastructure to support conversion of county, school district and other public fleets to clean, inexpensive CNG fuel.” Representing ARTS at Tuesday’s meeting was Media Relations Manager Terry Grillo, who said “funding for all this is going to have to come through the federal government one way or another.” He reiterated Means’ request to send letters to Assemblymember Alyson Huber, Senator Dave Cox and Congressman Dan Lungren to solicit support for the project. Supervisor Richard Forster disagreed with some of the wording in Means’ request, and called any implication that the county will consider buying the Ford facility a case of “putting the cart before the horse.” “I have not heard we are moving forward with the Ford facility because of the cost involved,” he said. Grillo said he will be happy to consult Means and redraft the request. Supervisor Brian Oneto was skeptical about the proposed purchase, saying, “I don’t know how big we want to see public transit get.” He said that expansion could potentially take money from roads funding. Forster said “county lobbyists will be the ones to make the in-roads immediately” in terms of acquiring funding and said a request for support should first be made to Senators Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein. County Administrative Officer Terri Daly said David French, Amador County’s Federal Lobbyist, will be coming later in the month to “hash this out” in a meeting with ARTS and ACTC. She suggested holding off on the letter. Supervisors agreed to table discussions until after that meeting takes place. “I would hate to confuse our state legislators about what our priorities are,” said Daly. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.