News Archive (6192)
Friday, 03 September 2010 06:17
AWA, Sutter Creek offer water main, phasing changes for new grocery store
Written by Tom
Amador County – A grocery store is quickly following the new Walgreens pharmacy to Sutter Hill, and local agencies have helped prepare the way for its development. The Amador Water Agency Board of Directors last week agreed to extend a water main to a new “Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market” grocery store being built at Sutter Creek Crossroads shopping center, while deferring the rest of the connections for the project to later phases. AWA Interim General Manager Gene Mancebo said the board amended an agreement with Petrovich Development, the company that built the complex containing the new Walgreens store. Mancebo said the amendment will allow Petrovich to extend a water main to the Fresh & Easy building, rather than completing all of the facilities required for phase 2 of Petrovich’s planned overall project. The Fresh & Easy building is now under construction as part of the new Phase 1 approved by the Sutter Creek City Council.Paul Petrovich, president of Petrovich Development, also asked the AWA board to consider accepting a bond in lieu of almost $250,000 the agency now holds in escrow to guarantee that the developer completes the infrastructure improvements at Sutter Creek Crossroads. The board asked AWA General Manager Gene Mancebo to accept Petrovich’s bond if AWA legal counsel agrees that the agency would be equally protected. Sutter Creek City Council in its early August meeting approved a modification to the city’s “deferred improvement agreement” for the Fresh & Easy.
Acting City Manager Sean Rabe said the original agreement dated from June 2009 and “allowed the development to defer specific improvements to the second phase of development.” The “primary improvements deferred include storm drain improvements and the overlay of Bowers Drive.” Rabe said the “store would like to locate in a corner of the development that is considered to be part of Phase 2.” The developer requested and the city council approved a “stand-alone building” for Fresh & Easy “to be built in the first phase of the development.” Rabe said “because of its proximity to the original first phase, adding the new building into the first phase will not trigger any of the deferred improvements to be necessary.” The August 2nd city council approval in effect increased the “boundary of the first phase” and decreased the boundary of the second phase. Fresh & Easy has locations in California, Nevada and Arizona and, the company’s website lists its aim to be a neighborhood market. It has solar panels at a distribution center, runs a “Shop For Schools” program and gives $1,000 donations to local charities nominated by customers. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Friday, 03 September 2010 06:14
Cameron Park Wells Fargo bank robbed, $25K reward offered for info
Written by Tom
El Dorado County – Wells Fargo is offering a $25,000 reward for useful information in a robbery of its Cameron Park bank branch that occurred last month in El Dorado County. The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department in a mid-August release said the Wells Fargo at 3440 Palmer Drive in Cameron Park was robbed at gunpoint by three males at 10:05 a.m. on Thursday, August 19th. Authorities said no one in the bank was injured during the robbery. El Dorado Sheriff’s Lieutenant Bryan Golmitz in the release said witnesses describing the incident said “two suspects entered the bank,” and “one was carrying what appears to be an assault rifle and began shouting at those inside the bank to get on the ground.” The second suspect reportedly “jumped over the counter and demanded money,” and the “third suspect stood at the front door of the bank as the robbery took place.” Golmitz said the “suspects fled the bank with an undisclosed amount of money,” got into “a late model Honda 4 door sedan and left the area.” El Dorado County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the area and located the suspects’ vehicle abandoned in a neighborhood that was approximately a mile from the bank. Deputies searched the surrounding area without locating the suspects. They contacted several residents who noted that two males were seen exiting the suspect vehicle and entered a white Geo Prism, which then left the area. The three suspects are described as males possibly in their 20s. Ethnicity cannot be established at this time due to clothing and covering, which the suspects wore during the robbery. The suspects were last seen wearing hooded sweatshirts, some sort of covering over their faces, and jeans. Preliminary investigation suggests that the suspect’s vehicle, which they abandoned, was possibly carjacked out of Oakland this week. The El Dorado Hills Telegraph online reported that it was the second armed robbery at the Bel Air shopping center since a February armed robbery of a check-cashing business. The Telegraph reported that Wells Fargo Bank “is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for an armed robbery of its Cameron Park branch.” The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office at (530) 621-6600. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Friday, 03 September 2010 06:12
BLM plans rare plant preserve at Kanaka Valley, near Rescue
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Bureau of Land Management has set 2 meetings for public input on management planning for a new 700-acre rare plant preserve in El Dorado County’s Kanaka Valley. The BLM Mother Lode Field Office will hold public meetings on Sept. 9 and Oct. 7 in Rescue for the community-based management plan of the Kanaka Valley area near the Pine Hill Preserve. BLM Biological Science Technician Lauren Fety said the meeting will “provide the opportunity to learn more about the planning process and work on a draft vision statement.” BLM Public Affairs officer David Christy said the bureau in February acquired nearly 700 acres of habitat for rare plants and other wildland species. The land is in western El Dorado County near the town of Rescue. Christy said “management planning will continue to engage interested parties through a series of local meetings open to the public.” Information is available through the Mother Lode Field Office website. The 695-acre purchase was a cooperative effort by the BLM, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the American River Conservancy. Christy said the “Kanaka Valley is a diverse ecological system that provides healthy wildlife habitat and watershed services.” He said “Kanaka Valley is a low-elevation wet meadow system that naturally stores rain water and moderates the release of seasonal flood waters to Folsom Reservoir.” Kanaka Valley was named for the native Hawaiians known as Kanakans who came to California just before the Gold Rush. They settled in the valley and said it reminded them of their native land. The Kanaka Valley land acquisition provides 343 acres of woodland, with blue oak, valley oak, blue oak foothill pine, and montane hardwood. It also has 100 acres of riparian habitat along Jill’s Creek and Crocker Creek, both of which flow into Folsom Reservoir and support native fish populations. The parcels also contain 167 acres of chaparral, which provides habitat for 7 rare plants, and includes known and potential habitat for 4 federally listed plant species. For more information, contact Fety at (916) 941-3133. The meetings are 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday September 9th, and Thursday, October 7th at the Rescue Union School District Board Room, 2380 Bass Lake Road, in Rescue. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Thursday, 02 September 2010 05:31
Public land fire restrictions activated in Amador BLM region
Written by Tom
Amador County – The U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Wednesday implemented fire restrictions on all BLM-managed public lands in Amador County and the Mother Lode Field Office boundary. BLM Public Information Officer David Christy announced the fire restrictions in the region that covers 11 counties, with 230,000 total acres of managed public land. The restrictions prohibit all open fires on public lands because of extremely dry conditions, said Gerald Martinez, fire management officer. He said: “With the recent high temperatures, fuels are extremely dry.” Christy said “campers are urged to be familiar with special limitations prior to visiting any public lands” in the affected region. The Mother Lode region includes BLM-managed public lands in Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Mariposa, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tuolumne, and Yuba counties. The fire restrictions will remain in effect until further notice, Christy said. A valid California campfire permit is required for all fires. The campfire permits are available free of charge at any BLM, U.S. Forest Service, or California Department of Forestry office, but campers need to be aware of restrictions in the area they are visiting. The restrictions in the Mother Lode region include no open fires, campfires or open fire stoves, except lanterns and portable stoves using gas, jellied petroleum or pressurized liquid fuel. Also banned is welding or use of any torch with an open flame, except by special permit. Explosives are also restricted, except by special permit, and no operation of internal combustion engines is allowed except on maintained roads. Restrictions also limit firing tracers or incendiary devices capable of starting a fire; and fireworks. Violations are punishable by fines up to $1,000 and/or imprisonment for up to one year in jail. For additional information contact BLM’s Mother Lode Field Office at (916) 941-3101. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Thursday, 02 September 2010 05:38
Stockton-based Caltrans supervisor pleads guilty to taking bribes
Written by Tom
Amador County – A Stockton-based Caltrans supervisor pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to charges of accepting bribes from two east bay area residents. Clint Gregory, 48, admitted to charges of bribery, bid rigging and fraud related to agency contracts. He admitted to awarding a series of contracts and approving fraudulent invoices for InfoTek Associates. The FBI and federal prosecutors said Gregory’s plea agreement stipulates he will cooperate in cases against 56-year-old Siavash "Mike" Poursartip and 52-year-old Sara Shirazi, both of Walnut Creek. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said both individuals have plead not guilty to charges of bribing Gregory with cash, a Persian rug, a mobile phone and other various gifts. Prosecutors said each contract was worth less than $131,000, but Caltrans lost more than $1.2 million over a five-year period. Gregory was a 17-year employee of Caltrans District 10, headquartered in Stockton. His recent role was as a senior transportation engineer. District 10 oversees three Central Valley counties and five Sierra Nevada counties, including Amador County. Caltrans declined to comment on Gregory. InfoTek, a Sacramento-based company, is described on its website as providing “cutting-edge solutions for your wireless, real-time data collection, transfer, and analysis needs.” Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Amador County - On Saturday, September 25th, people who care about the Mokelumne River will gather at five sites from Pioneer to Lodi for the 2010 Mokelumne River Cleanup. “People who participate in the Mokelumne River Cleanup have a great time while they do something good for our local river,” said Randy Berg, Foothill Conservancy coordinator for the 2010 Mokelumne River Cleanup. “For the second year in a row, we’ll be joining volunteers across the Sierra as part of the Great Sierra River Cleanup and people all over the state taking part in the California Coastal Cleanup.” Mokelumne participants will work along the river’s banks, in the river, and on Camanche Reservoir removing trash accumulated through the summer months. Previous cleanups over the last 20 years have cumulatively removed tons of trash and recyclables. The cleanup benefits wildlife and water quality while keeping the river a beautiful place to visit. Participants must register in advance. The event will be held at five locations: the Highway 26 North Fork Mokelumne crossing, Electra Road, the Middle Bar area, the lower Mokelumne from the Mokelumne Day Use area downstream to Lodi, and Camanche Reservoir. This year’s Mokelumne River Cleanup sponsors are the Foothill Conservancy, the East Bay Municipal Utility District, the Mokelumne River Outfitters, and the Camanche Recreation Company. Business sponsors include ACES Waste Services, California Waste Recovery Systems, New York Fitness, Martell Safeway, and Munnerlyn’s Ice Creamery. The Great Sierra River Cleanup is sponsored by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. Volunteers should wear long pants and sturdy boots and bring along work gloves, a hat, insect repellent, sunscreen, a water bottle and a bag lunch unless they plan to participate in a post-cleanup barbecue for volunteers at Camanche South Shore. Water and snacks will be provided. Flotation devices are recommended for those working close to the river’s edge. Properly equipped paddlers are welcome to help from the river at Electra, Middle Bar and Highway 26, and possibly other sites (ask when you register). No pets or alcoholic beverages, please. For more information, contact Randy Berg at 209-295-4900, e-mail randy@foothillconservancy,org or visit www.foothillconservancy.org. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Amador County - The Amador County Wine Cellar will be closing its doors on September 7th after almost four years as a popular destination in Amador City. Owner Corrine Moore told the Sacramento Bee that the bad economy was to blame. Moore has a wealth of knowledge on brands she pours at the cellar on a regular basis, including Lang Wines, Calabria Vineyards, and the product of her own business, Wine Tree Farm. She said the closure will allow her to focus more of her energy on Wine Tree Farm, which specializes in such varietals as grenache, syrah and mourvedre. “I love the wine bar and pouring wine for people who didn't have tasting rooms, including my own. I loved talking to the people and educating them,” said Moore to the Sacramento Bee. The buidling’s owner, Joyce Davidson, says she will continue to carry many of the wines Moore pours. The Amador County Wine Cellar is located at 14207 Highway 49 in Amador City. The cellar will be having a sale starting today (Thursday, September 2nd) through Monday, September 6th, which is Labor Day. The sale is 20 percent off all merchandise and 10 percent off all wines. For more information, visit www.amadorcountywinecellar.com. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Thursday, 02 September 2010 05:41
Ione, Supervisors discuss Sphere of Influence, future of Ione
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors and the Ione City Council in a joint meeting Tuesday discussed an agreement on land use designations in the proposed new “Sphere of Influence” for the city before tabling the issue, which nearly stalled on one requirement the city is seeking. City Planner Christopher Jordan presented a Memorandum of Understanding as part of the city’s application for a sphere of influence amendment. Supervisor Ted Novelli said “as chairman of the Local Agency Formation Commission” he would like to see future meetings noticed to LAFCO director Roseanne Chamberlain, who he said should have been at the meeting. Jordan said LAFCO was notified and he would follow up with Chamberlain. The amendment would add about 160 acres to the sphere and remove about 16 acres, for a 4,581-acre total. Jordan said the city’s general plan for the areas included “Special Planning Area” designations that developments would have to work through, including one with 190 “equivalent dwelling units,” and another, at Q Ranch, with 850 EDUs in single-family homes. Jordan said positives of the agreement would be to allow the city to implement its General Plan, and to direct growth to the city, where services are available. City Manager Kim Kerr urged a vote, saying if the county would not support obligatory land use designation by the county, it was not worth pursuing the MOU. Supervisors nearly voted against the MOU, but instead voted to table it until the county’s own General Plan is done, or near done. Supervisor John Plasse said the problem is as cities develop outward, housing near agricultural land needs a buffer. Supervisor Richard Forster said ranching and farming industry neighbors of Rancho Arroyo Seco are “eventually going to be surrounded by houses.” Supervisor Chairman Brian Oneto said Q Ranch high-density would be located next to Williamson Act lands. Plasse said the county could try to “look at some sort of MOU that addresses all cities,” but he didn’t agree with having a special agreement for Ione. Plasse said the “county does not want to relinquish power over land in the Sphere of Influence simply for the sake of the city’s General Plan vision.” Councilwoman Andrea Bonham was worried about protecting the area’s “viewshed” from 5-acre parcels that spread out development as has happened in Elk Grove. Jordan said: “What if someone wants to split up ranch land? Do our comments have the same weight and force as their requests?” Plasse said it was not about the vision of the future but about “land use authority and how far it infringes on property rights.” Councilman Lee Ard suggested that supervisors first get “further down the road” with their own General Plan, “then come back and have this conversation.” Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Amador County - The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to oppose a proposed plan to reconfigure Local Emergency Medical Services Agencies (LEMSA’s). The recently-revealed plan by the State EMS Authority would redraw the boundaries of the current LEMSA’s into seven areas and rework the funding formula for counties. The plan has already drawn opposition from a number of regional medical service agencies and the Regional Council of Rural Counties, which represents member counties in areas of State and Federal advocacy. In a draft policy released by the EMS Authority in early August, the agency proposes to “move away from the current process which provides funding based primarily on ad hoc county groupings and population to a process that is developed to support logical, effective geographical regions.” In other words, said Supervisor Louis Boitano, “the EMS is trying to fast-track their redrawing of the boundary lines with no input from rural counties.” He said the proposal raises “concerns that rural counties could be left out” and lose already limited state funding for local paramedic programs. He referred to a position paper from the Regional EMS Agency Administrators of California, who say “the current economic recession is also having a dramatic effect on state finances which in turn poses a significant threat to the state support of regional LEMSA’s.” The paper says “regional administrators strongly question the basic assumptions used by the EMS Authority in formulating their rational for major system change including the concept of ‘area groupings’ and the proposal to allow limited state funds be used to support non-rural LEMSA’s.” The paper says “those faulty assumptions could result in a significant degradation of EMS services in rural communities throughout the state of California.” The paper’s authors also believe the EMS Authority has placed an “overemphasis” on “the importance of contiguous county membership in a region and…an oversimplification of how patient flow patterns effect regional administration.” Boitano said the current regional system is manageable, and “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” “We just want the agencies input as to why they want to fast-track this,” he said. The board approved a motion by Supervisor Ted Novelli to draft a letter of support for RCRC’s position to allow local EMSA’s to give their input on the proposed plan. The motion was carried unanimously. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Wednesday, 01 September 2010 06:40
Ione, Supes shelve ‘sphere of influence’ agreement
Written by Tom
Amador County – Amador County Supervisors and the Ione City Council both voted separately Tuesday to table an agreement on Ione’s “Sphere of Influence” amendment until the county is nearer to finishing its own General Plan. The council and supervisors held a joint meeting on a “Memorandum of Understanding” as part of a city sphere of influence amendment process, as required by law. Supervisors came close to rejecting the agreement, but Supervisor Richard Forster urged cooperation. He said he agreed “with private property rights,” but felt that the two entities were close to an agreement. Forster said: “I think we should keep working on this.” Ione City Planner Christopher Jordan said they could “remove this automatic applicability,” and handle land use designations as they come. But he urged a vote, saying that if the county did not support the land use designation aspect of the agreement, the MOU was not worth pursuing further. Supervisors voted to table the MOU until the county gets closer to approving its own finalized General Plan. The city council also voted to table it. Supervisor John Plasse and the board disagreed with the MOU provision by Ione that obligated the county to designate land-usage within the Ione “Sphere of Influence.” Plasse said: “It’s about land use authority and how far it infringes on property rights.” He said the county would have no say over land in its jurisdiction. Supervisor Brian Oneto said that was “pretty much my position.” Supervisor Louis Boitano said he was “not opposed to the MOU,” but he wanted to “take it back to the committees and maybe draft up our version of the MOU that we could live with.” Councilman Jim Ulm said he also did not agree with telling property owners outside the city how to use their land. Plasse said the solution for the city is annexation, and Councilwoman Andrea Bonham asked how the council can communicate with the county before annexation, “so we’re not letting in something that is not a vision we all worked for?” Forster said the issue could be handled with an “overlay,” and he said the board will hear Ione’s concerns and try to work with them and give them what they want in land designations. Boitano said “we don’t have a problem with the proposed sphere of influence,” or future annexation, but “we take general plan amendments very seriously.” The MOU included such amendments if land designation became an issue. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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