News Archive (6192)
Ione City Council approveds hiring a new wastewater treatment plant team
Written by Tom
Amador County – Ione City Council voted Tuesday to hire two-thirds of a team of experts it will need to determine its approach to meeting state requirements for a wastewater treatment plant, while doing so with the least impact on its ratepayers, as the next big decision nears.
Interim City Manager Jeff Butzlaff said the Council approved contract agreements and deadlocked on a rate study, with dissenters wanting it to come back at a later date. Councilwoman Andrea Bonham left the meeting early due to illness, and 2-2 vote resulted on a rate study, with Councilman Lloyd Oneto and Vice Mayor Ron Smylie dissenting, and Councilman Dan Epperson and Mayor David Plank voting yes.
Butzlaff said the sentiment was that it needs to come back when they know what will be in the project, and implications to ratepayers. It may be brought to the next meeting, or the first meeting in October.
The Council did approve hiring a wastewater team whose members have their own expertise, Butzlaff said. They hired wastewater treatment plant manager Art O’Brien of Robertson-Bryan Incorporated. They also approved a contract with finance advisor Scott Smith, who has worked on JTS Communities bonds for the city, joining city staff of Butzlaff and City Attorney James Maynard.
O’brien’s contract was not to exceed $43,000. Smith’s contract was not to exceed $25,000, but was for finance work as a technical consultant. If the project goes to a bond situation, Smith gets a different rate as bond counsel, depending on size of the bond. The Pacific Municipal Consulting rate study was not to exceed $39,000.
Costs of the studies were approved as “not to exceed,” Butzlaff said, because they “had to anticipate a somewhat uncertain direction we are going.”
Butzlaff said Ione has 1,500 connections, a “relatively small number” to spread costs. They must meet Ione’s needs with the plant, and state requirements.
He said if a regional partner was to step forward, it would help give a “greater economy of scale through a regional approach.” Some discussion of a regional partner has been going on, for years, but it is getting to the point where the decision must be made. By October of 2013, Ione needs a functioning secondary-level water treatment plant, which would generate water for the municipal tertiary-level treatment plant at Castle Oaks Golf Course.
The new secondary plant could cost $10 million or more, and they have about $1.5 million available at the starting point to determine the best approach. Butzlaff said they are investing a small portion of “discretionary revenue available for capital improvements” into the wastewater team. The team’s work will determine what is the best project to undertake. It will try to find an approach with minimal impact to ratepayers that is responsible, defendable and understandable.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Marshall Tucker Band brings classic Southern rock to the Jackson Rancheria Casino
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Marshall Tucker Band plans to “rock on” at the Jackson Rancheria Casino & Hotel on Oct. 22, bringing over 35 years of classic rock to Jackson.
Jackson Rancheria Marketing Department Content Developer Carol Cook announced the concert recently, saying the Marshall Tucker Band is still led today by founding member and lead singer Doug Gray. She said Marshall Tucker Band “represents a time and place in music that will never be duplicated.” And Gray is quick to credit the band’s current dynamic members with carrying on the timeless essence of the Marshall Tucker Band sound.
Gray said the “buying public never really cared whether we were country or rock and roll. They called us a Southern rock band, but we have always played everything from country, jazz, blues, rock & roll and all things in between.”
Grinning, with twinkling eyes, Gray said: “As we’ve become older, our Southern heritage seems to come out even more. But no matter how old we get, we can still rock your socks off.”
Gray said that people have gotten “married and buried” to classic Marshall Tucker Band songs like “Desert Skies” and “Can’t You See.” Marshall Tucker Band continues to be played on classic rock and country radio, and they have never stopped touring.
Current members include slide guitarist Stuart Swanlund, who joined the band in 1989; the highly respected drummer B.B. Borden, a former member of both Mother’s Finest and The Outlaws; multi instrumentalist Marcus Henderson of Macon, Georgia, who plays flute, saxophone and keyboards in addition to lead and background vocals; Pat Elwood on bass guitar and Rick Willis on lead guitar and vocals, both of Spartanburg, South Carolina, are disciples of the Caldwell Brothers.
The Marshall Tucker Band got its start in Spartanburg when Gray teamed up with Tommy Caldwell and Toy Caldwell, Paul T. Riddle, George McCorkle and Jerry Eubanks, borrowing the name “Marshall Tucker” from a piano tuner whose name was found on a key ring in their old rehearsal space.
They opened shows for the Allman Brothers in 1973, and the following year began headlining their own shows across America, after platinum-plus sales of their debut album. They toured constantly, playing “sheds, stadiums, theaters, fairs, and festivals.”
The 21-and-over show in the Hotel’s Grand Oak Ballroom has General admission for $40, and Dreamcatcher’s Club members can get discounted $20 tickets, at the Casino Box Office, by phone at 800-822-WINN, ext. 8731. Tickets are also sold at JacksonCasino.com.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Claimed tribal elders are suing the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Written by Tom
Amador County – Two claimed hereditary members of the Buena Vista Band of Me-Wuk Indians are suing the federal government for recognition, and inclusion, to get their Indian rights and benefits. The suit could also impact the recognized tribe’s plans for a casino on Coal Mine Road.
Ya-Nah Geary Mandujano, granddaughter and great niece of the two women, said in an interview Sept. 1 that her father has concerns because the tribe is being called into question in the suit. Mandujano said Buena Vista Rancheria was recognized in 1927. A Census lists her great-, great-grandfather, John Oliver, three of his four kids; and her great-, great-, great-grandfather, Caysus Oliver.
Mandujano said Buena Vista Chairwoman Rhonda Morningstar Pope is the youngest, and the one with the least California Indian blood. Mandujano said she is in “the same generation as Rhonda’s children,” but Pope “got the tribe and voted herself chair.” She said Pope “asked the U.S. government (for recognition), but she did not ask the Miwok people.”
Mandujano is a member of the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians, and part Miwok. She said the biggest opposition for the Buena Vista Rancheria Band was questioning whether or not there is a tribe and Pope’s tie to American Indian nationality.
If Mandujano’s grandmother June Geary and great aunt Bea Ortega Crabtree win, they would get federal recognition, and would not allow a casino on the Buena Vista Rancheria. They would instead pursue off-reservation casino gaming.
Mandujano said: “We are not against casinos, but we are against being kept from our cultural resources” of the Rancheria and cemetery.
She said Buena Vista Rancheria has a compact signed by Gov. Grey Davis for Donna Marie Potts, which in 2004 was transferred to Pope. It was signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger “and Rhonda became a gamer.”
Mandujano said: “My tribe’s Rolling Hills Casino opened its doors in 2002.” They have the same Davis compact, but the Buena Vista casino has foundered under lawsuits.
She said her grandmother is in an older generation of the tribe, and took her children there every summer to visit family graves on the Rancheria. Mandujano also tried to get involved, asking to be invited to “sweats” on the Rancheria “and then they stopped having sweats.”
She said “Rhonda sounds stressed out and she takes it out on everybody.” She said “my Grandma and aunt don’t have a gaming backer” and “lived through the assimilation. They are brown,” and it was a lot tougher for American Indian people to go through. She said “sometimes Indians are better workers than they are family members.”
The suit, with co-plaintiffs, Jerry Cassesi’s Friends of Amador County, has a hearing date in November.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Amador Planning Commission to hear vintner sign request
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Amador County Planning Commission plans public hearings today for a request by the Amador Vintners Association seeking an amendment to its sign permit, and another request by C.G. Di Arie Vineyard & Winery to place two directional signs on private property outside of the county road right-of-way.
Jamie Lubenko representing Amador Vintners Association, seeks a change in a 2008 permit that granted the ability to place multiple directional signs around the county for the different winery members of the Vintners Association. The signs were to not exceed 10 square feet, except for allowed at 13-and-a-half square feet to allow lettering.
A planning staff report said in early 2010, the Vintners Association “installed signs which did not meet the criteria.” The signs ultimately “were determined to be ineffective due to the reduced lettering size and a potential hazard due to the use of steel posts that did not meet breakaway standards.”
The Association proposed 4-inch high lettering on the new direction arrow signs, but the Department of Transportation and Public Works recommended 6-inch lettering, to conform to new state law requiring a minimum of 6-inch lettering on road signs.
The Vintners Association proposal includes about 20 signs located all over the county, including five on Highway 16 at Latrobe, Willow Creek, Highway 49 and Cedar Creek Road. It would also place signs on 49 at Ridge Road, and facing the westbound lane at 88 & 49 and 88 & 124. Other locations include Shenandoah and Shenandoah School Roads, Fiddletown Road, Cedar Creek, Steiner and others.
Instead of winery names, the signs give directions to roads on which AVA wineries are located, with a 22-inch wide topper sign with the Amador Vintners Association logo. The association application lists $11,600 in costs for the new signs. The Association also would need permission from cities of Sutter Creek and Jackson at two proposed locations.
The C.G. Di Arie Winery seeks to locate signs along Shenandoah Road near the intersection of Shenandoah Road and Shenandoah School Road. The proposed sign is 4 by 2-and-a-half feet, or 10 square feet.
The winery’s sign request was originally tabled by the Planning Commission until Janurary 2012, until the Vintners Association signs were approved. But C.G. Di Arie is asking for at least a temporary approval of the permit until January 2012.
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Amador Pines Bump & Run Drill is set for 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 12
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Amador Pines Bump and Run Drill will be held on Monday, September 12 starting at 6 p.m.
Cathy Koos Breazeal, Executive Director of the Amador Fire Safe Council in a notice to the Upcountry Community Council said it is a joint drill between Lockwood Fire Protection District, Amador Fire Protection District Battalion 10, and the California Department of Fire Protection, with Amador Fire Safe Council coordinating the effort.
Breazeal said 18 homeowners have been recruited to participate in the exercise. Agencies will meet up at the Amador Pines pond at 6 p.m. for briefing, and will review drafting from the pond, and assignments.
“The scenario is a wildland fire within the subdivision,” she said. “Each engine crew will be given a list of addresses to locate. Once the address is located, firefighters will pull sufficient hose to encircle the home.”
Breazeal said “at each home, they will assess any mitigation efforts required such as removal of patio furniture from decks, clearing around propane tanks or cutting lines.” She said “that work will not be performed, just recognized as a need.” Then they will move to the next address on the list until the list is done.”
The backup drill date will be Monday, Sept. 19, at the same time and location. Breazeal and the chiefs will be running chase vehicles.
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Amador County – A tip from a relative led to the arrest of a 21-year-old Sutter Creek man in relation to several burglaries on Sutter Circle.
The Amador County Sheriff’s Department said Jacob Raymond Whitney, 21, of Sutter Creek was arrested Aug. 21 and booked into the Amador County Jail. “He was charged with first degree burglary, possession of stolen property, commission of a felony while pending another felony, theft of mail and possession of a hypodermic needle.”
Amador County Undersheriff Jim Wegner released details of the investigation this week, saying “on Aug. 20, the Amador County Sheriff’s Office responded to the report of a residential burglary in the 10000 block of Sutter Circle, in the unincorporated area of Sutter Creek.”
A Sheriff’s Deputy responded to the location and “contacted the victim who reported that an unknown suspect had entered his residence without permission and stole a digital camera, camera lens and coins valued at approximately $850. The deputy conducted an initial investigation, which included a neighborhood canvas.”
On Aug. 21, a “resident of Sutter Circle” who “was interviewed during the neighborhood canvas” contacted the Sheriff’s Department. He said “he suspected a relative of committing the burglary of his neighbor’s home and that he also suspected the relative of burglarizing another residence in the neighborhood.”
Wegner said “upon arrival of Sheriff’s Deputies, the resident reported that subsequent to being contacted by the deputy the day prior, he observed his relative attempt to dispose of a wrist watch and miscellaneous mail addressed to a vacationing neighbor. The resident identified the relative as Jacob Raymond Whitney, 21, of Sutter Creek.”
Wegner said: “Sheriff’s Deputies positively identified the watch and mail as being stolen from another residence in the 10000 block of Sutter Circle. The victim of that burglary also reported the suspect stole approximately $1,770 in coins; and keys to a vehicle.”
Whitney was interviewed by deputies, Wegner said. “Whitney admitted to possessing the stolen property but stated he merely found the property and denied being involved in the burglaries.”
He said a “search of Whitney’s room was conducted pursuant to the terms and conditions of his probation in San Diego County and terms and conditions of a conditional release in Amador County. The search revealed a hypodermic needle, drug use paraphernalia and a letter documenting his drug use and thefts. The camera, lens, keys and stolen coins have not yet been recovered.”
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Amador County – The Upcountry Community Council will meet as scheduled Monday after members decided that a conflicting Amador Fire Safe Council Bump & Run Drill should not change the meeting time.
UCC Chair Lynn Morgan said the meeting will go on as scheduled, 6-8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 12, saying members were supporting keeping the date.
The UCC agenda includes a County Update from District 3 Supervisor Ted Novelli. The Council is also scheduled to have a discussion of elements for a “Buckhorn Town Center,” as identified in the Amador County draft General Plan. Debbie Dunn will speak on the status of the community plan for a Buckhorn Town Center.
The agenda includes an update by Gary Reinoehl on Upcountry transportation issues; and District 3 Director Don Cooper will give a report on the Amador Water Agency happenings.
Rich Farrington will give a report from the Fire Protection Committee, and Rebecca Brown is scheduled to report on the Amador County Regional Planning Committee. Dunn will also give an update from the board of the Amador County Recreation Agency.
The UCC agenda also includes nomination of UCC officers for the next two-year term ending December 2013. The agenda allows for speaker presentations and questions and answers.
Morgan said all items on the agenda may result in a consensus opinion from the Upcountry Community Council. The UCC has no formal members, except for a chair and vice chair, and consensus voting is done by anyone attending.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Area 12 Agency on the Aging will get a new director in October
Written by Tom
Amador County – Area 12 Agency on Aging is getting a new executive director beginning in October, while Supervisors are still looking to add to its advisory committee.
Outgoing Executive Director Linda Zach, who is retiring at the end of September, said: “It’s been a good run, we’ve gotten a lot accomplished.” But she is looking forward to more free time. Her replacement is new Executive Director Pauline White, with whom Zach has been working to ease the transition.
Zach said California Department of Aging distributes all of the budget for Area 12 Agency on the Aging. The CDA provides a little bit of funding for Area 12’s nutrition programs, but the rest of the money comes through the federal government, and the Older Americans Act of 1965.
The Older Americans Act comes up for reauthorization periodically, Zach said, and it is currently up for reconsideration and reauthorization. She said: “I’m not too sure it’ll get passed this year.”
The funds go to numerous Area 12 programs, including Meals on Wheels, and seed money for transportation, chore, homemaker and personal care services. She said there is a very small legal care program, and also nutrition and family caregiver support services. “We do have a minor home repair program,” which has a cap on the amount spent on each repair project.
Area 12 covers five counties of Amador, Alpine, Calaveras, Mariposa, and Tuolumne counties, though Alpine is not a member of the Governing Board or Advisory Council. Zach said they work with Laurie Web and Amador Senior Services, through Common Ground Senior Services, in Amador County.
The agency’s goal is to keep seniors in their homes and living independently as long as possible. They offer a pretty broad range of services funded through the Older Californians Act, and a number of programs under that umbrella. All of that funding has been eliminated, Zach said. It remains in California law, and the hope is that it will come back, but the funding was removed two years ago in September, 2009.
Those interested in serving on the Advisory Council may obtain an application by calling the Amador County Board of Supervisors or visiting the Amador County website.
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Two claimed hereditary elders of Buena Vista Me-Wuk tribe sue to stop Buena Vista Casino
Written by Tom
Amador County – A relative of two women who claim membership to the Buena Vista Band of Me-Wuk Indians said they are opposing the casino on Coal Mine Road in Amador County because of their ancestors buried there.
Ya-Nah Geary Mandujano spoke Aug. 16 at the Amador County Board of Supervisors’ meeting, during “matters not on the agenda,” said June Geary (her grandmother), and Bea Ortega Crabtree (her great aunt), are suing, saying they are hereditary members of the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians.
Mandujano said “this is the organization of a traditional hereditary government of Miwok who come from Buena Vista. Our leaders are not currently acknowledged by the United States of America, but these Miwok elders are currently going to federal court to become acknowledged.”
Mandujano, a radio host of “Sovereignty Sound,” on KDVS 90.3 FM in Davis, told supervisors that if Amador County repossessed the Buena Vista land, due to taxes, “I hope you would consider talking to these two elders.”
Mandujano said last week that a November court date is set in the trial, with co-plaintiffs, Friends of Amador County, led by Jackson Valley resident Jerry Cassesi. They joined Cassesi in the suit because they don’t want gaming on the 67-acre Rancheria in Buena Vista, due to their ancestors’ graves being there, some marked, and many believed to be unmarked. She said they are not against Indian gaming but they are against being kept from their cultural resources and their Rancheria.
She said the cemetery is not assessed, hindering it from taxable status, which may contribute to the county tax issue.
“There are people buried all over out there,” Mandujano said. “The whole thing should be considered a cemetery.”
Mandujano said under U.S. government policies, her grandmother and great aunt are being prevented from reorganizing, because of agreements made by Donna Marie Potts, who handed over the tribe to current Chairwoman, Rhonda Morningstar Pope. Mandujano said the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of the Interior will not allow them to reorganize, so they cannot get benefits they are due as members of a tribe.
She said the BIA recognized Pope’s Buena Vista Rancheria tribe, and Rhonda had to settle with Donna Marie Potts.
In early 2009 or 2010, Mandujano said they “found out Rhonda wasn’t going to make good on her promise to include my grandma and great aunty” in the tribe. She said it could have been good to include the elders, but “they looked down on my grandma and great aunt.”
Mandujano said: “They would’ve all been stinking rich by now.” She said if it is allowed to go up the way it is now designed and planned, “we would not ever see our cemetery rights being protected.”
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AWA to consider water consolidation; AWS, GSL special taxes
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors will host a special meeting today to consider staff recommendations to consolidate all of its water systems; and also to form two special tax districts, for the existing Amador Transmission Pipeline, and the planned Gravity Supply Line.
AWA General Manager Gene Mancebo in a report to Directors for today’s special meeting requested the board “approve a revenue plan consisting of a proposed consolidated water rate structure for all Water Agency water systems.” He also requested approval of “a special tax district for potential new customers in the Amador Water System regarding the Amador Transmission Project and water treatment plant improvements.” The Transmission Project is the pipeline from Lake Tabeaud to Tanner water treatment plant.
Mancebo requested the Board approve “a special tax and/or assessment district encompassing both existing and potential new customers in the Central Amador Water Project service area for funding the loan repayment for the proposed Gravity Supply Line Project.”
Mancebo requested “approval for staff to execute consultant agreements to implement the revenue plan with SCI Consulting Group at $142,400 and The Reed Group Incorporated for $121,000,” to begin work, which includes district-wide elections to decide whether to form the two Community Facility District special tax areas.
Director President Don Cooper and Director Robert Manassero, members of ad hoc committees on Financial Planning and Education, reviewed the revenue plan, Mancebo said. The committees were “assigned to investigate the concept of a consolidated water rate structure” for all AWA water systems, “as well as assessments or special taxes for the collection of funds for the debt service on the Amador Water System Transmission Project and the loan repayment obligations for the proposed GSL Project.”
The committees worked with staff and legal counsel and “determined that this approach, on a long-term basis, provides a cost-effective, and a reasonable and fair approach to securing a sound financial position for the operation, improvement and replacement of the water systems,” Mancebo said.
He said it “makes sense” to consolidate expenses shared by water systems into the same base rate. Shared expenses include staff, equipment, chemicals and administration. “Some items unique for some areas” should “be allocated solely to the customers who benefit from them.”
The special meeting is at 1 p.m. today at the AWA office.
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