News Archive (6192)
Supervisors look to grant $150,000 for Camanche water infrastructure improvements
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to extend a grant offer of $150,000 for infrastructure improvements at the Camanche water system, with the consensus that the grant would be withheld if homeowners do not work toward balancing their budget by allowing a rate increase.
Supervisor Richard Forster introduced the issue, saying he has “been attending those meetings in Camanche for 20 years now,” and admitted that the county didn’t do a very good job in caring for the water system, before handing it over to the Amador Water Agency. He said AWA did a lot of improvements, and it still needs work. The Agency took over the system that had a significant reserve, but did “not have a replacement fund.”
Forster proposed a grant of $100,000 to $150,000 for the county to take some financial responsibility and assist the AWA in making some repairs “that the county did not make.”
AWA General Manager Gene Mancebo said it was built in 1972 and uses plastic pipes that have become brittle and fail. It has no “tracers” to help locating it, so it can take crews two days to find a line. The Camanche system is 40 years old, and has seven different units, though the grant is focused on the water systems.
Forster said: “I think a grant is appropriate because when the agency took over the system,” if it had looked at it closer, it would have found that they “should have asked the county for more money.” Forster said “Tom Bailey paid PG&E $400,000” to buy the system and he should have asked to be paid $500,000 to a million dollars to take it.
Since AWA took over Camanche, the water system has had 80 service connection lines replaced, and the multiple wooden water storage tanks needed new hatches and roofs. Operations manager Chris McKeage said costs included work on pumps and the SCADA system, and installation of tank liners.
Mancebo said AWA spent about $800,000 on water systems, and another $800,000 on wastewater systems. Forster said it was a “whole lot of high-cost work,” but some work was not really improvements, because it was built with faulty material.
Forster said “these are system improvements that should have been done a long time ago when the county was running the system.”
Supervisor Chairman John Plasse said he supported helping correct the “deteriorated system the county handed over to them.”
Costs exceed revenue, and the last rate increase was in 2006. A recent attempt to raise rates was blocked by a Proposition 218 protest. Mancebo said workshops in Camanche looked at a 10 percent increase, and a $70 one-time charge for infrastructure work. The charge might be foregone if the 10 percent rate increase goes through, and Supervisors supply a grant.
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Kiwanis International dedicates a new bench to forever mark “Bart’s Bend”
Written by Tom
Amador County – About 20 people gathered between Mission Boulevard and Pitt Street on Highway 88 mark the official naming of Bart’s Bend after local business.
The Amador County Kiwanis Club International held a brief lunchtime ceremony to mark installation of a new concrete picnic table embossed with a bronze Kiwanis medallion, and to dedicate the small roadside park as “Bart’s Bend.”
City Manager Mike Daly said Bart’s Bend was created several years ago when two wooden picnic tables were placed there by Bart Gillman, co-owner’s of Mel & Faye’s Restaurant.
“Over the years, Bart, single-handedly, mowed the area, repainted the tables and maintained a trash receptacle” at the small roadside park, where “many residents and tourists frequently used the area to rest and picnic.”
Daly said “Gillman spent about 10 or 12 years mowing and weeding” and keeping up the small park next to Jackson Creek.
Daly said: “Bart just took this project on his own. Nobody asked him to do it,” he did it “just to make this a better place.” Eventually the small park became known as Bart’s Bend. But the tables deteriorated and were removed.
Bart and Maura Gillman arrived Tuesday after a Convocation prayer by Kiwanis Lieutenant Governor Andrew Webb, and during Daly’s address.
Gillman said he was touched by the turnout, and the club’s donation. He said: “When the last wooden picnic table collapsed, I thought that was the end of Bart’s Bend. Then the Kiwanis Club bought a table that will outlast me.”
In June, a crane lifted the concrete picnic table into place. In a ceremonial program, Amador Kiwanis outgoing President Debbie Blasingame explained that “Amador County Kiwanis Club took the initiative to resurrect Bart’s Bend. We later found it was unofficially named.” The “Dedication Ceremony is to confirm the original purpose of this wayside stop for both travelers and locals and to also unveil a sign identifying this site forever as Bart’s Bend.”
Incoming President Howard Edson said they will be mounting a membership drive to add to the 18 members of Amador Kiwanis. Blasingame said that would change Tuesday, as “Bart is an honorary Kiwanis.”
Balsingame said Kiwanis was founded in 1915 to help children. The program said the “club is made up of all walks of life at every step of the career ladder. But they are unified in their belief that children and their communities benefit from the efforts of a proficient group of caring and involved volunteers.”
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Supervisors asked two local Economic Development groups to discuss working together
Written by Tom
Amador County – Members of Amador County Business Council and Amador Economic Development Corporation on Tuesday agreed to discuss collaboration or even a merger, to work on promoting economic development.
The Amador County Board of Supervisors asked for a new discussion after a request by the Business Council to fund formation of a new Economic Development Corporation (EDC).
Supervisor Chairman John Plasse said the “private sector brings a lot,” and the three groups would “all bring something to the table,” but he did not see it as a merging of the minds. Plasse said Amador Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) director Ron Mittelbrunn was asked to bring budget info forward in February, but had not done so, and AEDC’s Board hasn’t met since then.
Mittelbrunn said only the Executive Committee has met since then, and he operates his office from loan percentages. When no loans come, there is nothing to budget.
Supervisor Richard Forster said the county is “second or third in the running” when trying to get a lot of companies to locate here, and the problem is a lack of infrastructure. Mittelbrunn said Amador Central Business Park in Martell has high-powered real estate brokers that have not been successful because of wastewater capacity issues.
Mittelbrunn said “over 20 years, I have handled $44 million in loans” that have turned into 500 jobs. He said the Business Council “may think I am not doing a good job. They have a right to think what they want.” He agreed to a meeting.
Plasse said it “might be advantageous to merge the two of them,” and he wanted it discussed again, because they had not spoken since February when results were negative. Forster agreed they should not have redundancy of two different EDCs.
Foster said he supports Mittelbrunn because he knows what he has done. They have “walked the property out there” in Carbondale 2-3 times, and came in second place on a search for a Lowe’s location. “That’s not bad,” Forster said, “but you’re not going to win until you have the infrastructure in place.” He said “it will take $1 million to get a tank up there for water but how do you pay for it?”
Forster said it was “early I the process and they need a couple of issues worked out.” Supervisors Brian Oneto said he would like to “digest” the information given.
Debbie Dunn said “I see it as a pay-to-play, locally formed business council.” Forster said “I readily disagree,” saying “it’s a public-private partnership,” that is used all over the state, and “it’s a proven model that works.” The Board briefly discussed taking $15,000 from the TOT fund, and $10,000 from contingencies to fund the request, but sent it to the Admin Committee, to discuss with Mittelbrunn and Conklin.
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Supervisros see bid for $25,000 to form new economic development corporation
Written by Tom
Amador County – Business leaders on Tuesday asked the Amador County Board of Supervisors for an investment of $50,000 over the next two years, with the aim to create a new local economic development corporation.
Amador County Business Council President Anne Platt asked Supervisors for $25,000 a year for the next two years to form a new Economic Development Corporation (EDC), to supplant the Amador Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) headed by Ron Mittelbrunn.
Platt said one of the major issues facing the county is job creation, and the Business Council has raised over $80,000 in private funds to start the EDC.
Platt, CEO of Sutter Amador Hospital, said “it’s time to create a user-friendly environment, so businesses can locate here and so existing businesses can expand.” Asking the county to put in $50,000 over two years, she said the County could sit on the new EDC board, and the Corporation would be separate from the Business Council.
She said her employer Sutter Amador Hospital invested $10,000 over the last two years. Other contributors Stan Lukowicz (of Trader Stan’s) and Rich Hoffman (CEO of the Jackson Rancheria Casino) each gave $20,000; and Amador Association of Realtors and Jim & Suzy Gullett of Vino Noceto each gave $5,000.
Business Council Vice President Paul Molinelli Junior said the private sector-led EDC would try to “address the retail linkage issue” where Amador County residents drive out of the county to work and shop. He said “we want them to live here, to work here and to shop here.” Molinelli said the goal is to raise $320,000, and they expect to have a budget of about $120,000 a year. He said his company, ACES Waste Services, has invested $10,000 toward that goal.
Amador County Business Council Executive Director Jim Conklin said the proposed 501(c)6 corporation, the Economic Development Corporation, would suggest $25,000 in annual funding from the County, under a contract, to be renewed annually. Conklin said: “We feel that there has got to be a series of measurements, annual or biannual reports, so that you can gauge exactly how successful your investment has been.”
He pointed to Littleton, Colorado, which doubled its job-base in 10 years by promoting programs to expand existing businesses. Conklin said “this new EDC would have a loan packaging process” and “bring a significant portion of the private sector to the table.”
The Business Council plans to take the investment request to cities, but wanted to take it to Supervisors first, he said. Supervisor Richard Forster said: “You might be hard-pressed to get $5,000 out of Ione right now.” Conklin said it is “not so much the amount of money” as being a part of the Corporation.
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Master Gardeners, and local deep-rooted farm families supported Cooperative Extension
Written by Tom
Amador County – Amador County Supervisors heard extensive support for the University of California Cooperative Extension office at its July 26 meeting, including from long-time family farmers, and Master Gardeners.
Tim Jelsch, vice president of the Amador County Master Gardeners said he was shocked to hear the Extension Office might not be funded. Supervisors later ended reconsideration without action, and funding continued.
Jelsch said Amador County has such a popular program, its 77 members includes some from out-of-county. He said “you can’t just walk in and say I want to be a Master Gardener.” There are 17 classes, each four hours long, and a final exam. Amador Master Gardeners have volunteered 4,253 hours this year, and have volunteered for more than 50,000 hours since the group was founded.
Jim Spinetta, regional director of the California Farm Bureau Federation, said his family has been continuously farming in Amador County since 1852. He thanked Supervisors for continuing UCCE funding, and noted that 4-H stands for “Head, Heart, Hands, and Health.”
Gabrielle Dane, a 4-H member said: “We really do not want our 4-H taken away.” Supervisors acknowledged the outpouring. Louis Boitano said he came back from vacation and found 435 e-mails on the subject. “I answered as many as I could,” he said, but by the following week, he realized he “couldn’t answer all of them.”
Supervisor Brian Oneto said he and the other Supervisors do support ag, and know the value of UCCE’s programs, giving great information about agriculture. He also benefited from 4-H and won a blue ribbon for his sunflower at the fair as a kid. Supervisor Richard Forster said he was 9 when he won a blue ribbon for carrots he grew in 4-H.
Dick Martella, president of Amador County Wine Grape Growers Association said “we’re a bunch of small growers here,” but Amador County should look at what it means when people say they are going to “Wine Country,” and should promote the “Amador Wine Brand.”
Martella pointed to the big push in Lodi to promote itself as Wine Country. Lodi has transformed from being “the home of Tokay to the home of zinfandel” and is promoting the “Lodi Brand” of wine. He pointed out the U.C. Extension in Sacramento, San Joaquin district has a lot of top people, and a lot of new things are going on with growing grapes.
He said there are about 3,500 to 4,000 acres grown here, but in Lodi, one operation could have 17,000 acres. He said “It’s not a question about who has the best zinfandel, and who makes the best wine. We do.”
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ACTC readies for the next stage of its UPlan traffic planning tool
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Amador County Transportation Commission hosted a workshop July 20 to discuss the next steps in the Commission’s planning tool, the UPlan.
Executive Director Charles Field in a report to the Commission said ACTC would discuss the next steps for the UPlan traffic planning tool, which Commission staff developed with support from the California Department of Transportation and U.C. Davis.
The UPlan tool examines “likely growth scenarios based on existing city and county policies.” The model and initial output were presented to the community at a public workshop March 30. Field said the July workshop was meant for ACTC’s board of directors to “review the public comments that were provided at that meeting and via the project website and determine the next steps in the refinement of the model.”
Field said based on “questions and comments provided to date, the UPlan project team has identified potential adjustments to the UPlan model that respond to public input. The UPlan tool models potential growth scenarios using inputs such as environmental constraints, population, housing and employment estimates. ACTC will review each comment, potential action item and estimated costs associated with each to determine the future of the UPlan model.”
The process is funded by a grant from the California Department of Transportation, and “is designed to provide information for prioritizing limited transportation dollar resources,” Field said. It also helps ACTC to “identify regional planning opportunities,” verify and support city and county General Plans, and understand development patterns, and all of the “influences that factor into market trends and decisions.”
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County resolution claims GSL would cost less than CAWP fix
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors in late July approved a resolution of support for the Amador Water Agency’s pursuit of a Gravity Supply Line (GSL) in the Central Amador Water Project service area, with the resolution listing some of the reasons the new line is considered the best option.
The resolution passed by Supervisors July 26 noted that AWA “has received authorization for a grant and low interest loan to construct the Upcountry Gravity Supply Line” and “if the GSL isn’t constructed, the 30-year-old pumps have to be replaced, permanent generators need to be installed to run the pumps during power failures, a new pipeline is needed from the river to replace the existing pipe,” a portion of “which was used when it was installed, and a large water storage tank is needed Upcountry.”
AWA General Manager Gene Mancebo said that capacity at Tiger Creek Regulator would mean they could “easily use 300 acre-feet of storage” there. Total storage there is 500 acre-feet. The resolution noted that the GSL “would be fed by the PG&E Regulator Reservoir, which could deliver a minimum of 76 million gallons (233 acre-feet) of water to the Upcountry system in a wildfire emergency, which would be a significant improvement over the 2.6 million gallons of water stored in tanks throughout the system.”
The resolution noted that the Gravity Supply pipeline would “cost customers significantly less than upgrading the existing pumping system, adding generators, replacing the pipeline from the river, and adding an additional storage tank.” Volunteer Rich Farrington, who worked with local firefighter groups on fire needs, said it would be twice the cost to replace the existing system, for what the GSL would cost.
But Mancebo said it could be more. He said the existing, electrically pumped pipeline that feeds the Buckhorn Water Treatment Plant, has “pipe couplings that were never designed to be put in the ground.” Mancebo said the cost of the GSL would be “a $30 million savings versus replacing the existing system.”
The Supervisors’ resolution noted that “it would be sound operating practice to keep the present pumps at Tiger Creek and Silver Lake Pines in a stand-by mode in the event the water supply from the PG&E Regulator” is interrupted. But Mancebo said due to its age, the existing pipeline will eventually fail.
Supervisor Brian Oneto said he had previously discussed having “redundancy” for the new gravity line with an inter-tie into the Amador Transmission Pipeline, within the Amador Water System. Mancebo said a two-mile span of pipelines and pumps would have the AWS and the GSL as backups for one another. Supervisor Louis Boitano said “anytime you can have inter-ties, it saves money.”
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Supervisors to consider comment letter on state fire fee
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors today will discuss the state fire fighting fee of $150 on rural homes, and consider approving a comment letter by Chairman John Plasse.
Assembly Bill X129 would impose a $150 annual fire fee for homes in “State Responsibility Areas” protected by California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Supervisors will consider an Aug. 2 letter from Tuolumne County Supervisor Chairman John L. Gray to the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, and legislators. Gray asked them to “consider whatever means are available to seek repeal” of the fee “or, at the very least, consider ways to address” its inequities. Gray said passage of AB X129 did not meet “a two-thirds supermajority,” and the fee was “subject to legal challenge.”
Gray criticized that AB X129’s requirement to pass “an emergency scheme to impose the fees” by Sept. 1, saying it did not give “sufficient time to implement the fee in a thoughtful and responsible manner.” He also said the Fire Fee “will not improve fire service and may complicate the mutual aid system.”
The Fire Fee would impact “almost all residents of Tuolumne County” and “has the effect of double taxation.” Tuolumne residents already have fire districts and have imposed fire service taxes on themselves. Gray said if the state Fire Fee was in place, it would make it highly unlikely to pass future fire services measures: “The end result is less fire protection services than residents currently enjoy.”
Former Amador County Fire Warden, and retired Amador-El Dorado CDF Unit Chief Jim Simmons in a July 29 letter to the Auburn Journal, said the “state fire fee is poorly conceived” and “legislation creating this fee should be repealed.”
Simmons said the “theory behind this fee is that rural residents receive free fire protection” and it was similar to legislation he analyzed as State Fire Protection Planning Officer during Gov. Brown’s first term in the 1970s. Simmons said: “My research indicated that urban residents and agricultural areas actually receive the greatest benefit” of CDF’s protection system.
He said CDF gets help from hundreds of emergency vehicles in mutual aid, largely for free, avoiding maintenance costs.
In his opinion, Simmons said $150 “fire fee will have a chilling effect on future local elections… Voters simply will not vote for additional fees or taxes on top of the fee charged by the state.”
Simmons was asked by Supervisors “to develop and sell a ballot measure to create a fire district for the rural areas of Amador County served by volunteer fire companies.” He said it “took 12 years and three separate elections to create the district.”
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El Dorado Sheriff’s marine search team recovers diver’s body at Lake Tahoe
Written by Tom
El Dorado County – The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department last week announced the recovery of an as-yet unidentified diver from 265 feet of water in late July at Lake Tahoe.
El Dorado Sheriff’s Office public information Officer Bryan Golmitz released details of the incident last week, saying that on July 24, the El Dorado Sheriff's Office “received information from a deep diver that while diving in Lake Tahoe near Rubicon Point he located a deceased diver in a rock crevice.
“The deep diver reported that the deceased diver was approximately 250-270 feet below the lake surface. Based on the reported depth it was determined that the Sheriff’s Office would use a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) for the search and possibly the recovery,” Golmitz said. “The Sheriff's Office, through a grant, had purchased the Remote Operated Vehicle two years ago for circumstances like these.
“On the morning of July 27, the Sheriff’s dive and marine teams set out to locate the deceased diver. Once in location, the Lake Tahoe patrol boat was anchored and then used as the platform to launch the ROV,” Golmitz said. “Several hours passed as the operator maneuvered the ROV back and forth along Rubicon point at 260 feet below the surface. At about 3 p.m. the deceased diver was located in the rock crevice.”
The search then became a recovery operation. Golmitz said “using the ROV mechanical claw the operator was able to grab onto the dive equipment and deputies began slowly pulling the ROV umbilical up.”
After an hour, the ROV and its operators were able to retrieve the diver’s body from 265 feet of water, and the body “had been pulled to the side of the Sheriff’s boat. The Sheriff’s divers then entered the water to complete the recovery.”
“The deceased diver was brought back to the shore and transferred to the custody of the Coroner,” who “will attempt to determine the identification of the subject and the cause and manner of death.”
The El Dorado Sheriff's Office received help from two South Lake Tahoe Police Department marine patrol boats in the search. Golmitz said “they were instrumental in the search by keeping boating traffic out of the area so that the water remained as calm as possible, which made the ROV operators job easier.” He said the U.S. Coast Guard also assisted in maintaining the ROV platform location.
Regional media reported authorities are looking into a 1994 diving incident, when a 44-year-old Reno man disappeared during a 130-foot dive, after falling unconscious during ascent. Recovered scuba gear reportedly dated to that era.
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“Carnival That Cares” will raise funds to help establish autism services in Amador County
Written by Tom
Amador County – The proponent for a local chapter of the Tri-County Autism Group will be getting the help of a local “Carnival That Cares” fundraiser later this month at the former Jackson Ford, with proceeds to help establish autism services Amador County.
Kam Merzlak announced in early July that he has stepped aboard as a sponsor of the fundraiser, spearheaded, in part, by a childhood friend, Shannon Gibson, who has an autistic son. Merzlak said Gibson is “working on a plan to eventually have autism services here in Amador County. As it is now, she drives daily to Murphys to the nearest center.”
Gibson in June appeared on TSPN to promote the Tri-County Autism Group, and her work to start the Amador County chapter of TAG. Soon after that, the group’s president sounded support for the Amador Chapter.
Geoff Cooper, President of Tri-County Autism Group of Valley Springs announced the Aug. 27 fundraiser, saying the Tri-County Autism Group and Sterling Auto Repair will present the first annual Amador fundraiser, “A Carnival That Cares.”
The carnival will be 3-7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27 at Sterling Auto Repair at 11400 Highway 49 in Jackson, the site of the former Jackson Ford.
Cooper said the carnival will be a “family event with bounce houses, a dunk tank, face painting, candy walk, water balloon toss, and carnival games for all ages.” In addition to carnival treats and drinks, there will be a BBQ dinner from 5-6:30 p.m.
Cooper said “Dr. Ryan Thompson from Mind Matters Clinic in Murphys and other providers will be at the event to answer any questions that you may have about Autism, ADHD, and other learning disabilities.”
TAG members will be at the Carnival “to provide information and raise awareness about autism and the ever-growing need for non-existent services in Amador County,” Cooper said. Bonnie Barringer will be selling a limited edition Christmas ornament specially designed with an Autism theme.
For those who cannot attend but would like to support the cause, raffle tickets will be sold in advance. Proceeds from the fundraiser will help establish autism services in Amador County.
Cooper said “Amador County families travel at least an hour away to obtain needed services.”
He said TAG is currently seeking sponsors, raffle donations, and volunteers for the Carnival That Cares.” For information, call Umpqua bank at (209)257-5444.
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