The Sutter Creek City Council this week made some headway on the Sutter Hill East Storm Drain and Sewer Project. Sutter Creek Administrators last visited this project about a year ago, when the east annexation of Sutter Hill into the City of Sutter Creek was postponed due to the lack of a traffic study.At Monday evening’s City Council meeting, council members heard a presentation from Tim Chamberlain, a development and city planning consultant, regarding the installation of storm drains in Sutter Hill, as well as plans to connect five Sutter Hill Residences to Sutter Creek’s Sewer System. Chamberlain noted that three potential developments outside Sutter Creek are what initiated this extension of water infrastructure, which will occur in the area between Old Ridge Road, Sutter Hill Road, and Highway 49.

The developers will pay for the extension, and the five landowners will be compensated for the right-of-ways through their property with hook ups to the sewer system. Sutter Creek officials were delighted to have the project moving again, but heeded Planning Commissioner Mike Kirkley’s warning to proceed with annexation simultaneously with the sewer line project. “If the property owners get the connections and build before you annex it, you have the potential to loose revenue,” he warned. In the end, the Council voted to approve a resolution for a mitigated negative declaration for the storm drain and sewer project, and also instructed staff to proceed with the necessary steps for the annexation. City officials expect to find out this week whether the scope of the Gold Rush Ranch and Golf Resort’s DEIR Traffic Study will cover Sutter Hill East. If it does not, an independent traffic study will have to be conducted for the area, an item that is imperative to the annexation process.

The Oro de Amador Planning Committee has almost finished developing a master plan that proposes multiple uses for the 155-acre property adjacent to New York Ranch Road in Jackson. City Manager Mike Daly presented the draft plan at Monday night’s Jackson City Council meeting. The land, which was once used as a mine tailings depository site by the Kennedy Mine and Milling Company, was acquired by the city in December, 2006.  The committee, which was formed to explore funding options and develop a Park Master Plan, came up with both passive and active land use ideas. Active ideas include constructing a ball field, recreation center, skate park, playground, bike trails, and other like park features and activities, where passive ideas include more preservation-minded activities such as a nature preserve, picnic area, botanical garden, interpretive signs, and interactive museum. 

Both active and passive ideas were also categorized as intrusive or non-intrusive.  Intrusive ideas were those that required grading, tree removal, or adding structures, and non-intrusive ideas included propositions where minimal changes would be required. The committee also mapped out safety hazards, historic elements, vehicle and pedestrian accessibility, and recreation boundaries, as well as an implementation plan. Bob Devlin, a member of the committee, says that while he was “excited about the donation of this property…I think we need to do a lot of (further) studying.”  Devlin suggested including the Jackson Historical Society and the Kennedy Mine Foundation in future planning sessions. Mayor Pryor Escamilla noted that the wide range of land use ideas presented are meant to allow people to “pick and choose” in order to come up with a city park that everyone can enjoy.  The city will still need to get soil clearance from the Department of Toxic Substances Control, and will still be taking community input on the project. Additionally, the project will go through environmental review.

There was some controversy this week regarding recreation fees for the Powder House Estates Subdivision Agreement. The Powder House Estates development will be located adjacent to the Sutter Crest subdivision in Sutter Creek, and will consist of 11 single-family residential lots and one town home parcel consisting of 54 lots.  In addition, a new street identified as Powder House Drive will be created for access, and the Sutter Crest West road will be extended into the new subdivision. Construction on the project is expected to begin this summer.

This week, Tracy Towner Yep, executive director of the Amador County Recreation Agency, went before the Sutter Creek City Council to contest developer Stan Gambel’s request for the city to waive Park and Recreation fees for the project. The developer’s argument was based on the fact the fees were adopted subsequent to the project approval. Towner Yep argued that “waiving the impact fees does not waive the impacts,” and noted the lack of park facilities in the town. “Parks and Recreation are tantamount to building the nicest communities in the world,” she said. A visibly perturbed Stan Gambel then approached the council, to rebut Tower Yep’s contest. “I’m not asking for the world,” Gambel said, “I think I have been more than generous.” Gambel was referring to his donation of 3.2 acres to the city for an affordable housing program as well as 17.2 acres for open space. Gambel will also be funding road improvements on Gopher Flat Road. Substitute City Attorney Samuel L. Jackson, in for Dennis Crabb who is on vacation, informed the council that it was entirely up to their discretion whether or not to impose the fees. In the end, the council agreed to waive Park and Rec fees for the project, but will still require the payment of traffic mitigation fees.

Amador County Board of Supervisors heard an appeal Tuesday by Shenandoah Valley man who wants to open a winery and tasting room on Shenandoah Road. Iscander Borjon was appealing a county Planning Department condition of his Use Permit that requires acceleration and deceleration lanes at the entry of his property – a requirement that Borjon said was physically problematic in several ways and one that has not typically been required of wineries in the area. Neighbors of Borjon support the proposed small family tasting room and encouraged the Supervisors to waive the prohibitive requirement. The Supervisors noted that slow vehicles turning in and out of wineries created real safety issues on roads in the area, but felt that a compromise solution could be worked out and asked county staff to go back to the table with Borjon.

The West Nile Virus is starting earlier this year in the Sacramento area. Officials have confirmed the first bird death from the virus. According to the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District Manager David Brown, it’s a few months earlier than usual for Sacramento to see an American Crow death from West Nile Virus.  “It’s an early wake-up call for residents to start putting on a mosquito repellant when they’re going outside when the mosquitoes are active and certainly do what they can to reduce mosquito development sites in and around their yards,” says Brown. Brown says officials are surveying areas where mosquitoes like to lay eggs. He says that includes foreclosed homes with abandoned swimming pools or standing water. Last year there were 24 cases in Sacramento County, including one death. That’s compared to 2005 when there were 170 cases.

If you were wondering whether the recent recall of potentially “sick” beef by the Department of Agriculture affected local schools, breathe f a sigh of relief. According to the Amador School District, local schools have no association with the meat or Meat Packing Company that allegedly mistreated cows and distributed sick meat to schools and restaurants. Hallmark Meat Packing of Chino, Calif., supplies food products to federal school-lunch programs across California and the nation. Workers at the slaughterhouse were videotaped in an undercover investigation by the Humane Society of the United States as they cruelly kicked, prodded and dragged sick cattle to slaughter.

If you’re trying to avoid toys that might include lead or toxic chemicals, a movie on DVD might be just the ticket for a child’s holiday gift, right? Amador County public health director Angel LeSage says to take a close look before you buy -- local parents and health officials are sounding the alarm on 104 recent kid-rated movies on DVD  that include smoking — 98% with no warning label. Experts estimate that exposure to on-screen smoking could recruit up to 390,000 new teen smokers yearly, about 1/3rd of whom will eventually die from tobacco-caused diseases.

You can put Dungeness crab back on your holiday menus again --  Governor Schwarzenegger has reopened fishing in the San Francisco Bay, since test results show no significant health risk from eating marine life caught in the area impacted by the oil spill. The exceptions are commercial oyster facilities and mussels caught in two locations: Berkeley Marina and Rodeo Beach in Marin County. On Nov. 13, the Governor closed fishing in the Bay so that tests on the fish could be conducted after a container ship struck a Bay Bridge abutment west of Yerba Buena Island and spilled fuel into the bay.  Some 58,000 gallons of bunker oil poured into the water, polluting beaches and covering hundreds of seabirds. Sample testing has shown that marine life in the Bay and coastal waters are fit for human consumption. Specifically, the Dungeness crab season will immediately resume and the season for herring will open as previously scheduled. While fish and shellfish from the spill area, with the exception of mussels in the two locations, are safe to eat, it is still possible for marine life to come into contact with pockets of oil over the next several months. Health officials recommend that sport fishers take a common sense approach and avoid consuming fish and shellfish with an oily smell or taste.

Mark your calendar for a one-stop health services opportunity -- This year’s Sutter Amador Hospital’s annual Health Festival on Friday, October 12, 2007 from 4 – 7 pm. The hospital is partnering with Amador County Public Health, and the festival will focus on free and low cost services and screenings, plus fun and healthy activities -- all held in the parking lot of the hospital’s new Outpatient Services Center. The event will also serve as the Amador County Public Health Department’s fall flu vaccine kick-off by administering flu shots and nasal mist immunizations as well as pneumonia and tetanus boosters. “We highly encourage community members to get a flu shot every year,” says Lori Jagoda, Public Health Nurse for the Amador County Public Health Department. “It is the best way to prevent getting the flu during flu season.”

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United States. It is estimated that about 178-thousand women & 2-thousand men in the United States will be found to have invasive breast cancer in 2007.