News Archive (6192)
Land Use Committee to discuss draft ordinance for a temporary directional signage code
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Amador County Land Use and Community Development Committee on Thursday will review a draft ordinance for temporary directional signage in unincorporated areas of the county.
The committee, made up of Supervisor Vice Chairman Louis Boitano and Supervisor Richard Forster, meets 10 a.m. Thursday, in Conference Room C of the county administration building, and could give Planning Department staff direction on how to proceed.
Diane Sherbourne, office manager of Amador County Chamber of Commerce distributed an e-mail notice of the meeting, and urged people to “please plan to attend this meeting to voice your concerns over our current banner/ sign/sandwich board regulations.”
Supervisors at their Oct. 11 meeting heard from one business owner about confusion over the sign ordinance, which may include that the county is itself in violation of the ordinance.
During “public matters not on the agenda,” Feed Barn owner Susan Manning said she “found out we were out of compliance with the sign ordinance,” and that the “county is out of compliance” with its own sign ordinance.
“Having one banner for 90 days is not enough,” Manning said. “I sell dog food, and I have banners that tell people when I have chicks in.” She has dog adoption and cat adoption signs, and would like to put them out a week before the date, “which would put us out of compliance.”
Manning said: “I would be happy to help with any revision with the sign ordinance.”
Forster said “if we are out of compliance” it should be looked at, and “the county should live by our own rules.”
The temporary sign ordinance came from a request from Strings Italian Café for a variance to place signs on a Highway 49 intersection, to direct traffic. It was requested to allow such signage during hard economic times, on a temporary basis. Supervisors discussed the issue in depth at its early September meeting, including who would decree that hard economic times are finished. (Staff said it would be declared by Supervisors).
County Planner Cara Augustin in September said that with the direction and discussion, “I think we can try to draft something that we can really pick apart at the Land Use Committee.” She was also asked to work with the different county departments on the fees associated with the temporary signage.
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Jackson gets tentative Time Schedule Order for wastewater plant
Written by Tom
Amador County – Jackson City Council last week discussed a tentative Time Schedule Order for its wastewater treatment plant, and learned it could lead to the lifting of minimum fines, but also open the city to potentially larger fines for noncompliance.
City Manager Mike Daly said the city discharges into U.S. waters and must follow federal law. The California Regional Water Quality Control Board “dictates exactly what we can have in the wastewater when we discharge it into the creek.”
“The kicker” in 2007 was “state implementation policies” and Mandatory Minimum Penalties for violations at the city wastewater treatment plant. The “Migden Fines” are named for San Francisco State Assemblywoman Carole Migden, who wrote the Clean Water Act, and the fines go toward compliance projects at the plant.
Harold Welborn of Stantec Engineering said he thinks often about Migden “tying the city’s hands” and leaving them “no ability to change the Minimum Mandatory Penalties.” The Board cannot respond, and fines become their money. If the city wants to get the fine money back, they “need to come up with compliance projects to accomplish that. Coming up with parts of a $500,000 project” and “doing portions of it,” he said, are not as good as doing the entire project. He said a large project will solve all of the problems, but when you take out the small parts, it makes it difficult.
Welborn said the city faces the Time Schedule Order, cease & desist, toxic rule limits, and “we are caught in a time crunch,” which could “put us into Midgen trouble.”
Each Minimum fine is $3,000 and the plant gets 5-10 violations a month. Penalties come from different metals, byproducts of dechlorination, and final filtering. The city already has had an “administrative civil liability order,” the money going for a filter replacement project.
The $147,000 in penalties last year, included $12,000 for salinity, Daly said, but you can’t do a salinity project for $12,000. The city has been working with the Regional Board on the Time Schedule Order, which excuses Minimum Mandatory Penalties. This fiscal year penalties have totaled $84,000.
On Sept. 29, the city received the tentative Time Schedule Order, with a March 2015 deadline to complete a project to better treat effluent. The tentative Schedule is out for public review and comment until Oct. 31. With comments, it would get review in December by the Regional Board, Daly said.
Chief Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator Eric Neuschmid has his hands full, Daly said. The plant is under strict orders with the Time Schedule and it can slip back into the penalty mode, where fines can be larger.
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Amador County – Sutter Creek City Council voted 3-0 Monday to hire a wastewater master planning firm for plans for the city and Amador Regional Sanitation Authority, with the deal pending approval by ARSA member entities.
The $110,000 contract would hire HydroScience Engineers to finish two wastewater master plans, with options including whether Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort is able to defeat its legal challenges, and options for continuing a regional wastewater partnership with Ione.
Ten firms answered a request for proposals, four made proposals, and three interviewed with the Wastewater Committee, City Manager Sean Rabe said. He recommended HydroScience. Mayor Tim Murphy said Rabe “certainly picked the right consultant group,” as he was impressed by the firm.
Bill Slinter of HydroScience said the firm would put data into tables and charts, and “make it a process so that anyone that comes along later can look at those documents.” Murphy said it was a format shown during the interview which made it understandable to the average person.
Rabe said HydroScience will complete and update the city’s and ARSA’s individual wastewater master plans, because “both are in draft format and have never been finalized.” Members of ARSA must approve the hiring, he said, and should share costs as they share wastewater capacity.
ARSA shares a percentage of its capacity with Amador Water Agency (which gets 14 percent) and Amador City (which gets 3 percent). Sutter Creek gets the remaining 82 percent of capacity. Rabe said the partners should pay that proportional share of the cost of both wastewater master plans, because they benefit from both plans.
Councilwoman Sandy Anderson said the future for the city and ARSA wastewater master plans was based on the future of Gold Rush. She asked City Attorney Derek Cole for an update on an lawsuit by Ken Berry against the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) documents of Gold Rush, and the city General Plan.
Cole said they are approaching the “administrative record,” and a CEQA trial takes 1-3 hours, and “could be less than that.” He said with a late spring hearing, there could be “resolution by the middle of the year.”
Murphy said “we need to make sure we have something we’re comfortable with and makes sense,” and need to be ready when Gold Rush moves forward. Rabe said “if Gold Rush survives the litigation” they will have to build a wastewater plant within 2 years of the ruling. The city and ARSA will need the wastewater master plans completed in a year for Gold Rush, but the city must do the plans with or without Gold Rush carrying forward.
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Ione hears staffing cuts imminent to handle budget deficit
Written by Tom
Amador County – Ione City Council heard Tuesday that layoffs or other reduction to staff costs is imminent for the city to cope with a $500,000 reduction in the general fund budget.
Interim City Manager Jeff Butzlaff said he is trying to have compassion for employees, and “we’re living this,” trying every day to get a handle on this.
Jim Nevin criticized a request by the city manager for a 60-day extension on a spending authorization. He said the city has gone 110 days without a budget and not made one cut. Nevin called for action and cuts.
Butzlaff later told Nevin, “this is no time for puffery,” but agreed that it was time for action. He said the extension would allow more discussion with employees on how to handle cuts. He said $307,000 in General Fund reductions can be accomplished without layoffs or retirements, though part of it is furloughs offered from six Service Employees International Union employees. “We still need a $250,000 to $300,000 reduction in General Fund expenditures and the only way we can do that is with staff reductions” and cuts to employee and labor costs.
Butzlaff said the financial director is a “mission critical” employee at this time, leaving four employees nearer to retirement age subject to possible early retirement, which could save $320,000. If retirements are not taken, the city must look at layoffs of 4-5 employees, those “last in” being the “first out,” per classification, which would cut about $230,000.
Department cuts offered last week, included $144,000 in Ione Police Department; $80,000 by six SEIU employees; $13,000 by the finance manager; $32,000 to eliminate operation of the city swimming pool; and $25,000 in reductions to Ione Fire Department staffing. Butzlaff said he and Fire Chief Ken Mackey found that they could extend Measure M money to cover all personnel costs, and free-up $25,000 in General Fund money. He said Mackey feared affecting the department’s reserves, but they found it would not be impacted.
Butzlaff said he and staff have not been sitting on their hands but have been trying to be as productive as possible. The “bottom line is, we need to implement personnel reductions in some form or another.”
Plank said it is a difficult subject and thought Butzlaff’s approach was good. Butzlaff said the city must establish an annual reduction of about $600,000. But if the General Fund still loses ground, there could be a need for more reductions. The General Fund lost half a million dollars in the last year.
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Child’s death leads to temporarily closure of a childcare facility
Written by Tom
Amador County – Authorities said a 5-year-old boy who died in Martell last week did not die of communicable disease, though precautions were taken, including temporary closure of a childcare facility.
Amador County Undersheriff Jim Wegner on Wednesday released details of the death investigation, which is ongoing. Wegner said at 11:02 a.m. Monday (Oct. 10), “Dispatch received a 9-1-1 call from a residence on Mariposa Avenue… The caller, the foster parent of a 5-year-old male, reported that the child was not breathing.
“Amador County Sheriff’s Deputies, a Jackson Police Officer, American Legion Ambulance, Jackson Fire Department and Cal Fire personnel responded. Upon arrival the child was found to be deceased.
“Amador County Sheriff’s Detectives responded to the scene to conduct an investigation into the child’s death. Interviews indicated the child had complained of feeling ill, had been vomiting the day prior and seemed lethargic.
“Due to the information obtained during the interviews, observations of the decedent, and the fact that three other children were present at the home, consideration was given to the possibility of the presence of a communicable disease.”
Wegner said: “Due to the legal requirement of the Coroner to notify the Public Health Officer whenever a decedent has a communicable disease, Amador County Sheriff’s Detectives contacted and consulted with Amador County Public Health Officer Dr. Bob Hartmann.
“On Oct. 11, a forensic examination of the child was conducted at the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office.” The “examination revealed no injuries or evidence of trauma which would indicate the child’s death was a result of a criminal act. The cause and manner of the child’s death is pending toxicology results.”
Dr. Hartmann released a statement saying that “as a precaution, a childcare facility was temporarily closed pending the outcome of the preliminary investigation. The childcare site has been allowed to reopen.” He said: “Our investigation reveals that there is no need for preventive antibiotics for contacts.”
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Amador County – The Ione City Council will host a special meeting 5 p.m. Wednesday at Evalynn Bishop Hall to discuss the city’s options for a wastewater treatment plant.
The city released the agenda last week, which noted that the “City’s Wastewater Team will be making a presentation” to the City Council “in the continued interest of an Open, Transparent Process” and the team “will provide preliminary rate information on the (Design, Build, Operate & Finance) and public financing Scenarios.”
The notice said the “rate information is provided for the sole purpose of comparing scenarios and is not necessarily the rates to carry forward to a rate approval process.” It said “information will be provided to inform the public of the alternatives and for Council direction” to the Wastewater Team. The team will continue to develop either the Design, Build Operate Finance alternative “or the public financing alternative to lower project costs and associated rates.”
Ione City Council also meets Tuesday (Oct. 18) and is scheduled to accept the Amador County Deputy Registrar of Voters George Allen’s certification of a petition to recall Mayor David Plank. The council will also consider a resolution to extend “a continuing appropriation for an additional 60 days through Dec. 31” to grant Interim City Manager Jeff Buzlaff “spending authority to allow for development of the fiscal year 2011-2012 city budget and continued orderly city operations.”
The budget discussion will include “consideration of appointment (at no charge to the city) of Keenan and Associates as Broker of Record for various City Benefit Coverages.” The council will also hear “further updates on possible additional reductions, retirement incentive programs, and General Fund Reserve balance.”
Butzlaff in a report for Tuesday’s meeting introduced “possible formation of a representative community “Blue Ribbon Committee” to assist the city council and staff through this period of organizational downsizing.”
City staff last week recommended reductions which Butzlaff said “technically got us about half way through our deficit, hopefully.” The Police Chief and Officers Association offered nearly a 40 percent cut, which included 10s of thousands in benefits concessions, and laying off an officer, a full time clerk and a part-time clerk. The city must cut its budget from $2 million to $1.5 million.
Six Service Employees International Union employees each offered one furlough day per pay period, and the Building Inspector offered to furlough down to one paid day a week, and offered to “work as many hours as I have to,” as 50 building permits are out to JTS Communities.
The regular meeting is 6 p.m. Tuesday, and the special meeting is 5 p.m. Wednesday.
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Staff, State recommend ACTC seek hybrid Pine Grove Cooridor Project
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Amador County Transportation Commission on Wednesday will consider recommendations from its own staff and state highway officials to seek a “hybrid solution” for the Pine Grove Corridor Improvement Project, with a project falling somewhere between a 3-lane and 5-lane, through-town improvement project.
ACTC Planner and Program Manager Neil Peacock gave a progress report Oct. 6 to Commissioners for Wednesday’s meeting. Peacock in the report recommended ACTC endorse or otherwise provide direction on the “Project Design Team” conclusion, which recommended a “Reasonable Range of Alternatives” for full state and federal environmental analysis, “as well as the proposed approach to develop a ‘hybrid solution’ that balances all parties concerns.”
Peacock also recommended ACTC “appoint a Commissioner to participate with staff in developing a comprehensive Scope of Work comprised of all remaining studies and submittals required to complete” the “Project Approval and Environmental Determination” and “then participate with staff in evaluating consultant proposals, recommending award, and negotiating a draft contract for the Commission’s consideration.”
A recent public meeting, Sept. 21 in Pine Grove, looked at two final preferred options selected from 17 alternatives by the ACTC’s “Stakeholder Working Group,” a southern bypass, costing $54 million, and the through-town, three-lane improvement, costing $27.5 million. Peacock, in the report, wrote that the Project Design Team, made up of Caltrans and ACTC staff, recommended to ACTC that “all bypass and couplet alternatives are deemed financially infeasible and are recommended” to be eliminated form consideration, due in part to “a lack of significant support for bypass alternatives.”
The recommendation said the Project Design Team “understands and respects community concerns regarding potential community impacts from the 5-lane capacity expansion alternative (Number 3-A). However, all elements of the project’s Purpose & Need are required to be met by any alternative that will be evaluated for final approval,” and 3-A “meets that criteria and is therefore recommended to advance.”
It said: “Conversely, while the current ‘constrained’ through-town alternative (Number 3-B) appears not to address the ‘congestion relief’ aspect of the Purpose & Need, it does address two other aspects of the Purpose & Need,” those being safety and operations, and the Project Development Team “understands and respects local concerns to minimize potential community impacts, so this alternative is recommended to advance as well.”
Peacock’s recommendation concluded saying 3-A and 3-B should move forward so ACTC, Caltrans, the Stakeholder Group, “the community and all potential affected parties can engage in the ‘creative challenge’ of developing a ‘hybrid solution’ of the two concepts in a way that balances both community and ACTC/Caltrans interests and concerns, and meets all aspects of the project’s Purpose & Need, and results in the most cost-effective project possible.”
ACTC will consider the recommendations during a special early meeting, 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19 in the Supervisors’ Chamber.
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Amador County – Ione Police Chief Michael L. Johnson and his officers last week offered almost 40 percent in budget cuts to help the city with its General Fund deficit, though he hoped not all the cuts would be made.
The $260,000 he offered included layoff of his “least senior police officer,” selling a K-9 officer and ending the dog program. He also offered jobs of a full-time records clerk, and part-time property clerk. A man in the audience said: “You must be careful when you are making reductions that impact coverage on the street.”
Mayor David Plank said “we are all aware of that. And now we have another gang, an Asian gang influencing the area,” referring to a suspected failed marijuana theft that led to a fatal shooting Sept. 27 on Carbondale Road.
A man asked how much of a decrease the city faces, and Interim City Manager Jeff Butzlaff said the $2 million believed to be in the General Fund was found to have decreased to $1.5 million, or “a net of $1.3 million of pure General Fund revenue. That is a huge drop in a very short period of time.”
One woman asked if IPD gets rid of its K-9, can they get a dog from the Amador County Sheriff’s Department when needed. An Ione officer said sometimes it might be available, and sometimes it might not. Jackson has one dog, and the sheriff has two, but “it goes both ways. We help them, they help us.”
Johnson said he will cover shifts when needed, as he already does, and the goal is to maintain around-the-clock coverage. At a recent conference on the state’s approach to federal prisoner release mandates, he said Gov. Jerry Brown told of his “professional commitment to law enforcement funding.” There will be 53 felony releases in Amador County, Johnson said, “but we don’t know where they are going to land.”
Like the Governor said at the convention, “public safety is the number one responsibility of the government,” Johnson said, and IPD will “reduce budgets, reduce salaries, and do whatever we have to do.”
A woman asked about IPD’s Volunteer Patrol, and Johnson said its budget, from donations, is kept separate. He has 12 officers, soon to get one more. The unit uses an old squad car that looks good but is old. Gasoline and comp insurance are paid by the city, Johnson said, “but in my opinion, that’s a small price to pay.” All officers have full-time jobs and respond to calls when they can.
Councilman Daniel Epperson asked if people could donate bags of dog food to help the K-9 program. Johnson said: “Yes, of course. It’s going to take the community pitching in to make this all work.”
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Congressman Dan Lungren voted for the “Veterans Opportunity to Work Act”
Written by Tom
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Dan Lungren on Wednesday voted to support employment and training services for veterans, in favor of HR-2433, the “Veterans Opportunity to Work Act of 2011.”
Lungren, (R-Gold River), said: “Today, I voted to help America’s veterans find jobs. Our men and women in uniform – past and present – are all that is good with America. When they leave the battlefield, transitioning back to civilian life, we must do all we can to help them with this important life change.”
HR-2433 passed the House on a 418-6 vote Wednesday and is now headed to the Senate. Robert Ehlert, Lungren’s senior field representative said the bill “creates or modifies programs that provide employment and training services to veterans and service members separating from active duty. The bill will also make changes to programs that offer home loan guarantees, ambulance services and pension payment to qualifying individuals.”
Lungren said the bill “provides resources to our troops so they may feel a sense of security as they become productive members of society. I am happy to support this bill and our nation’s Veterans.”
HR-2433 “has four pillars,” Ehlert said. First is “Expanding Education and Training,” temporarily providing “100,000 unemployed veterans of past eras and wars with up to one year of Montgomery GI Bill benefits to qualify for jobs in high-demand sectors, from trucking to technology.”
The bill also would improve the “Transition Assistance Program,” making it “mandatory for most service members transitioning to civilian status, upgrading career counseling options, and resume writing skills, as well as ensuring the program is tailored for the 21st Century job market.”
Ehlert said the bill also would simplify licensing and certification, and “will break down the barriers for transitioning service members to find meaningful employment in their military occupation.”
The bill would also protect the National Guard and Reserve, 14 percent of whom are currently unemployed, Ehlert said.
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Department heads proposed selling assets to fix Ione’s budget
Written by Tom
Amador County – Ione City Council took input from various city departments Wednesday, less than a week after hearing the General Fund budget was $500,000 short.
Building Inspector Don Mishrall suggested renting out the horse arena, and selling the city’s three corporate yards that are collecting dust. He said the city should also try to get a volunteer program or Amador County Recreation Agency to run the swimming pool. He said the city loses money every year running the pool, which they don’t even own. Amador County Unified School District owns the pool.
City Manager Jeff Butzlaff said he has experience with pools and “the only way to make money is to privatize it for swim lessons.” Mayor David Plank said the cost of maintenance is what makes the pool lose money.
Mishrall said a representative of the city should talk to Amador Water Agency about reimbursements for the water it uses for irrigation. He said three of four city parks are watered at residential rates paid to AWA. He said the city also pays for the “Christmas lights” downtown.
Mishrall said: “I’ve been furloughed out for the last year,” and the city is “just trying to get away from the evil that was.”
City Clerk Janice Traverso said it was a sad situation, and she and others alluded to 2009 concessions they brokered with the former city manager. Traverso lost two employees, and they still face this issue, losing more employees, hours and pay.
Ione Police Chief Michael L. Johnson offered up the K9 program as one of several options for cuts, all totaling $260,000. Councilman Daniel Epperson asked if people could donate a bag of dog food to help keep the program.
Johnson said “of course,” adding that “it’s going to take the community pitching in to make this all work.” His options included two-and-a-half personnel layoffs. He said he was not asking for all of these cuts, but just giving the council options. Butzlaff said Thursday that staff proposals got the city half-way to where it needed to be in the budget.
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