Amador County - A formal request for exception from the General Plan was made on behalf of New Life Christian Church during the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday. Pastor Jay Donnelly asked Supervisors to grant exception to General Plan guidelines and allow the church to develop a 7-acre parcel of land off Ridge Road donated by the Estate of Mary Lou Oneto. Supervisor Brian Oneto excused himself because he has property adjacent to the acreage in question. County policy prohibits the acceptance of applications for general plan amendments and zone changes until such time as the comprehensive general plan update is completed. “The intent of the moratorium is to prevent ‘piecemeal’ General Plan amendments…as these threaten the viability and long range success…as well as orderly growth and development within the county,” said Heather Anderson of the Planning Department. Donnelly said that his church had for the last seven years been looking at parcels to “accomplish the mission of building our facility.” He referred to Ridge Road as “church lane” because of the high number of church’s there. Donnelly said this “development will not threaten the viability of the long range success of the General Plan.” He said the Church would install a left hand turn lane off of Ridge Road for safety. Supervisor Forster asked if there were cases where other properties were allowed to make exceptions. Anderson said, “in this county, no.” Planning Director Susan Grijalva clarified that some exceptions were made during a brief period in the 1980s when “the State relaxed for 180 days for cancellations of the Williamson Act.” Supervisor Louis Boitano noted that if “they put a turn lane in, that’s a public improvement.” Supervisor John Plasse said he “wouldn’t want to see the church project (denied) and then become somebody else’s mansion on the ridge.” The Supervisors unanimously approved the exception with Supervisor Oneto withdrawn, but noted that this was only approval to allow an application for a General Plan Amendment. Story by Alex Lane (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Amador County – The Amador Joint Water Committee went through about a dozen items Monday, among those hearing that the construction company for the Plymouth Pipeline is “on board.” Engineering Manager Gene Mancebo told committee members, Supervisors Ted Novelli and John Plasse, and Amador Water Agency board members Terence Moore and Bill Condrashoff, that the construction agreement had be initiated. Builder Mountain Cascade has a work office are identified and should start “brushing and grubbing” this month and should be putting parts of the pipeline into the ground by March. The work schedule plans for a December completion of the pipeline, which will link the AWA’s Tanner Water Treatment Plant on Ridge Road in Sutter Creek with the Plymouth water facility and storage tank on East Main Street in Plymouth. Mancebo said Mountain Cascade was not yet sure if it will have 1 or 2 crews laying pipe. Discussion included the “Moke River Water Forum,” which AWA General Manager Jim Abercrombie said was not active now, pending a reactivation of state funding. But the forum talks about waters concerns and supplies in Amador and Calaveras counties and with East Bay Municipal Utilities District interests. The committee touched on 1958 water agreements between Amador County and East Bay MUD, which predate formation of the AWA. Moore said “we’re the one’s who seem to roll it up and hit East Bay MUD over the head with it all the time.” He said the AWA should encourage the county to take the lead more in agreement disputes with East Bay. The committee talked about the Wild & Scenic Designation for the North Fork of the Mokelumne River. Pete Bell of the Foothill Conservancy to the committee that last he heard from AWA, its staff was preparing a presentation on the designation, but he said his organization and the agency should meet. Bell said there was still a lot of work for Foothill to do before the issue was taken to the federal level, including speaking about it with Pacific Gas & Electric Company. Bell said they want to “run it by them. The last thing we need is to have somebody like PG&E stand up and say, ‘now wait a minute.’” Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Amador County – The Ione City Council set staff to draft a letter in support of keeping the Preston Youth Authority in business after word of its risk of closure reached the ears of city council last week. City Manager Kim Kerr will draft a letter to the director of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and send a copy to Senator Dave Cox. Mayor Lee Ard said he was blindsided by news broken by TSPN last week, initiated by Supervisor Richard Forster. Ard wondered why Forster would break the news of a possible closure at the supervisors’ meeting last week, instead of taking the issue to the City Council. Ard said he has been explaining the issue since appearing on TSPN last week. Forster spoke as a member of the public to the Council, and he said he raised the issue last Tuesday during a supervisors’ public comment period “because people need to be excited about it.” He said he is employed by CDCR, but if he loses his job, he has another job, while “most people don’t.” He said “if you have people chewing on your ear, I hope you listen to them.” Forster said Ione is a “company town” because of Preston, where three generations of some families have worked, and many of his friends work. Gary Thomas spoke as a public member, saying Preston has a big history in town and serves a great purpose and he urged writing the support letter. Kerr presented a breakdown of Preston employees by zip code, noting that 101 of the 329 employees, just over 19 percent, lived in the Ione zip code. Vice Mayor Skip Schaufel said he was “dumbfounded that we have to talk about this. We have got to not allow this to happen.” He urged people to send e-mails and letters in support of keeping open Preston. Councilwoman Andrea Bonham agreed, thanking Kerr for the “hard data,” adding that “we need to make a hard stand” against a Preston closure. Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Amador County - Proposed septic regulations for onsite water systems in California have raised local concern over property rights, added burdens for property owners and additional regulations and fees. Prompted by Bill 885 signed by Governor Gray Davis in 2000, the law would regulate discharge of wastes that threaten surface and groundwater quality. The California Water Resources Control Board has been holding workshops across California to gather public comment on the issue, including a workshop last month in Amador County. The proposal under consideration includes a number of costly requirements to be paid by owners should their tanks not meet updated standards. Owners must have their tanks inspected for solid accumulations every five years at a cost of $325. Owners of tanks within 600 feet of a surface water body that does not meet water quality standards could be required to retrofit their systems at a cost of $45,000. New septic systems must have filters that retain a certain amount of solids, malfunction alarms and maintenance manuals, plus regular site inspections by certified professionals. “The regulations need to allow for an effective, pragmatic variance process, where local government regulators can make site-specific exceptions…for local conditions,” said DeAnn Kerr of the California Association of Realtors, which opposes the law. A number of other organizations, including the California Farm Bureau Federation, or CFB, are opposing the law for similar reasons. "In these times of limited resources, why would the state put these requirements on everyone rather than paying attention to specific areas where there are known concerns with contamination of ground or surface water,” said CFB Resource Director Danny Merkley. Amador County resident Buck Bukrinsky said “people should realize that property rights will be violated at an unjust cost to all the present and future property owners.” For further details about the proposed regulations, visit www.waterboards.ca.gov. Story by Alex Lane (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).