The Amador Water Agency Board of Directors will be honoring soon to be former Director Dan Brown at their Thursday meeting. Director Brown just recently resigned when he announced that he would be moving out of his district and could no longer hold the title of Director of District 4. The Board of Directors will be adopting a resolution both highlighting and honoring his achievements while on the Board of Directors. Also to appear on the agenda is a presentation by Stantec Consulting Inc. on the proposed Tanner Water Treatment Plant expansion. The Board has identified the expansion as a positive one in previous meetings. The following agenda item before the Board is whether or not to authorize Jim Abercrombie, the General Manager, to enter into a contract with Stantec Consulting to explore the project and all that is involved.

 

The Amador Water Agency has continued to work towards finding solutions to meet the water needs of the Lake Camanche Village. Recently their efforts stepped up when the Agency learned last year that a well’s production had plummeted to below 50 percent of production. The Agency reacted quickly in conjunction with the Department of Health Services and pursued the necessary steps to drill a new well. In September that well was constructed and found to produce approximately 350 gallons per minute.

Don’t forget A Mother Lode Community blood drive will be held today -- Thursday, October 4 from 11 a.m. –  6 p.m. at the Jackson Civic Center, 33 Broadway, Jackson. To give blood, you must be in generally good health, free from cold symptoms for at least 48 hours; be at least 17 years old (16 years old with parental consent); and weigh at least 110 pounds.  There is no upper age limit for donating blood. Prospective donors must bring a photo ID. All walk-ins are welcome.  Sutter Amador Hospital is sponsoring the blood drive.

The newly imposed Schedule for the high schools was called into question at the ACUSD board meeting last Wednesday evening. The schedule which was introduced this year, was made to alleviate some of the issues that arose with those students who opted to utilize classes not offered at their own school. The schedule was created by a committee last spring, as a hybrid schedule, however some students and many staff are still not sure about the effectiveness of the change. There seems to be a growing sense of frustration from both staff and students alike. There is ongoing discussion concerning this issue and it will be looked at again throughout the year.

Jackson City Council met Monday evening to a full agenda, but since both Mayor Stidger and Councilwoman Pryor-Escamilla were absent, many items were continued to future meetings when more council members would be present for a vote.

The sale of the controlling shares of Sutter Gold Mining Company is set to close this week. Sutter Gold Mine, located between Sutter Creek and Amador City, was constructed in 1989 after the price of gold topped 600 dollars per ounce in the mid-80s. The mine was in operation for two years, but then closed in 1991 when the price of gold plummeted. It has not been in operation since. The mine has seen over 500,000 visitors to their popular mine tour over the last 8 years. Talk of reopening the mine has been ongoing since the mine closed, but has become more serious with increasing gold prices. In December, the price of gold skyrocketed to 1,000 dollars an ounce.

Last year, Sutter Gold Mining Company completed an extensive exploratory core-drilling program in order to assess an accurate estimate of reserves. Last month, US Energy Corporation, of Riverton Wyoming, announced the sale of the controlling shares of Sutter Gold Mining Company to the company Rand Merchant Bank Resources. RMB Resources is an international corporation, and is rated as one of South Africa’s top investment banks. RMB’s United States office is based in Denver, Colorado. Last week, officials of RMB and US Energy Corporation met in Vancouver to discuss appointments to the new Sutter Gold Board. The parties also discussed candidates to replace Hal Herron as Sutter Gold’s CEO. Details have not yet been released, but RMB’s executives will visit Sutter Creek this week to continue talks. Keep watching TSPN this week to hear the outcome of the deal.

Effective January 2009, Amador County will see an increase in building permit fees for local roads. At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisor’s meeting, the board voted to approve a local-roads traffic mitigation fee of $250 dollars per Average Daily Trip. The fee increase stems from an April 2008 report that cites a need for an increase in local road fees. The new fee constitutes an increase of $233 dollars from the previous fee of $17 dollars per ADT. During the meeting, David Brown of Sierra Pacific Industries addressed the board. He stated that SPI is currently working in seven different Northern California Counties, and that problems with building and funding roads top the list of public works issues for many regional municipalities. Brown cited his company’s difficulties in reconciling provisions for funding improvements, while meeting county service needs. Brown then stated that SPI has offered to hire a traffic engineer to conduct an independent review of the county’s traffic perplexities, in order to supplement the County’s own Nexus Study. Public Works Director Larry Peterson welcomed Brown’s offer to collaborate and coordinate on the significant question of the Commercial and Industrial fees within the traffic mitigation fee structure. The Board then voted to accept the County Traffic Nexus Study, apply the $250 dollar ADT fee, and accept SPI’s offer to research commercial fees and provide the Board with a comparison of other districts.

Another upcountry lake is under emergency status in order to repair failing infrastructure, according to a spokesman for the El Dorado District’s hydroelectric division. Silver Lake, along with Caples Lake which straddles the border between Amador and El Dorado Counties, is undergoing immediate repairs after underwater inspections revealed serious deterioration of devices that control water storage and releases. The two lakes are both part of an intricate system of lakes and canals that provide a large portion of the hydroelectric generated power in the local area.

An inspection at Silver Lake found that steel bracing and gate stems on an outlet tower were extremely corroded. Last month’s inspection of Caples Lake revealed excessive leakage through underwater slide gates. Despite the damage and an emergency declaration by the El Dorado Irrigation District, there is no threat of dam failure, said one district representative. Under state law, the emergency declaration allows the district to contract for equipment and services without competitive bids. The 8,700-acre-foot Silver Lake represents some 38 percent of the district’s water storage capacity. Officials advise residents to take precautions when swimming or fishing in surrounding rivers and streams, as water levels could rise and fall erratically while repairs are taking place. Officials expect the repair to meet normal expectations for a quick project.

The main discussion at Monday’s Amador County Administrative Committee meeting revolved around proposed revisions to the “Retail Take-It-Back” recycling program. “Take-It-Back” was originally implemented as a way for the public to return and ensure the safe and environmentally friendly disposal of hazardous household wastes, such as used batteries and fluorescent tubes, and to provide a “no cost” system for consumers upon return of these items. But rising costs associated with the project led officials to reevaluate its effectiveness considering the current budgetary challenges. Supervisors Ted Novelli and Richard Forster weighed the programs pros and cons in a roundtable discussion with several other county officials.

“Take-It-Back” was started in 2006 in response to changes in the federal government’s Universal Waste Regulations. Despite its success as far as public participation, stricter regulations and a steady depletion of public funding have made the program more difficult to maintain. Stricter regulations have been imposed on businesses to dispose of the materials on their own and without county assistance. “Primarily what we want to be very clear on is that these costs will continue to grow and continue to impact our budget and unfortunately we haven’t seen much in the way of funding from the state,” said one County spokesman. Another factor is business support. While businesses such as Ace Hardware in Pine Grove and Meeks in Martell volunteered as recycling stations when the program was introduced, major companies like Wal-Mart have yet to step up to the plate. Novelli cited the difficulty of dealing with one specific branch of a massive corporation. “A big company like Wal-Mart, they go through these tubes every night. What are they doing with them?” said Supervisor Forster. “I think it’s a really positive image for a big-box store in a small community to be a recycler,” said Kristin Bengyel, Deputy County Administrative Officer. In the end, the Administrative Committee recommended to enforce limitations on the amount waste stations could receive as a way to limit the burden on local business. Discussions will continue at a future Supervisors’ meeting.

And finally, some good news for Amador County commuters. A stretch of I-5 that runs through downtown Sacramento has reopened after months of extensive infrastructure repair work. There were some delays in the repairs of the southbound lanes, but now both directions are open to commuters. The repairs, which included repaving, were needed after water seepage from the nearby Sacramento River damaged the roadway.