Amador County – The July 4th weekend passed in a safe and sane manner, with no major fires reported, despite the dry state of the region. Thousands of people gathered in Jackson to view the annual Jackson Lions Club fireworks shoot. Families and friends gathered on blankets on the Jackson Junior High School football field as firefighters stood by to keep the sparks from igniting fires. The city of Plymouth hosted its Main Street parade with the annual appearance of the 1920s Ahren Fox Fire Truck. Ione hosted a downtown dinner on Main Street, and the Upcountry 4th of July Carnival was held at Pioneer Park on Buckhorn Ridge Road in Pioneer. The Upcountry event was reportedly very well staged, and even had an Uncle Sam making rounds in the crowd. The weekend boasted no major fires, and a roadside fire on Highway 88 last Friday drew a quick response and was quickly extinguished. The Bureau of Land Management’s Mother Lode Office last month announced fire restrictions that became effective July 1st. The BLM implemented fire restrictions on all BLM-managed public lands within the Mother Lode Field Office boundary. That includes about 230,000 acres of BLM-managed public lands in Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Mariposa, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tuolumne and Yuba counties. The fire restrictions will remain in effect until further notice. Bureau Fire Management Officer Gerald Martinez said the “restrictions prohibit all open fires on public lands because of extremely dry conditions.” He said “With recent high temperatures, fuels are extremely dry.” Campers are urged to be familiar with special limitations prior to visiting any public lands in Mother Lode counties. Mother Lode region restrictions include: No open fires, campfires or open fire stoves, except lanterns and portable stoves using gas, jellied petroleum or pressurized liquid fuel. Also prohibited are welding or torches with open flames; explosives; internal combustion engines; the firing of tracers or incendiary devices; and fireworks. Violations are punishable by up to $1,000 fine and/or up to a year in jail. For info, call BLM Mother Lode at (916) 941-3101. Story by Jim Reece. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - The Board of Supervisors discussed and took action on a Pacific Land and Forest Stewardship Council Land Conservation Plan presented by county consultant John Hoffman and General Services Director Jon Hopkins at Tuesday’s meeting. The proposed plan dates back to 2000, when a bankruptcy settlement agreement with the state required PG & E to donate their surplus lands to public entities or non-profit organizations. Hopkins said he thought the state’s controversial dealings in that situation were “nothing less than legalized extortion.” After expressing much concern over the lands and some backroom deals, the Stewardship Council was designated to spearhead designation of donees. Donees can be land owners or conservation easement holders with a say over land use, but not both. It is expected that approximately half of the 140,000 acres of PG & E lands will ultimately be donated. Under discussion Tuesday were PG & E lands in Amador, Alpine and Calaveras Counties and the process of choosing donees interested in holding conservation easements within a specific watershed area. “These decisions are going to effect ecology, wildlife and the ability to transfer water back and forth,” said Supervisor Richard Forster. PG & E lands in Amador County are grouped into two planning units: the North Fork Mokelumne River Unit and the Lower Bear Area. Of the 3,445 acres in the North Fork Mokelumne area, 2,607 acres are likely to be donated. Of the 1,798 acres in the Lower Bear Area, 914 are likely to be donated. Representatives of two eligible donees were present: Steve Cannon, President of the Amador Resource Conservation District and Ellie Route of the Mother Lode Land Trust. Cannon said his organization would be a good candidate for land ownership because “the directors are all landowners themselves” who agree with the recommend focus of the Stewardship Council, including recreation and sustainable forestry. Route said her group has already applied as a conservation easement holder. Supervisor Louis Boitano asked who would pay the property taxes on these lands. Hoffman said there was a stipulation in the agreement that the county must remain tax neutral. The Supervisors unanimously agreed to register the county as both land owners and easement holders in order to be considered as part of the process. Registration ends in 30 days but does not require that entities become a donee. Hoffman described it as “keeping our oar in the water.” The Stewardship Council will continue the process of choosing donees, to be decided by September. Hoffman said the council plans a “field trip on September 18th to gather the public’s input on how they feel the lands should be used.” Story by Alex Lane. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Sutter Creek City Council heard updates to 2 wastewater master plans Monday, then sent them to staff attorneys for review. The council considered the new city wastewater master plan and also the Amador Regional Sanitation Authority plan. City Manager Rob Duke said changes included developer fees based on dwelling units, in a “new refinement of processes” that is “specifically looking at the sizes of developments.” The “Large” project, 500 units or more, would be required to pay for needed wastewater improvements at the treatment plant. “Medium High” projects, of 101 to 499 units, would pay upfront for each 100-unit phase, and would get approved “only if the capacity exists” at the wastewater treatment plant. “Low Medium” projects, 26 to 100 units, would make an upfront purchase of sewer fees, and “Small” developments, 1 to 25 units, would pay a building permit equal to sewer fees. Duke said a phased improvement of the wastewater plant would be activated by approval of a “Large” project, and have phases based on unit numbers of the development. The first phase (including Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort) would create a wastewater treatment plant capacity of 700,000 gallons a day. The second phase would take it to 1 million gallons a day. “Build-out” of the plant was tentatively set to the year 2050, at an engineer’s cost estimate of $9 million to $11 million dollars, with a lot of “contingencies.” If it included Gold Rush, the plant would need capacity expanded to 2.3 million gallons a day. Duke “estimated it will be about 2020 before we will have (water) recycling programs going on at Gold Rush.” Councilwoman Linda Rianda asked about phasing, and what initiated Phase 2. Duke said they cannot build phase 2 homes until they build phase 2 of the treatment plant. He said the master plan phasing was not tied to Gold Rush, but “just so happens that it works that way.” Duke said the master plan “looks at one of those big developments getting approved.” Mayor Pro Tem Tim Murphy said he thought before the project is approved, developers should commit to fully building the treatment plant expansion. He said they could just come and build 100 units, and only pay fees, then the city “would get no new capacity.” Duke said: “We don’t know what’s happening with the economy,” but he thought they “should be looking at that,” and if a developer needs the city to reserve 100,000 gallons of capacity, they “need to pay for that up front.” Duke said “if they drop 800 units to 100, they would have to go through the whole entitlement process for the next 100 units.” Story by Jim Reece. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - The Amador Fire Protection District released its latest batch of statistics for the month of June. In total, the district responded to 125 incidents. These included 1 structure fire, 2 vehicle fires and 4 wildland fires. As is typical during summer months, the number of fires is expected to increase with drier weather. Despite that increase, 92, or 74 percent of the responses in June were medical aid related. 44 percent of the incidents occurred between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm, a drop from previous months. Story by Alex Lane. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.