The City of Sutter Creek received good news from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency yesterday. The City had applied for a Brown Field grant for the Central Eureka Mine, and the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, in return has granted the City $200,000 to clean up the site which contains mining waste and is impacted with heavy metals. The clean up will remove the health and safety risks associated with the site making it perfect for the City’s hopes of using the 12 acres as a historic park that will provide walking trails. The EPA also granted $200,000 to clean a hazardous waste site in Tulare County.

The Jackson Planning Commission met last night with two items before them the project determination of the Jackson Hills project and administrative reports. Before discussions began under public matters Kathy DuBois spoke in regards to the City’s proposed General Plan. She said the Plan was missing pertinent information in regards to population and demographics. She said the recently adopted 106 HEU’s (or Housing Equivalent Units) for the upcoming year presents a growth rate of 6.3% which is too high a number, in her opinion, for the City of Jackson. She did not however, present the information on how she came to such a percentage. She also said that there is no real vision in the general plan and suggested as well that language be added in regards to mixed land uses. DuBois concluded that she felt the City should not allow any growth as they have an illegally inadequate existing and proposed General Plan.

A major announcement this morning by the Amador Water Agency. The Amador Water Agency (AWA) and Protect the Historic Amador Waterways Inc. (PHAW) announced today their successful resolution of a year-long collaborative process to resolve legal and policy differences over the Agency’s decision to build the Amador Transmission Project and to install a small diameter pipeline in the Amador Canal.  AWA and PHAW have finalized an agreement to fund, prepare and implement a watershed management and conservation program for the South Fork of Jackson Creek and New York Ranch Gulch, as well as other areas within the Jackson Creek Watershed. In exchange for certain funding commitments, PHAW has agreed to dismiss its litigation against AWA.

Amador County is deeply involved in the process of updating its general plan. This plan will be the “master plan” for the future development of the county and will aid the county in either keeping the Amador we know or changing into a new place. Now the need for information from agricultural stakeholders cannot be stressed enough. To that end, an Agricultural Stakeholder's Workshop has been scheduled for Saturday, February 3, 2007 at the Amador County Administrative Center, 810 Court, Street, Jackson, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

This week representatives of the Board of Supervisors and Amador Water Agency got up to speed on local water issues at their regular joint water committee meeting. Jim Abercrombie, General Manager of the Water Agency, reported that the Agency and the City of Sutter Creek are working to improve the capacity of the Sutter Creek wastewater plant in order to avoid sewer and water moratoriums for builders in the Martell area. Abercrombie also reported that the Water Agency is going to be considering raising the water level at Bear River Reservoir. They are looking to meet with Calaveras County to look at how raising the water could be beneficial to ecological, economic, and community interests, and if such a project would be worth the cost. The last issue discussed at the meeting was the backwash disposal situation in Ione. Supervisor Louis Boitano said that there are opportunities through both Preston and Mule Creek State Prison, with the waste water troubles Ione is currently experiencing. Abercrombie suggested the option of Preston and Mule Creek working with Ione to treat the water to a tertiary level. Boitano stated this would alleviate most of Ione's raw water needs.

 

Dave Tomas was sworn in on Thursday by County clerk- Recorder Sheldon Johnson to serve out the remaining term of now Supervisor Ted Novelli, as an AWA Board Director for Dist. 3. After a formal introduction and staff reports the Board then discussed the Administrative Citation Code Enforcement Program. The purpose of the Ordinance is to allow the Agency to impose administrative fines or penalties for violation of any Agency Ordinance. According to General Manager Jim Abercrombie, the subject arose as a result of complaints received by the Agency Staff and board members for the unauthorized taking of water from fire hydrants, the tampering of water meters, and the stealing of Agency property, to name a few violations. The Agency's Water code does not have an enforcement provision to penalize these types of violations, so this ordinance will modify the Water code and provide for those provisions. Abercrombie explained that the adoption of this Ordinance is a two-step process. The board must first introduce the Ordinance and either waive the reading or read it in its entirety.

Last Friday, the Ione Band of Miwok Indians announced the publication of their “Notice of Availability” for their Draft Environmental Impact Study in the Federal Register, a federal government publication. Tribe Chairman Matt Franklin discussed the announcement in an exclusive television interview with TSPN. “This has been a long process for the Tribe,” said Franklin. “Having our Draft EIS published means our quest to place land into trust is closer to becoming a reality.” The Tribe’s plan to build a casino in Plymouth has faced intense local opposition for years. The Ione Band of Miwok Indians has spent over two years performing a review in preparation for this Draft EIS. The Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS in the Federal Register begins an extended 75 day public comment period which the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or BIA, will manage. The BIA has scheduled a public hearing for May 21st at the Amador County Fair Grounds, beginning at 6PM. “We would like to invite all people, including local, state and federal governments to read and comment on our Draft EIS,” said Spokesman Peter Tateishi in a statement. A copy of the Draft EIS is available online at www.ioneeis.com.

In a breaking news statement issued just hours ago, County Administrative Officer Terri Daly announced that the Board of Supervisors did not submit a last-and-best final offer to the tribe by the deadline of March 18th at midnight. As a result, the Board will not participate in any arbitration proceedings. The Board’s deadlocked vote on March 11th resulted in the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians issuing the seven-day notice to terminate negotiations. Because of the Board’s continued stalemate, they could not come to a decision by last night’s deadline. “At this time, the Tribe has indicated it will proceed with the binding arbitration process. A decision by an arbitrator assigned by the American Arbitration Association could be made within 30-90 days from today,” said Daly.

The Amador Water Agency and the Board of Directors have continued to focus on small changes that make big impacts in the Amador Water System.  One of those changes has been identifying inexpensive projects that provide additional capacity.  Earlier this year the Agency embarked on increasing the capacity in the Tanner Treatment Plant, located on Ridge Road, by implementing two conjunctive projects.   While the Amador Water Agency has been developing plans to construct a new water treatment plant at Tanner, interim improvements were needed to continue to serve existing customers and impending growth.  

The Planning Commission voted Tuesday night for a second planning Commission meeting to be held in April to address the Draft EIR and a recent zone change for the Wicklow Way Subdivision proposed by Lemke Construction of Copperopolis.  Lemke Construction is proposing to develop and build the Stoney Creek Estates- Wicklow Way project, consistent with the original concept approve in 1978 as part of the Hilltop Estates Master Plan. The property proposed for development is situated off of Wicklow Way on the south side of Hwy. 88 just west of Hwy. 88 and 49 junction in Martell between the Argonaut High School Football Field and Wal-Mart.