Sutter Creek – The Amador Water Agency Board of Directors heard the history and workings of the Amador Regional Sanitation Authority Thursday, with the object of learning enough to decide whether or not to join the 31-year-old Joint Power Authority (JPA). AWA attorney Steve Kronick said “it is an extensive amount of information” and he is not fully versed on the subject, including legal agreements, obligations and shared liabilities. Kronick planned to give the presentation over 3 meetings, and he said questions may arise from AWA board members that he may not be able to answer. He said the goal was that the board be “fully informed” about ARSA in order to decide whether or not to try to become a member of it. ARSA was formed in 1978 by Jackson, Amador City, Sutter Creek and Amador County. Kronick said “the original intent was to have 1 government agency carry out regional disposal of treated wastewater.” Jackson extricated itself from the JPA in 1982. AWA Interim General Manger Gene Mancebo said the agency does “not know to what degree Amador County wants off of the board” of directors of ARSA. He said Supervisor Chairman Ted Novelli was going to bring that back to a Joint Water Committee meeting, after hearing from supervisors. Kronick said state joint power law says that the liabilities of a JPA are the same to all its members, unless otherwise specified in the JPA. He said the ARSA JPA agreement does not say otherwise, “so the debts of ARSA are the debts of its member entities.” Kronick said breakdown by “proportion” of the share of debt is not indicated in the JPA, so in the event that someone is owed a debt by ARSA, that person “probably can pick who they want to sue to fulfill the obligations due.” Kronick said logically, the debtor “would look to a deep pocket to fulfill that obligation.” He said an amendment to the JPA would not erase past debts, only change proportions from that point forward. Mancebo said the partially state-owned ARSA system, with pipelines between Amador city and Castle Oaks Golf Course could require an estimated $30 million to as much as $50 million in upgrades, to replace pipelines and systems. Kronick said adding a new member to ARSA’s board would require an amendment to the agreement, and he said the AWA could not simply take Amador County’s membership on the board. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.