News Archive (6192)
Amador County – The Sutter Creek City Council today will consider making an appointment from 7 applicants to fill the vacated seat of Mayor Pro Tempore Bill Hepworth. The council will interview each candidate in the open session today, and staff expects them to make an appointment in the meeting today as well. Assistant City Manager Sean Rabe said the council has 30 days to fill the vacant seat by appointment, after acceptance of the resignation letter. Hepworth left in his 11th year on advice of doctors and submitted the letter of resignation March 8th. 7 people filed letters of application by noon last Friday seeking appointment to the 2-year term. The applicants are Mimi Arata, Dennis E. Griffin, Mike Kirkley, Jack Mitchell, Linda Rianda, Reed Shugart and Bart Weatherly. They seek appointment to fill the position for 2 years, after which the city council last month voted to hold an election to fill the position, with the vote to take place at the next regular election day. 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 – About 30 people attended the Community Preservation Workshop last week in Ione, dampening spirits of the Ione City Council. City Manager Kim Kerr said the meeting was advertised and “this is the turnout.” Councilman David Plank said he could count 22 people who were Ione residents. Mayor Lee Ard said they were there for the $285,000 in unused CDBG funds. Ard said he “came from a city that lost its Main Street because it didn’t act fast enough and it moved away.” He said a developer has proposed 60,000 square feet of retail and business space fronting Highway 124 on Castle Oaks Drive. That space, he said, equals the “square footage of downtown.” Another developer is proposing a hotel. Ard said he would like to see the economic survey done, which, through credit card data would tell how local dollars are spent in the region. Ard said the Main Street program “would get people involved in the restoration of downtown.” He said: “We have a credibility issue,” and people are asking why the council is trying to rehab downtown, saying “it’s been done before and failed.” Ard said: “This is not your old Ione,” and there are things the city can do to “have a new, economically viable downtown. But he thought the “credibility problem” directly impacted turnout. Ard said: “I would love to see 200 or 300 people here tonight. I don’t want to be doom and gloom … it’s just a reality.” Councilwoman Andrea Bonham said she loves her town, and the new town it has become. She said “the best thing we can do is to start small,” with the Main Street and Façade Programs, and economic study. Councilman Skip Schaufel agreed, saying the council “should start all of these programs.” Plank said they really needed downtown property and business owners at the meeting. He asked those in the audience who was a downtown business owner. 2 people raised their hands, one of whom was Bonham. Plank said the “Magic Triangle,” Highways 124, 104 and 88, would be big issue in the next 10 years, and protecting downtown was the top priority. The council postponed action on the project for 2 weeks, until it can host another workshop, at city hall. 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 Plymouth City Council on Thursday approved $40,000 dollars in funding for continued work on two plans for the city’s upcoming boom of development. The first was $25,000 dollars for additional work on the new, state-required General Plan, the second was an estimated $15,000 dollars for work on the city’s Redevelopment Plan. Finance Director Jeff Gardner said the latter will take much more funding. He said the cash flow for the Redevelopment Plan will come from the General Fund. Mayor Jon Colburn said that revenue is “funded by development, so it’s going to be a while before it’s replenished.” Gardner said the city council “started this a while back” and restarted it a few times, and “this time, I think the council wants to complete it.” He said Terri Cox got the city a grant for the work and consultants PMC “gave us a punch list and a time line of things to be done,” and “if we get the work done, we’ll be shovel-ready for that Redevelopment Plan.” Councilman Greg Baldwin said “commercial is what really pays off,” once the plan is in place and drawing development fees for the city. Gardner said PMC had already been paid $35,000 dollars from another grant. Jon Colburn asked why the time-frame of the two plans was important. City Attorney Steven Randolph said “in order to adopt the Redevelopment Plan, it has to be in compliance with the General Plan.” And the Redevelopment Plan was crafted based on the city’s pending new General Plan, for which the council approved additional work by Kendig East and Development Impact Incorporated. That work includes response to agency and public comments, facilitation of additional public meetings, “complete production of the Final Environmental Impact Reports and amendment of the General Plan. Rudolph said the “city is not getting any benefits from (the Redevelopment Agency) until you adopt this plan.” Both approvals of payment passed unanimously. Plymouth City Council next meets for a “study session” 5 p.m. Thursday in City Hall, with the topic of Identifying Highest Priority Budget Projects.” 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 Amador County Planning Commission last week announced the continuation of the comprehensive General Plan Update serial meeting, set to resume the fourth week of this month. The series – called “The Path to 2030” – is a continuation of the serial meetings held in October and November, 2008. The joint meeting of the Amador County Board of Supervisors and Amador County Planning Commission see work from both local “stakeholders” groups and staff work on direction of the Supervisors and commissioners that began last fall. County Planner Susan Grijalva in the announcement said: “Because the General Plan is the basis for all regulations – such as zoning, subdivision improvements – and decisions made regarding the use of property and when considering development projects, it is vitally important to be informed of this Update.” The joint session will convene for 4 hours on consecutive days, noon to 4 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, March 24th, 25th and 26th. Meetings each day conclude with a public comment period on the day’s separate topics. On Tuesday, March 24th, the agenda includes a presentation on the “UPlan;” and a discussion of “Optional Elements.” Wednesday, March 25th’s agenda includes "miscellaneous Items needing direction to staff;” along with General Plan Requests. The Thursday, March 26th meeting will include Supervisor and Commissioner deliberations and recommendations regarding a preferred alternative. Grijalva said “This General Plan will become the foundation document for future development of the County, defining appropriate locations for land uses and setting out the County’s policy direction to guide decisions on a wide range of county activities, including land use regulation.” She said maps that have been developed to this point may be viewed and printed from the County’s Website, www.co.amador.ca.us. Grijalvas said the Update process is on-going and the public can “continue to monitor the Website and watch for notices of future public hearings,” because “changes to the proposed General Plan can, and will, be made up until the last meeting.” The Meetings will be held in the Board Chambers, 810 Court Street in Jackson. 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 – Prospect Motors in Jackson isn’t the only local dealership to close its doors recently. Plummer Pontiac and Cadillac on East Kettleman Lane in Lodi closed its doors on Wednesday, putting approximately 58 people out of work. This closure is in the wake of another major Lodi dealership, Geweke Chrysler Jeep and Dodge, closing down three weeks ago. Ten jobs were lost as a result. A Volkswagen dealership in Tracy closed and put 13 people out of work in early February. But the largest and most impactful closure so far has been the trifecta of Prospect Motors, Amador Motors an Amador Toyota in Jackson. Eighty two employees lost their jobs when the Amador County dealership closed suddenly and only days before Christmas. Owner Frank Halverson said GMAC pulled its inventory because he was “16 days late” in paying loans on the auto center facility. Halverson’s situation has become an all too common story as dealerships across the nation weather the deepening economic recession. The significance of the Prospect closure and its affect on the county tax base has garnered national attention. CBS News Crews visited the county last week to cover the story for the Nightly News with Katie Couric. Plummer Dealership owner Dennis Plummer said he went to great lengths to negotiate loans with GMAC, but to no avail. GMAC has been making major cutbacks and was recently negotiating with federal authorities to have itself converted into a bank holding company so it could be eligible for part of the $700 billion in federal bailouts. Plummer said that Pontiac and Cadillac generated more than $975,000 in sales tax revenue for the city of Lodi and San Joaquin County last year. 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 - In an effort to gather funding to improve infrastructure at Westover Field, representatives of the Amador County General Services Department sought approval from the Board of Supervisors Tuesday to pursue a grant application and matching funds. The grants sought fall under the lengthy title of Federal Aviation Administration Airport Improvement Program Application. GSA Director Jon Hopkins gave an overview of the history of the process, beginning with a suggestion by Airport Manager David Sheppard to submit a grant application for a number of improvement projects, including runway safety improvements like a slurry seal and parallel taxiway, and replacing the current visual approach indicator. These improvements were made all the more urgent when the project manager advised the GSA that the airport will not be eligible for future grants until the runway safety area meets current FAA guidelines. A grant application to cover all projects totaling $1,170,000 was submitted by a February 2 deadline, but Hopkins said that due to time constraints it was not cleared through the Supervisors first. The Board had the choice of whether to accept or reject the grant offer. The FAA returned an approval of only $288,099. The FAA will fund 90 percent of the grant, or $273,694, CALTRANS Aeronautics will fund 2.5 percent of that 95 percent, leaving a balance for the county of approximately $7,563. In regards to submitting a grant application without prior Supervisor approval, Supervisor Richard Forster said “I don’t like someone being too much of a maverick, but when you have a chance at over a million dollars…take it.” Supervisor John Plasse asked “what portion of the funds this grant comes close to accomplishing.” Hopkins said General fund monies would be needed as the Airport Enterprise Fund does not have the money for the required local match. Hopkins said that much of the County’s share of the costs could be reduced by using County staff to accomplish some of the projects. He said this was not always easy considering FAA guidelines and layers of paperwork, but that “local construction would be used whenever possible.” The Supervisors approved the motion unanimously. 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 – The Amador Water Agency Board of Directors will have a special meeting Wednesday for a Strategic Planning Workshop. The meeting is set to start 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Jackson Rancheria Hotel & Conference Center and should run most of the day. The annual meeting includes a Strategic Plan Review and a presentation on Expected Outcomes, plus 10 other agenda items. Chairman Terence Moore (District 5) called the special meeting, with the other four newly elected members expected to attend: Bill Condrashoff (District 1); Gary Thomas (District 2); Don Cooper (District 3); and Debbie Dunn (District 4). Agenda items include: Working Relationships and Ground Rules; Board Roles and Responsibilities; Staff Roles and Responsibilities; Core Values of the AWA; and The “7 Trends in Industry.” The board will also review and discuss the agency Mission Statement and have a work session on Strategic Planning Issues. They will Review and Update Strategic Plan for 2009 to 2014 and review the Capital Improvement Plan for the next 10 years and also review Customer Satisfaction Results and the agency’s “Next Steps.” The meeting is open to the public and will be held in the Fire Conference Room at the Jackson Rancheria, 12222 New York Ranch Road in Jackson. 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 public is invited to comment on the 2009 applications the Bureau of Land Management has submitted to the California Department of Parks and Recreation, Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division. David Christy of BLM Central California’s public affairs, said the public review and comment period will run from Tuesday, March 3rd through Wednesday, April 1st. Christy in a release Monday said “The OHV grant applications are an annual process that is a key part of the partnership between BLM and the state of California, which issues grants to a variety of entities to improve or mitigate Off-Highway Vehicle recreation.” Under the process, BLM applies for grants from the state each year to help fund and coordinate its Off-Highway Vehicle program. View the applications online at www.ohv.parks.ca.gov. Copies are also available at the state office in Sacramento. For copies of grant applications being submitted by the Desert Managers Group and for California public lands along the Colorado River, contact the California State Office. Information is also available on BLM's website. The draft 2009 BLM applications total about 90 projects, which include law enforcement, facility developments, trails projects, restoration work and other Off-Highway Vehicle-related projects proposed throughout BLM’s 16 state field offices. Comments will be taken on grant applications for BLM offices in Folsom, Bishop and Bakersfield. Jim Keeler, BLM Off-Highway Vehicle coordinator, said BLM is also reaching out to interested members of the public through mailings, public meetings, personal contacts and through BLM-California's e-newsletter, News.bytes. For further details on BLM grant applications, contact Keeler at (916) 978-4654 or email, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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An experimental airplane crashed last Thursday night after an apparent medical collapse of the pilot that sent the plane flying unguided until it crashed on the shore of Lake Camanche in Calaveras County. Authorities discovered the wreckage in a desolate area near the shore of Lake Camanche after a nearly 12-hour search. Calaveras County Sheriff’s Officers identified the deceased pilot as Walter Guy Boeck, 67, who was owner of the plane, a Globe GC1A. Captain Jim Macedo of the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office said that 30 personnel from various agencies and two search planes also assisted in the search. Macedo said the search began around 9 p.m. last Thursday when authorities received a report of the aircraft falling off of an area radar screen. Boeck reportedly had been doing maintenance on his aircraft with a male friend, then the two took off together from the Rancho Murieta airport, each flying in their own airplane. Later in the flight, the other man reportedly saw Boeck’s plane flying erratically and he flew up next to Boeck’s plane and saw him slumped over the steering wheel. He could do nothing for Boeck and could not stop his plane, and when he ran low on fuel, he flew back to the Rancho Murieta airport and reported the incident. Macedo said the search line was from the Camanche Lake in the North Shore to Highway 4 near Stockton in the south. At about 9:30 a.m. Friday, a fixed-wing search plane spotted the wreckage in a low area near Lake Camanche’s shore in Calaveras County. Boeck’s body was removed from the wreckage. The family arrived at the scene Friday morning and confirmed that it was Boeck’s airplane. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration had been called in to assist in the investigation. Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
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By Jennifer Wilson -
The apparent demise of the Pine Grove Bypass project was again the topic of discussion at Wednesday night’s Pine Grove Council meeting. Collectively, council members are wondering why and how Pine Grove’s transportation solution became a widening project. Several members of the public showed up at the meeting specifically for that topic, including local Realtor Marc Bowman, local Jay Ollig, and developer Tony Rapini, who is currently working on the Pine Bluffs development project at Ridge Road and Highway 88. In addition to the original three options for Pine Grove, which were a southern bypass, a northern bypass, or upgrading 88 “straight up the middle,” Ollig suggested partial widening in conjunction with roundabouts and frontage roads, and promised to bring a drawn plan to the next meeting.
Additionally, the council voiced fears that if Pine Grove doesn’t “pick a solution,” state transportation funds will be given to another area, such as Martell or Ione. Another fear being heard “around town” is that the five-lane widening project is happening, regardless of the promised upcoming public workshops. To allay those fears, the council agreed to invite a member from both the Amador County Transportation Commission and Caltrans to their next meeting. Charles Field, Director of ACTC, has already confirmed that he will be in attendance. The council has put out a request for a representative from Caltrans to appear. The council is hoping that by having members from these two agencies together in the same room, the council’s and the public’s questions can be answered. Council Chair Andy Byrne hopes the information these to people can provide will help to “dispel the rumors.” The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 1st at 5:30 PM at the Pine Grove Town Hall.
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