At the supervisors’ Administrative Committee meeting Monday, supervisors recommended rejecting 3 of 4 First Time Home Buyer Loan applications presented for their approval. The supervisors felt the three homes were too expensive for their buyers, making the debt ratio too high for the First Time Home Buyer Loan program – a special county program where first time buyers can apply for home loans.  Each year the county has 7-8 $100,000 2nd loans that are offered to qualified buyers.

There’s lots of family Halloween fun scheduled around the county. This Saturday, the whole family is invited to the Amador Cooperative Preschool “Halloween Masquerade Ball” fundraising event at the fabulous Jackson Rancheria. For Adults, there will be Appetizers, and surf & turf dinner with a no-host bar. There will be special children’s plates and vegetarian entrée. Activities include costume contest, raffles, live auction, children's art silent auction, dancing, and door prizes. Tickets can be purchased at Realty World in Jackson or call 257-0622. Also on Saturday, the Jackson Haunted History tour of Jackson Cemetery starts at 6:30 pm at Fantossi Marble Works across from the cemetery entrance on Church Street in Jackson. On the tour, tales of murder, poisoning, and the Wells Fargo Bank Stage coach shoot-out will be recreated by Argonaut High School Drama students. The price of the Tour is $5.00 and you should bring a flashlight.  Because of the nature of the re-enactments, this may be too scary of younger children

You can help clean up our great outdoors at two locations on Saturday, November 3. Spend a fun and productive day picking up trash along the banks of Lake Camanche Reservoir or the Mokelumne River, while enjoying the fall morning and resident wildlife. For the Camanche Reservoir clean up, meet at Camanche South Shore Marina at 8:00 am for sign-in. For the Mokelumne River clean-up, meet at the Jackson Senior Center, Jackson at 8:30 am for sign-in.

Water and Sewer rates have dominated discussions throughout the local government meetings and tonight’s Jackson City Council meeting is not exception. On the agenda, at the request of Citizen Marilyn Lewis, is an item on the proposed water and sewer rate increase. The request is in response to the City’s notification, dated September 25, 2007 that a public hearing has been scheduled on November 13th to consider rate increases for the City of Jackson’s water and sewer system. The notification cites the proposed increase as being 8.5% for all water customers and 17.5% for residential and commercial customers.

The City of Jackson has a new flag. Jackson City Council chose the flag design after opening the design contest to city residents. A committee of city officials and community members chose the design submitted by Jana Davis, a mail carrier in the City of Jackson. The Council agreed that Davis’s winning design represents the City “very well.” Her design divides the flag into halves of green and maroon with a circle of stars in the middle. Councilmembers suggested some modifications to the design including increasing the number of stars in the middle circle from 24 to 47 in recognition of those miners who died in the Argonaut Mine Disaster. They also suggested adding the words “City of Jackson” and “1905” around the city outline.

The Jackson Planning Commission will be holding two public hearings tonight regarding lot splits. The first proposal is by Sandy Nurse on the behalf of Sierra Foothill Labs. The applicant is proposing to divide the 2.8 acre lot located at 255 Scottsville Drive into two smaller lots, with one 49,169 square feet and the other 41,426 square feet. The existing site is currently the home of the Sierra Foothill Labs laboratory facility.

The public comment period for the El Dorado National Forest Public Wheeled Motorized Travel Management Draft Environmental Impact Statement has been extended for an additional 45 days, announced Forest Supervisor Ramiro Villalvazo. There are 5 alternatives examined in the environmental document. The alternatives proposed could limit access of OHV to currently used forest areas year round and close some areas completely during wet weather. According to the Forest service, the use of Off-Highway Vehicles (OHV) is impacting the health of our national forests. In an effort to protect the forests and still allow this popular form of recreation and public access, alternative policies need to be created, and are being mandated by the U.S. District Court.

Learn to help those you are serving by learning about services throughout Amador County. A coalition of Amador County public resource agencies is holding a Resource Fair for Service Providers, Thursday, October 4th from 3:30—6:00 pm at the Argonaut High School Multi-Purpose Room in Jackson.

The Amador County School District may be looking into a new drug testing policy for those students who are involved in Extracurricular activities and Athletics. There has been growing public concern about the use of controlled and illegal substances among high school and possibly even junior high school students. There was some research done by staff, legal advice provided, and review of Governmental policy regarding the situation. A steroid policy was adopted in 2005, the next step would be to instate a policy for the search and seizure of those substances.

This morning’s County Administrative Committee discussed a potential land swap between the El Dorado Irrigation District and the US Forest Service near Silver Lake. The procedure, explained Deputy County Counsel Evelyn Spirou, appears to be a resolution to management issues on the parcels.