The recent 2-2 deadlock over the ISA agreement with the proposed Buena Vista Casino has, in the minds of many citizens, raised more questions than answers. In a statement released last week, County Administrative Officer Terri Daly explained the future implications of the Board’s vote. “Today’s decision by the Board of Supervisors means the ISA that the County negotiated has been rejected. The Tribe or the County immediately could seek to renegotiate another ISA, or to begin the binding arbitration process,” says Daly.

The decision also means that the County can continue to fight the lawsuit that challenges the Tribe’s right to the land in question as “Indian land”. The arbitration process could be initiated at any time and a decision will be provided by a neutral arbitrator who will choose between either the County’s or the Tribe’s last best-and-final offer. At the conclusion of the arbitration process, the Tribe will be free to construct and operate a casino in Buena Vista, so long as it conforms to the arbitrator’s decision. An injunction to halt the casino construction can only be granted by the federal court hearing the County’s current challenge.

The draft environmental impact report for the proposed Home Depot in Jackson is now available for review through October 1st, 2007. A public meeting regarding the project has been scheduled for September 17, 2007 at 6:00 in the evening at the Jackson Civic Center. Copies of the Draft  are now available for review at the Cities offices. These documents may also be reviewed at the Amador County Library in Jackson.

Jackson City Council met Monday night to a large audience and full agenda, which focused mainly on the Jackson Hills Development Project. The meeting began with administrative and council reports, and then began the next portion of the agenda to review and discuss Jackson Hills. A brief presentation was given by Allen Warren the President of New Faze, the developer of the project, where he also introduced Marty Tuttle serving as the project lead, Staff Engineer Les Clark, and Project Attorney Mike Cook. From there began the public hearing, many members of the community, both those supportive of the project, and those opposed, addressed the council with facts, statistics, and fervor.

The Ione Bypass- will it be a reality? The Board of Supervisors discussed the plans for the route this week. The history of the bypass idea is a lengthy one with the concept identified more than 20 years ago. The need for a 'bypass' of downtown lone has been identified as a long-term local and regional transportation priority with the Amador County Transportation Commission working with the city for many years to help complete this goal. Past work has considered several different potential alignments, however no alignment as been specifically identified.

The Jackson City Council reviewed a request from the “No Casino In Plymouth” otherwise known as the NICP Group to support a bill introduced by Congressman Dan Lungren to amend the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. In a memo to the Council Dr. Elida Malick, Director of the NICP said, “The amendment proposed in this bill seeks to change the law to ensure that community input is considered in land acquisition decisions and that Tribes cannot circumvent local governmental entities by claiming to be an exception to Section 20 of the IGRA.”

On Thursday Plymouth had their Bi-Monthly City Council meeting in which they discussed and reviewed three different proposals for the Wastewater Treatment and Disposal Facilities Improvement plan. The first discussed was a proposal from KASL consulting and Engineers providing civil water resources surveying based out of Citrus Heights, Ca., the Second proposal was presented from Nolte Associates Inc., based out of Manteca, Ca, and the third was submitted by Stantec Consulting Inc. from Sacramento.  A Wastewater facilities master plan was prepared by Toma & Anderson in December of 2006.

The Jackson Planning Commission met last night to discuss what date would be appropriate for a meeting with Amador County Transportation Commission to discuss possible mitigations and changes for the Jackson Hills Project, at least changes to how the project is currently proposed. City Planner Susan Peters said that at the special meeting held March 5th that the Planning Commission decided to continue public hearings regarding the issuance of a Planning Commission recommendation to the City Council because they wanted to establish a meeting date with ACTC.

Wednesday morning the Amador Water Agency Board of Directors gathered together with key members of staff at the Jackson Rancheria Conference Center Fire Room to evaluate their organization. The Strategic Planning meeting is a yearly gathering that focuses the agency and its board on the mission of the water agency, evaluates the current status and looks forward into the future. Given the complex nature of water supply and delivery, as well as the agencies other hat as a waste water processor, the future looks busy for the expanding agency. Of key importance to the Board of Directors is the strategic plan process which in past years has lead toward the Transmission Pipeline Project that will provide 10,000 new water connections, which the agency estimates should take the county’s growth into the next 20 years. This process, according to General Manager Jim Abercrombie will prevent any unwanted surprises like unexpected growth or lack of infrastructure to support community needs.

For those of you frustrated at the parking situation at several of the new food and coffee outlets located in the developing Martell commercial area, help is on the way- at least for establishments built in the future. According to documents prepared by Planning Director Susan Grijalva, a comparative analysis of other jurisdictions shows that perception is reality on the parking situation and the parking issue has reached “critical mass”. The County’s standards for the number of parking spaces required for these types of businesses have been “significantly below average in terms of spaces required for parking at fast food restaurants.” Staff has now recommended that each proposed establishment be viewed on an individual basis, case by case using Parking Generation Guidelines that have been established by the Institute of transportation Engineers. According to Planning Director Grijalva this will allow the county to avoid future situations of inadequate parking.

 

The proposed Jackson Hills Golf Course and Residential Community project was the center of intense discussions at Monday night’s Jackson City Council meeting.  New Faze Development and local broker Tom Blackman, the developers of this project, requested that the council rescind two resolutions that were approved by the council on November 13, 2007. The first resolution approved the Final Environment Impact Report, and adopted the Findings of Fact and Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program.  The second resolution adopted a General Plan Amendment for the first phase of the project.  Both resolutions are scheduled for the June 3rd ballot. The meeting was truly divided, with the developers on one side, and a large number of citizens on the other.

The developers say they want to “take a step back” and put more time into solving and researching issues, such as wastewater, citing that state and federal regulations have repeatedly changed during this process. Public comment went on for almost two hours and shared the same theme. Local citizens repeatedly asked the council to not rescind their decisions and allow the measures to stay on the ballot. Some citizens implied that the council accommodated New Faze Development by approving the zoning changes needed by the developers. Jack Georgette accused the council of “greasing the skids to accommodate New Faze Development.” Despite public opposition, both resolutions were approved by the council, effectively removing the measures from the ballot. Per the Election Code, these measures cannot be put back on the ballot for a period of twelve months.