The weekends continue to be a busy time for the California Highway patrol on our local roadways, with 6 accidents being reported on Saturday alone. Things started off badly on Friday morning when Officer Patrick Ong responded to two accidents within one hour of each other. The first occurred around 7:30 am on Shakeridge Rd just east of Hillside Rd when Casey Hallinan, 18 of Sutter Creek was forced to lay down his 2007 Suzuki Motorcycle to avoid hitting a deer. Hallinan did avoid the deer, casing only minor injuries to himself.

The East Bay Municipal Utility District, East Bay MUD, has responded to the draft tribal Environmental Impact report from the Buena Vista Band of Me-Wuk Indians for their proposed Flying Cloud Casino stating that many of the same considerations that Amador County residents share must also be considered for Calaveras County. The response, written by William Kirkpatrick manager of Water Distribution Planning, states that road impacts will not just affect Amador and San Joaquin County, but also Calaveras County Roads including a private road owned by East bay MUD, Sandretto Rd.. Kirkpatrick states that Sandretto Rd is open to the public but its usage is contingent upon load requirements and speed limits. East Bay MUD is asking for a traffic study to be conducted on Camanche Parkway South and Sandretto Rd to look at significant impacts to traffic volumes and loads on those roadways.

Last week the city of Plymouth adopted their new capital facilities fees for the city. Consultants from the Goodwin Consulting Group gave the council their final presentation of the studies last Thursday. The council was wary of adopting the new fees as the Plymouth Pipeline is still unfinished. Councilman Jon Colburn asked, “How can we adopt accurate water fees when, in a few months, we will have a new pipeline?” Goodwin consultants told the council that the fees are amendable once they are adopted; however, a new Nexus study would be then required. The previous study was conducted and presented to the City Council in December of 2006. The study identified the capital facilities that will be needed over the next 20 years in the city, and the fees that will be needed to construct them. These fees will then be charged to new development on a per home or commercial development basis.

Last Friday March 23, 2007 at approximately 0537 am, the Amador County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 Emergency call for a possible drowning at Lake Amador, 7500 Lake Amador Drive in Jackson Valley. Upon arrival to the scene, the deputy located two subjects in the lake, attempting to provide cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to a male subject.  The two subjects and the deputy pulled the male onto the shore wherein the deputy and one of the male subjects attempted CPR until relieved by personnel from American Legion Ambulance, Jackson Valley Fire Department and the California Department of Forestry. The subject, 85 year old George Andy Emil Miller, a resident at Lake Amador was subsequently pronounced dead at the scene.

Sutter Amador Hospital’s new state of the art Out Patient Services Center was celebrated Saturday when the hospital held the grand Opening of the new building. The state of the art center has been open to the public for over a month serving patients form Amador and Calaveras Counties.

Thursday’s Amador Water Agency meeting was packed with concerned developers as the agency broached the subject of the collection of participation fees. General Manager Jim Abercrombie introduced the item by saying it is a said the discussion item only and that no decision will be made. He then explained that “There are a number of capitol improvements that we need to implement by 2010.” He said they have begun to research collecting participation fees from developers so it reduces the amount that the agency must borrow for the projects. He then gave background on how the agency has handled similar situations in the past as well as past codes and resolutions that collected fees. Prior 1993 Participation fees were due 30 days from the date of the filing of the final map for projects. In 1993 the Board of Directors approved a Resolution which allowed the applicant or developer to pay Participation Fees at the time of the initial lot sale, prior to obtaining a building permit, or at the time of application for water service, whichever occurred first. This also included a provision that all or a portion of the participation fees must be paid on or before the final approval of a final map or final approval of the project if the Board of Directors, by resolution, determined that such early payment is necessary in order to provide water service to the subdivision project.

The Amador County General Plan Committee has released a working paper that creates a foundation for preparing the goals, policies, and programs in the Amador County General Plan related to infrastructure, public facilities, and services. The General Plan policies related to infrastructure, public facilities, and services will ensure that county residents maintain sufficient facilities needed for the delivery of vital community services and functions such as water, sewage, stormwater, communications, and solid waste reduction and recycling. An efficient and reliable infrastructure is vital to any communities’ health, safety, livability, and economic well-being.

A proposal to ban smoking in cars with children inside, to be heard Wednesday in the state Senate's health committee, is the third bill in three months that has taken California's Legislature into arenas some say are better left to parents. The first would have outlawed spanking, and debate continues over whether to mandate vaccinating seventh-grade girls against a sexually transmitted disease that causes cervical cancer. California is one of at least 16 states considering bans on smoking in cars with children present. Critics call it the ultimate in "nanny government." Even if smoking around children is a bad idea, it isn't the government's job to stop people from doing it, Walter Williams, a conservative commentator who has written about the nanny state told the SF Chronicle. "If we justify things on the basis of what's good for people, there's no end in sight," said Williams, an economics professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

Assembly Bill 885 is legislation related to statewide minimum standards for onsite sewage treatment systems. The bill was signed in to law by Governor Gray Davis on September 28, 2000. The bill was sponsored by the California Association of Environmental Health Administrators (CAEHA) and was introduced by Assembly Member Hannah Beth Jackson in February 1999. The exact language and rules for the law have been under consideration since that time with this month a draft document was released. These new policies, if adopted by the state, will impact those county residents currently living on septic systems with over a 5000 gallon tank.

Earlier this week, the Ione city council rejected a request for a meeting from the Buena Vista band of Me-Wuk Indians. The tribe had intended to meet with mayor Jerry Sherman and members of city staff to discuss the City’s comments regarding the Tribal Environmental Impact report. Specifically, the comments responded to the TEIR’s proposed mitigations for police and fire protection, traffic and circulation, noise and air quality, pedestrian and bicycle safety, and city administration, deeming the mitigations inadequate. Ione had received support from the county and supervisor for Dist. 2 Richard Forester.