The Plymouth City Council was introduced to their new Resident Deputy Thursday evening. Nathan Woods, who has been with the Sheriff’s Department for the past year, has officially been in his new position for the past two weeks. A graduate of Argonaut High School, the 24 year old man was raised in Amador County along with his wife, also a graduate of Argonaut High School, and he “hopes to raise his young daughter in the same environment.” He stated to the council that he is looking forward to “serving the City of Plymouth as best as possible.” The council collectively responded that they were looking forward to building a working relationship with Deputy Woods, and welcomed him on board. Also at the meeting lifelong Plymouth Resident Gary Colburn spoke to the council during the public comment portion of the meeting and officially announced his candidacy for the upcoming November election. He commented that he wants “to give the community a choice” and that he wants to see “all the cards put on the table.” At the end of Mr. Colburn’s speech, Councilman Greg Baldwin publicly apologized to Mr. Colburn for “calling him out” at the last City Council meeting for going over his time limit at the podium during public comment as he didn’t realize that the previous speaker had done so as well. He also apologized for calling law enforcement. Mr. Colburn accepted the apology.

Also at Thursday’s meeting, the Plymouth City Council considered and discussed the submittal of a Home Application to the State Department of Housing and Community Development. The money, if granted, would go to assisting individuals in the area either through the First Time Homebuyer Program, which provides loans for the acquisition of a dwelling on the open market and allows up to 10,000 dollars for rehabilitation of the home, or through Owner Occupied Rehabilitation Program, which assists owners to make the necessary repairs and improvements to comply with federal, state, and local building codes for their primary residences. The item was presented by Paul Ashby of the California Engineering Company, who has been working closely with the City for the past two years. The City of Plymouth has been awarded approximately 500,000 dollars in past grants, which has assisted four families in the area. The cost for preparation and submittal of the application would equate to 3,500 dollars, however it is the only fiscal impact to the City, as there is no cash match requirement or other monetary condition on the funds. The City also scheduled a Draft Budget Workshop for the 08-09 fiscal year for Wednesday, August 20th at 4 pm. The City has not adopted a budget, and is currently working off of an interim budget; however, this is not a long term solution and city staff is working hard to prepare all documents and necessary information for the council to adopt a final budget. And lastly, the City Council decided to designate the 1,000 dollar donation received from the Rotary Club earlier this summer to the public pool for maintenance and operations.

A downed power line on Shakeridge Road Thursday afternoon started fires on both sides of the road near Manzanita Road. Fire personnel were quickly dispatched, including aircraft and a bulldozer. The fire was quickly contained, and PG&E crews were able to neutralize the downed power line so that fire fighters could completely extinguish the blaze, which burned about 3 acres. Many residents in Sutter Creek were out of power for several hours. CDF is still investigating why the power line went down.

The Amador County Treasurer and Tax Collector, Michael E. Ryan announced Friday that unsecured taxes for the 2008/09 fiscal tax year are now due and payable, and will become delinquent if not paid by 5 PM on Tuesday, September 2nd. Unsecured taxes are usually owed on items such as boats and airplanes, and also for business property, possessory interests, and mining claims. A 10 percent penalty will be added to any unpaid taxes after the September 2nd deadline. Payments mailed must be postmarked on or before the deadline, and can be sent to the Amador County Tax Collector at 810 Court Street in Jackson 95642. You can also make your payments in person at that address, or via credit card by calling 1-800-609-4599. In addition, you can make an e-check or credit card payment online via the web address shown on your County tax bill. If you have any questions about your bill, please call 209-223-6364.

Wednesday evening, Amador County Unified School District Board Members listened to a presentation focused on high school drop-out rates, which was presented by Assistant Superintendent Elizabeth Chapin-Pinotti. The Amador County School District saw 1,671 students enrolled in grades 9 through 12 in the 2006-07 school year. Of those students, approximately 4 percent, or 66 students, dropped out of school. Eight of the 66 students had all the necessary requirements to complete high school, but were unsuccessful in passing the California High School Exit Exam, also known as the CAHSEE. Of those eight students, six are currently involved in a remediation program in order to pass the exam in the future. One of the eight students opted to attend Community College, as a High School Diploma is not a requirement for enrollment, and the last of the eight students enrolled in a Flight Attendant School. According to Assistant Superintendent Elizabeth Chapin-Pinotti, even though the School District’s 4 percent drop-out rate is much lower than the State’s average of 6.2 percent, she still believes that “any percent is too high.” She also stated in the report that there are several options available to retain struggling students and to encourage them to complete graduation requirements. The options include catching attendance problems early, setting up individual programs for student success, and encouraging students to return until they pass the CAHSEE. Superintendent Glock also stated that he felt a recommitment “to early notification of parents and caregivers” would be appropriate, and that building a “working relationship [between the District and the families] is necessary.”

Also at last week’s school board meeting, the members heard a presentation on the high school level Vocational Education Programs offered in the district. There is currently a total of 1684 Career Technical Seats filled with the school district, which includes students from Amador, Argonaut, North Star, and Independence. There are currently five distinct Course outlines offered, including Agricultural Careers, Finance and Business, Food Service and Hospitality, Consumer Education, Legal and Government Service, and Health and Medical Technology. The selection of career technical courses are based on student surveys, a community needs assessment, and a regional industry assessment. Assistant Superintendent Elizabeth Chapin-Pinotti stated that the high school teachers in the district “are second to none” when it came to workability and classroom offerings and that they worked hard to design clear pathways in order for the programs to work.

You may have noticed a new flag flying high above the Jackson Civic Center. The City has a new 5 by 8 foot flag that is the result of a design contest held last fall. Janet Davis, the winner of the contest, included 47 stars in the design to represent the 47 miners who perished in the 1922 Argonaut Mine Disaster. The new flag is so popular; the City has received numerous requests to purchase one. Mike Daly, Jackson’s City Manager, will look into the cost of getting a group order together for smaller 3 by 5 foot flags, as the individual cost is a pricey 175 dollars. If you’d like to put in a request, you can call the City at 223-1646.

The Board of Supervisors has approved much needed improvements to what many consider one of Amador County’s most dangerous intersections. At the meeting Tuesday morning, Public Works Director Larry Petersen announced the approval of two federally funded grants that will go towards traffic safety improvements at the intersection of Ridge Road and New York Ranch Road. Specifically, the improvements consist of installing a new traffic signal, lengthening the existing merge lane and improving the “road profile” west of the intersection. The total combined amount of the two grants is 2,234,000 dollars. The grants were applied for under the 2007/2008 Highway Safety Improvements Program and the High Risk Rural Roads Program. The County is providing matching grants of 100,000 dollars. Since the grants cover a wide range of projects, the County’s local share is identified as 434,000 dollars. By combining these projects into a single effort, it is expected that cost savings will reduce the local share to 300,000, said Peterson. Resident and former supervisorial candidate David Pincus said he lived right near the intersection, or at “ground zero.” He said the improvements were “long overdue.” Members of the Ridge Road Coalition, who have been the most vocal opponents of the current blinking yield light, were not present at the meeting. The Supervisors unanimously welcomed the improvements, but were skeptical about there permanency. “There are people out there who think this is just another band aid. Will we ever be able to do an ultimate fix?” said Supervisor Louis Boitano. Although hesitant to say, Peterson predicted that the new intersection would last 20 years and accommodate for predicted traffic growth.

The start of the Amador County 08/09 school year went off without a hitch yesterday, with most schools reporting none of the usual problems such as parking lot traffic jams and long waits at drop off points. Most children found their way to assigned classrooms or first class, and of course, most were decked out in their new school outfits and backpacks. Tom Reed, Pine Grove Elementary Principal, noted the kids “looking scrubbed and clean” while quietly listening to their teachers as they took roll call and went over classroom rules. “Everything went really well (this morning),” says Reed, “the kids are excited to be here.” At Pioneer Elementary, things went “awesome” except for a slight slowdown after school due to road construction in the area. And down at Ione Elementary, the morning went “quite well.” At Amador High School, Principal Al VanVelzen reported that the first day of school was “really smooth. The kids seemed to be happy coming back. Classes are a little larger, but it all worked out.” Also, VanVelzen thought “the kids liked starting a little later.” All Amador school start times changed this year. Check with your school for specific start and end times.