News Archive (6192)
Amador County – The U.S. Forest Service announced last week that the Mormon Emigrant Trail will be closed due to snow likely until mid-June, and will not be available as an alternate route to Lake Tahoe, after Caltrans closed Highway 50 for two weeks, starting this week.
El Dorado National Forest Public Information Officer Frank Mosbacher said Mormon Emigrant Trail was expected to remain closed due to snow until mid-June. Mosbacher said the “popular El Dorado National Forest highway runs between Sly Park and Highway 88 is currently covered by 10 feet of snow on its eastern end, near Highway 88.”
He said the “road will not be available as an alternate route to Lake Tahoe with Highway 50 closing for two weeks of repairs to Echo Summit’s roadsides.
Caltrans is detouring traffic on Highway 50 eastward traffic and Highway 99 northward traffic to Lake Tahoe through Amador County, via Highways 16, 49, 88, and 89.
Caltrans District 3 made the decision to temporarily close the route while working to replace a rock wall at Echo Summit in El Dorado County. The project will include one-way traffic control for up to six weeks after Highway 50 is reopened. Highway 50 will be open with no restrictions on Memorial Day weekend.
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Plymouth city officials pore through Reeder residential project documents
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Plymouth City Council and Planning Commission held a joint session last week and discussed Reeder/Sutherland’s two residential projects Zinfandel and Shenandoah Ridge subdivisions.
Plymouth City Manager Jeff Gardner said Tuesday the meeting showed that the Commission and Council have a lot to understand “before they decide whether or not they want to approve the developments.” That includes seeing how the projects are “fitting together with the vision of Plymouth for the future.” Gardner said a lot of good suggestions came up from the panel, and they found some things they did not like.
The two projects plan for 485 single-family homes, including 370 in the Zinfandel Subdivision, and 115 in the Shenandoah Ridge Subdivision.
Gardner said: “We’ve got many more meetings.” The Environmental Impact Report and associated issues need to be addressed, and “we don’t have to have a tax revenue sharing agreement in place but I’d like to be done with that.”
The joint meeting was continued to May 18, and “something associated with this development project will start to be incorporated into regular meetings to get the work done, he said. “Potentially at build-out these two projects could double the size of Plymouth,” he said, and the city is actually working on its first Development Agreement in 20 or 30 years, after officially lifting a decades-long building moratorium based on the city water supply.
The city has completed its $3 million sewer upgrade project, and is awaiting a new waste discharge permit approval by the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Plymouth must still work out its Conditions of Approval for the project, and staff is also working on the a revenue sharing agreement with Amador County. Gardner said “the agreement has not even been given to the County yet,” and staff is “putting together a preliminary draft proposal.”
He has talked with Amador County Sheriff Martin Ryan’s office about expectations for service levels, and they must also address the possibility of losing “COPS” grant funding. Gardner said they “may not have money to pay for police services,” and he has “to sit and discuss some service levels with the county.”
The areas planned for annexation into Plymouth will have little or no commercial development, with right now only a very small piece of commercial property in the annexation area, right along Highway 49. As a result, he hoped the revenue sharing agreement would not address commercial development right now.
Staff have been working on the Development Agreement with Bob Reeder of Reeder/Sutherland, and staff also is working on Conditions of Approval, having started with the city attorney’s “boiler plate” document. He said “Conditions of Approval are relative to impacts,” and help mitigate impacts.
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Tour of California Bicycle Road Race will ride a leg through Ione next week
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Tour of California bicycle race will make a ride through Amador County this year, with a speed trial leg of the race stopping next week in Ione.
Funk said as the AMGEN tour, a professional bicycle race was preparing for race legs all over California, ACT was working with Ione Business and Community Association and the city of Ione administration “to organize a small festival of our various recreational opportunities.”
Maureen Funk, of the Amador Council of Tourism said she will be in Sacramento Monday at the Lifestyle Festival for AMGEN and she expected to tell all of their booth visitors about the time trial conclusion in Ione the next day.
The racers are expected to be coming into Ione between noon and 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 17th, said Funk, who said the festival in Ione will have booths to help people enjoy the excitement of the Amgen Cycling Road Race, the largest cycling event in the United States.
The Tour de-France style road race has been challenging the world’s top cycling teams in eight stages, the last several years, with participants including many recent Tour-de-France winners, including 7-time champion Lance Armstrong, who will be one of 19 teams in this year’s race. Armstrong is racing with Team Radioshack.
Ione will be part of Stage 3, the Auburn to Modesto leg, which is a 121.9-mile stage, which begins at 10:15 a.m. in Auburn and will conclude in Modesto at 3:30 p.m. Cyclists are estimated to come through Ione between noon and 12:30 from Michigan Bar Road to Highway 104, through downtown Ione, and the out of town on Highway 104.
Sharon Long of Ione said: “This leg of the race will be a sprint. There will be no parking in downtown until the cyclists have gone through Ione,” and “side streets around Main Street will be blocked off.”
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Amador County – Nine members of the Post 108 American Legion Riders will be leaving early Monday with some local fanfare to head to Rancho Cucamunga, where they will be part of the 23rd annual “Run For The Wall,” a cross-country motorcycle ride to honor all Prisoners of War and those Missing in Action, Killed in Action from all wars and to show support for military personnel all over the world.
Albert “Poncho” Villa, President of the Chapter 108 American Legion Riders and his Vice President Brian Dommes, and another of the nine riders, Denver Stauss, gathered today (Friday, May 13th) at the American Legion Hall in Sutter Creek to talk about the ride.
Villa said: “Veterans, active military and supporters of our military gather at Rancho Cucamonga to begin a ride across the United States to gather at Washington D.C. and celebrate Memorial Day along with thousands of other motorcyclists.”
Villa said about 200 motorcycle riders from across the country will converge on Rancho Cucamunga, and break into platoons of 30 or so motorcycles. He said they will have northern, southern and central routes, for the various platoons, with the object being to travel across the country to Arlington, West Virginia, to the Vietnam Veterans Wall.
Villa is a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, serving in 1969-1970. Some others of the nine Post 108 Riders are also. Eight are military veterans, the others and passengers, are either sons of Legionnaires, or members of the Auxiliary.
Villa said: “This is the first time to do this for all of us,” a ride for fallen vets, POWs, MIAs, KIAs and for wounded military. “This is an honor for them, for those who can’t ride. We call it a mission. It’s not a party, or a fun ride.”
Strauss said they have been planning and saving for 2 years, and expect to spend about $3,000 on the 10-day trip, on hotels, gas and food. They tried to go last year, but could not get the trip together in time. One rider from Amador went last year, and told them what to expect.
Brian Dommes, Post 108 Riders vice president, said the reason for the ride is a support effort to remember, and help the healing process from mental scars from what they saw and did over there. He said he is kind of scared, and knows it will be physically and very emotionally demanding.
The Post 108 Auxiliary will be giving the Amador Run For The Wall group coffee and pastries at 7 a.m. Monday, May 16, and Villa said they “will probably kick the stands up at 7:45 a.m.”
The Amador 108 Riders will ride through Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas, Missouri, and West Virginia.
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Supervisors prepare to return to the county General Plan update in two weeks
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday discussed its return to the county General Plan update, set for May 25-26, in a joint meeting with the Amador County Planning Commission.
Supervisors looked at minutes from 16 separate days of meetings of the Joint Panel, for the General Plan update began October, 2008, and meeting various times through to November 2009. Amador County Planner Susan Grijalva, and Planner Heidi Jacobs prepared the minutes from tape recordings or staff notes.
Supervisor Brian Oneto asked why the minutes only now were coming to the board, and Grijalva said it was a combination of short staff time, and they did not have other joint meetings to go back to. County Counsel Martha Shaver asked if they had gone through all of the recordings of the meetings, and Grijalva said no, but she thought the General Plan fairly well reflected the Board’s direction.
Supervisor Richard Forster said all of the people at the Board’s meeting March 22, who were concerned about getting to comment on the General Plan “they should get these too.” He said they should see that “there was a lot of discussion before we made those decisions.” Grijalva said the draft minutes must also be reviewed by the Planning Commission, and would be available through the county’s website, along with the draft General Plan.
Supervisor Ted Novelli said that the minutes did not include outreach meetings held throughout the county prior to those joint panel sessions. Forster said they also took public comment at all of the 16 meetings.
Supervisor Chairman John Plasse said he wanted people to know that the Board of Supervisors still had work to do to get to the point where they can hold a public hearing on the General Plan. He said he did not want to have a rehashing of issues they had previously addressed, when “work was done, decisions were made and direction was given.”
Plasse said he would ask that Board comments May 25-26 be made in the form of motions, to be voted on by the board. Grijalva said “where you are now, it is probably more appropriate to make motions and start being more specific in the direction, because now you have a document.”
Forster said when comments come, they need to see whether people have done their homework or not, so they can keep it constructive, and keep the meeting moving.
Plasse said he did not want it to turn into a rehashing of an issue that has been discussed 10 times before. He said some groups have approached him and said none of their comments were included in the General Plan. He said people need to read the documents before they make such comments.
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Jackson approves $6,000 for Amador County Chamber of Commerce budget
Written by Tom
Amador County – Jackson City Council on Monday approved $6,000 for the remainder the Amador County Chamber of Commerce budget requested in January.
City Manager Mike Daly said the Chamber went through a reorganization in late 2010, the Council approved $12,000 in January, and “also held back a portion of the funding to allow” the Chamber “to work on developing a stronger relationship with the Amador Council of Tourism, the other organization focused on attracting visitors to the city of Jackson and boosting the local economy.”
Amador County Chamber of Commerce Vice President Tom Blackman in a letter to the council described the changes at the Chamber, including the moving of its office from Mother Lode Plaza on Highway 49 onto Main Street in Jackson.
Blackman in the May 5 letter said Amador Chamber has “successfully continued our operations with one paid staff and an increasing number of regularly scheduled volunteers. We were happy to have completed our move and announce our new location on Main Street in Jackson.”
The Chamber’s new website is under construction by the Jackson firm, Element 58 and the site could be launched this week. Blackman said “we are transferring over member data, calendar events, advertising and our newsletter format.” He said it was “a real conduit to all people interested in our area literally from around the world.” He said the site was getting 100 hits a day and plans to “build off of that with increased membership and increased information available to the public.”
Blackman said with help from members, Amador County and Jackson, the “Chamber is alive and well” and “financial healthy, bills are paid and new membership is rolling in.”
The funding for the Chamber came on recommendation from the city Measure E Ad Hoc Committee, to provide funding for tourism and economic development services.
Also Monday, Jackson City Council approved making Transient Occupancy Tax funds available for applicant groups. City Manager Mike Daly said the process still must get under way. He said the TOT, a 2% tax approved by the 2002 Measure E, generates about $60,000 a year. Past recipients of the funds include the Chamber, Amador Council of Tourism, Main Street Theater Works and other organizations that promote tourism and economic activities.
The Council also approved Jackson Rotary to host a margarita booth at the Mother Lode Cruise vintage car show, set for Saturday, May 21 in downtown Jackson. The Council also gave the nod for the Art in the Park art and craft show for Saturday, June 4 at Detert Park.
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Sen. Ted Gaines asks Supervisors for a list for possible uses of Preston facility
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday briefly discussed the future of the Preston Youth Correctional Facility, and will be working on a list of possible uses they might want to see there.
Supervisor Ted Novelli reported in matters not on the agenda that Senator Ted Gaines and his staffer, Steve Davies have inquired about Preston, and urged the county to create a “priority list with what we would like to see with regards to Preston, once it is closed.” Novelli said that could include “letting people occupy” the facilities.
He said Gaines asked that Supervisors “voice our concerns” about what we would like to see out there. Supervisor Chairman John Plasse asked if they should be concepts or lists, and Novelli said the latter.
Novelli said Gaines’ office asked if they would “construct this list of what we would like to see,” and that could entail using some of the “29-32 buildings out there,” including the “one closest to the road,” and maybe it could be used to keep people out of the elements.
District 2 Supervisor Richard Forster said the Board of Supervisors should work closely with the city of Ione on the list. He said Ione has discussed some maintenance obligations which the city may be going to take over, with some kind of compensation from the state.
Ione City Manager Kim Kerr said Wednesday that she has had contact with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation about working on some care of the property. Kerr said she has given them a quote and was waiting to receive a response from the CDCR.
Supervisor Louis Boitano on Tuesday said Supervisors should wait until they see the agreement, before they proceed.
Also at Tuesday’s Supervisors’ meeting, Novelli reported that the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Authority executive director Rob Alcott had contacted him and said that East Bay Municipal Utility District has decided to pay 60 percent of the share of membership costs for the Upper Mokelumne Authority, in effect paying a portion of Amador County’s cost. Novelli in the last two months reported that he had asked East Bay MUD to pay more costs of membership in the Upper Mokelumne Authority, to make up for Amador County’s contributions in providing the nine-member Authority with legal counsel.
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Ione Fire Department helped with the delivery of a baby in a car
Written by Tom
Amador County – Ione Fire Department personnel helped to deliver a baby in a parked car Monday in the Ione Shopping Center, with the mother and baby reportedly doing just fine.
Amador County Dispatch sent responders to a call around noon Monday, saying a woman was giving birth in a Chevy Tahoe in the Ione Pharmacy parking lot, and it “sounds like the birth is imminent.”
City Manager Kim Kerr said Ione Fire Chief Ken Mackey assisted in the delivery, and it was not his first as a professional fire fighter, or even in that lot. Mackey said Wednesday he responded to the Ione Shopping Center, where “a successful delivery was made at 12:07 p.m., and the mom and the baby are doing fantastic.” Per confidentiality law, he couldn’t give out further information other than to say the “baby was doing great, the mom was doing great.”
Mackey said the vehicle was parked between the shopping center and pharmacy. “We have experience,” Mackey said,” and “in my 30 years with my department, that is the third delivery that I have been involved with in that particular parking lot. My career total is a lot more than that.”
Mackey said it was the 23rd birth he has been involved with in his fire fighting career. He said they have been a mixture of home and vehicle births, and “God’s been giving them to us for many years.”
Childbirth is part of the curriculum for all emergency medical technicians and responders, he said, and they teach you to make sure that when the baby comes out, they have a nice, soft blanket to go into and keep warm.
Mackey said “most of the time, you look at your kit and you never think about needing it, but it does happen. It’s part of our job and duty and it’s an honor to be there.” He said he spoke “on behalf of all the firefighters. We’re just happy to help out and serve them.”
He said it was not about him, but about the family, which “needs to be very proud of what is going on right now.” They have a very healthy baby, and it was a great moment.
Mackey is Chief of the Ione Fire Department, which last week inducted its first two paid fire fighting personnel, and will add a third in July. He said the Ione Fire still has a “backbone” that is the 100% volunteer, with 35 volunteer fire fighters who are paid by the call.
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Ione City Council congratulates City Manager Kerr on exit to El Dorado County
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Ione City Council last week congratulated City Manager Kim Kerr on her new position with El Dorado County, and wished her well, even as they must prepare to replace her in less than 90 days.
Mayor David Plank said he personally regrets her leaving, and he thought the city “would be blessed with her for six years,” instead of four. He said Kerr’s “expertise was immediately recognized around Amador County,” inlcuding former Amador Chief Administrative Officer Terry Daly, who selected Kerr for her Number 2 spot in El Dorado County.
Plank said those people who have the power to hire and fire know that there is no perfect candidate, and he was “certain Kim learned a lot in Ione.” He said she “succeeded in establishing a new, very high standard of governance here in Ione.” Plank said “congratulations to you on your new position.”
Vice Mayor Ron Smylie said “it was news to us on Friday,” May 29, when Kerr offered her resignation. He also offered congratulations, and commendation for her being able to step out of this role and into her next career role.
Councilwoman Andrea Bonham said it was good to work with Kerr for 4 years, which is the longest stint the city has received from a City Manager. Bonham said they “butted heads” sometimes, but “I enjoyed working with you.”
Councilman Lloyd Oneto wished her the best of luck. He said he did not know Kerr that well but she is a “strong-willed person and I’m sure you’ll do fine in your next endeavor.”
Councilman Daniel Epperson said: “Thank you for your hard work.” He said it had not gone unnoticed, as the progress occurred in Ione through Kerr’s term as city manager.
Kerr’s last day at Ione is July 29, and she will take over in El Dorado County as Assistant Chief Administrative Officer, to CAO Terry Daly.
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Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday accepted three traffic studies, including one that increases the speed limit on Willow Creek Road, but they put the brakes on two more studies, until a committee can discuss the issue.
Amador County Public Works director Roger Stuart said the studies were requested by California Highway Patrol, among 11 priority studies needed. The studies determine safe speeds and allow for enforceable use of radar guns and speeding tickets. Stuart said previous studies were all expiring in 2007, and Stantec was contracted to make the studies, which must be redone every 5-10 years.
Supervisor Chairman John Plasse said he would like to see the benefit to the county for the studies, which cost $2,500 each. He said Willow Creek Road, Village Drive, and Shenandoah Road, are ancillary, and he wondered why CHP made the requests for them to be studied.
Supervisor Richard Forster said you rarely see CHP on Willow Creek Road. He said there are quite a few houses on the road, and two wineries, and he wondered if that was considered, when the study determined the speed limit of 50 mph. Plasse said a new green waste processing plant could also be affected.
Forster asked if they voted against the 5 mph increase on Willow Creek Road, would it be enforceable. Stuart said it would not be radar enforceable without the increase, though other speed limit methods could be used.
Supervisor Brian Oneto said he asked the CHP commander if they could get statistics on the number of tickets written on county roads, but they could not say. He said without CHP there, they cannot get tickets written.
Forster said he was not going to vote for something that was not enforceable. The board voted 4-1 to approve the studies, which Stuart said would all be brought back with a draft ordinance for enactment. Plasse wondered about the list of CHP priorities, and Stuart said it went to Public Works.
Forster said: “To me, we actually hurt ourselves there” because the study said to raise the speed limit, and if we did not do it, then we can’t enforce it.” Forster said the issue should go to committee.
Administrative Officer Chuck Iley told Stuart to hold the last two “task orders” for studies, of Buckhorn Ridge Road, and Upper Ridge Road, until the issue goes to the Public Works Committee. Plasse said they should “talk about policy relative to speed studies.” He said “if enforcement is not happening despite the studies, then what good are the studies?”
Supervisor Ted Novelli wondered about liability, if they kept the studies from occurring or taking effect. Supervisor Louis Boitano said the county recently won a lawsuit over traffic deaths that occurred on Electra Road.
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