As we reported earlier this week, the Upcountry Community Council, or UCC, and the Pine Grove Council are charging that Amador County residents east of Tabeaud Road were not fairly represented in the decision to scrap the Pine Grove Bypass project. The two groups are requesting a “more democratic and equitable representation” when deciding what to do with the “millions of local road dollars” slotted for our county each year. Supervisor Boitano explained that even if the ACTC had an Upcountry member, the outcome may have still been the same. According to Boitano, California Transportation Commission Staff advised the ACTC to come back with a “more realistic approach” than the $20 million dollar bypass, as “there’s not enough money for everything we want to do in Amador County.” Even though he may not completely agree with the UCC’s complaints, Boitano had this issue added to the next ACTC meeting agenda. Both Upcountry groups are asking any and all Upcountry citizens to be at that meeting. UCC member Debbie Dunn says, “There’s always strength in numbers.” That meeting will be held August 20th at 6 PM at 810 Court Street in the Board of Supervisors Chambers.

The Amador County Unified School District convened Wednesday evening for the first official meeting of the 08-09 school year. Kicking off the meeting was the introduction of Joe Pechett, a local contractor, who will be taking on the role of Maintenance Supervisor for the district. Mr. Pechett spoke to the board saying that he “went into (the job) thinking there would be more wrong than there (actually) was” and that in his opinion, things are “so far, so good.” Superintendent Glock stated that he felt Mr. Pechett was a “good hire” and that the district is still in need of a “custodial supervisor.” The Board also discussed a resolution for a Quitclaim and Release for the Wild Flower Subdivision, formally the Ryland property. In 2006, the School District and Wild Flower Subdivision signed an agreement which would allocate money from the development to the School District to fund a new entrance to Ione Elementary. Also conditioned in the agreement was a settlement of developer fees which would be paid on the parcels to the District.

As part of the project, a water tower was to be constructed by the Amador Water Agency, which was written into the Development Agreement, but the development construction cannot proceed without finalizing the plans for the tower. The Quitclaim and Release documents were brought to light because if the parcels in question were available for housing, the School District would have the right to collect fees on them; however, as they are designated specifically for the water tower, and not housing, no fees can be collected. Both Wild Flower and the Water Agency have asked the Ione City Council and the School District to release any potential claim to the parcels in question. Ione City Council passed their Quitclaim and Release unanimously at their meeting on August 5th. Some concern arose from board members regarding the potential loss in fees. Barbara Murray cleared the confusion by stating that “we [the School District] were not expecting those fees anyway.” The resolution was then passed unanimously.