Amador County – Joining the list of state entities with years-long projects frozen by the state, the Plymouth Lodge Hill Committee has seen its $240,000 grant slide into the status of frozen funding. Committee members met with a city engineer Wednesday morning to try to iron out some details for the project, hoping to take the information they gather to the Plymouth City Council in February with a plea to send the project out for bids, regardless of those frozen funds. Committee Member Maria Nunez Simon said the Lodge Hill Committee’s $240,000 Proposition 40 recreation grant was frozen for 6 months by the state Legislature. The committee already spent $10,000 on engineering with city engineer Weber, Ghio & Associates, and Weber Ghio’s Project manager Norm Hulett was gleaning bid and project information from the committee Wednesday and telling about parts of the project’s designs, inside and out. The committee said the galvanized steel siding on the outside of the Lodge should stay in place, while inside, the main level of the building will lose a wall between the kitchen area and the great room. There will be a deck wrapping around the outside of the building, outside of the kitchen, and along the long side of the building, on the side overlooking the city pool. There will be a handicapped-accessible unisex restroom beside the kitchen. On the long deck side of the building, there will be double doors with a window on each side, to bring in the natural light. Hulett said a state Title 24-required energy analysis will audit energy use and ensure adequate and efficient heating, cooling, windows, insulation and water heating. The upper floor will be left alone for this project and be remodeled in a later phase. The Lodge Hill Committee will ask the city council in February to push the remodel toward opening it for bids. The committee includes Elanor Faddis, Nunez Simon, Lee Simon, Barbara Nicholson, Joanne Kerner, Raymond Estey, Patricia Fordyce and Gloria Stoddard. Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). 

Amador County – Part of the consent agenda of today’s Amador County Transportation Commission meeting includes a commission response to the city of Plymouth Draft Traffic Impact Study. Plymouth requested comment on Draft Environmental Impact Report as part of its city General Plan update and ACTC Executive Director Charles Field responded in a letter to Plymouth City Planner Paula Daneluk. The response said that ACTC was “concerned that in the process of carrying out the mitigation measures identified” in the draft traffic study and EIR, that “the city may find that some of the transportation improvements listed will prove to be infeasible or un-fundable.” Field also worried about the city’s “Level Of Service” self-grading system and recommended using ACTC’s standard of doing so. The letter also pointed out that the California Environmental Quality Act allows for “Statements of Overriding Consideration” in missing required levels of service for road projects, in the event that Plymouth expects that it may approve projects that could create worse than standard levels of service. Field also concurred with Amador County Department of Public Works comments on Plymouth’s Draft Traffic Impact Study and requested “that these comments be addressed through appropriate revisions in the Final TIS.” The letter said ACTC staff worried that “several study intersections will operate at unacceptable level-of-service conditions if the proposed land use element is built out under cumulative conditions.” Field also pointed out that “ACTC staff has questions related to the city’s plan for actual implementation of the mitigations identified” in the draft traffic study and in the “city’s plan for monitoring the application of the General Plan policies.” The comment said that “without enforceable mandates as directed by the city council, the recommended actions identified as mitigation measures in the DEIR are only advisory in nature and do not ensure adequate mitigation of impacts.” Field recommended creating implementation measures and corresponding monitoring programs of the city general plan, to “define a clear path toward reaching its goal of reducing and mitigating the transportation impacts that may result form adoption of its General Plan Update.” Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Amador County – The Sutter Creek City Council today considers a resolution supporting Prospect Motors. The draft resolutions says Amador “communities are seeing higher unemployment, lower tax revenue, business closures, home foreclosures and other harmful effects from the current economic downturn.” It notes Prospect Motors and Amador Toyota sustain 80 jobs in Amador, “produce hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual sales tax revenue” and dealership and its employees’ spending recycles “many times in our local economy.” The resolution says the “federal government is spending taxpayer dollars supporting General Motors and GMAC, the large corporations that can keep our auto dealerships in business.” The resolution concludes that “Sutter Creek strongly supports the continued operation of Prospect Motors, Amador Motors and Amador Toyota; urges (GM and GMAC) to take action to restore the dealerships to operation; and urges our state and federal elected officials to ensure that the financial bailouts intended to help the national economy will also benefit our local businesses and communities.”

Also today, the council will discuss two legal documents for city business with developers. City Attorney Dennis Crabb will bring a “Developer Reimbursement Agreement” for application processing. Crabb in a report says “an area of continuing concern has been advancement of city funds for professional services related to development applications,” and noted new council policy requiring written, advance-deposit agreements with applicants. The agreement “may be complex for small projects,” but will insure costs are “paid for in advance and fully shifted to the applicant.” Another Crabb report will introduce an “Agreement for Indemnity” with Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort developers. It says as Gold Rush “moves toward council consideration, it is necessary to have an agreement in place to protect the city against the costs of any legal challenge to the project approvals, should such be given.” The report notes that the “agreement covers only the processing of legislatively based entitlements and extends only until the statute of limitations to challenge such decisions has expired.” Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Amador County - Yesterday, House Republican Leader John Boehner announced his decision to appoint Representative Dan Lungren as the Committee on House Administration’s Ranking Republican for the 111th Congress. The eight-term lawmaker from California succeeds Representative Vern Ehlers of Michigan, who has served on the Committee in multiple capacities since 1995. “I am honored by the confidence Leader Boehner has placed in me to assume this new role,” said Lungren. Prior to his appointment to the Committee’s top Republican post, Lungren served as the Ranking Republican of the Committee on House Administration’s Security Subcommittee. Lungren will serve on the Committee with returning GOP colleague and California Representative Kevin McCarthy and the newly-elected GOP Representative Gregg Harper of Mississippi. Lungren also serves on the Judiciary, Homeland Security, Budget, and House Administration Committees. Lungren said: “I look forward to bipartisan collaboration with Chairman Brady and my colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, in tackling the important issues we will face during the 111th Congress, and promise to maintain vigorous oversight of all entities under the Committee’s jurisdiction.” Staff Report (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Amador County - Amador County officials are set to do “everything needed” in preparation for potential layoffs, pending the State’s decision over the budget. According to County Administrative Officer Terri Daly, the Board of Supervisors is waiting for the State to pass the new budget first, but there is no indication as to when that will happen. Near the end of December, Daly proposed a voluntary layoff, which included $5000 and a 21-day notice - both stipulations required by labor contracts. To Daly’s surprise, 11 people volunteered. She said these volunteers will be placed on a recall list and rehired if their positions becomes available again in the future. “A couple of people said they volunteered because they didn’t want people who came after them to be hurt,” said Daly, referring to new hires who may need the jobs more. “To know we have employees that compassionate is great,” said Daly. Although no other layoffs have been proposed for the immediate future, county officials are preparing for anything. “Some people are saying ‘What are we going to do? The sky is falling,’ but until the budget is passed, (state legislators) are doing whatever they can to get people to react,” said Supervisor Richard Forster in an exclusive TSPN interview. He added that the way you get that reaction is by shutting down sources of funding, referring to the State’s recent freezing of Proposition 40 recreation funds as the latest ball that’s dropped. “We don’t want to take more drastic action because we can’t anticipate what the state is going to do,” said Daly, adding: “How long can we wait on them before we have to take action?” Story by Alex Lane (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). 

Amador County – Frozen snow melt caused a one-vehicle crash on Saturday morning on Highway 88 at Dew Drop in Pioneer. A pickup truck carrying 5 skiers headed for the mountains hit a patch of black ice as it ascended the hill at Dew Drop on Highway 88. The truck went out of control and crashed into a snow bank, flipping the vehicle over and coming to rest on its side. Generally, Highway 88 had ice on the road from Pine Grove on up to Kirkwood on Saturday. Caltrans sand trucks were on the road at the time of the wreck but the particular spot involved was troublesome because snow melts during the day and covers the road, then at night it turns to a thin sheet of ice. Cars driving up the hill reportedly were arriving in the area while fully accelerating when the rear wheels hit the ice, then their back end loses traction, causing the vehicles to spin out of control. Injuries were minor and no one was taken to the hospital. Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Amador County – The Ione City Council discussed a new city provision that could help clean up the town. City Manager Kim Kerr spent a year-and-a-half studying “administrative enforcement provisions,” to make a city staff member a “city director,” who could issue tickets for violation of city code aimed at cleaning up the town. Kerr said an independent “Hearing Officer” could be used to conduct hearings on citations. Kerr said ordinances in place include “garage sale licenses” and other issues such as running a business in a home without a license. City Attorney Kristen Castanos said provisions were needed to enforce laws. Kerr urged the council to host meetings on educating the public on the new codes. City Councilman David Plank agreed, urging first education, then warnings before issuing citations. Kerr said issues such as yard clean-up could be part of the solution. Having the resident clean his or her own yard would be ideal, but if refused, the city could do it then charge the resident. If the bill went unpaid, the city could put a lien on property.

Mayor Andrea Bonham asked about the interpretive nature of ordinances, such as paint jobs being in “good condition.” Bonham said she would rather see the Rotary get involved in issues such as cutting a “little old lady’s 6-foot weeds.” Kerr said the vacant building section is based on state law. If an order is given in a notice to fix the building, and it is not fixed, the city starts the process of enforcement. For “yard sale licenses,” the city would make a list of those residents who did not sign up for a free license. Ione Police Department would then send them a letter telling of the rule, for one-time violators. Tickets would follow in other incidents. Vice Mayor Lee Ard said in running for office, people said if he gets on council, please clean up the town. Ard said “I think this fulfills that … we are finally cleaning up the city of Ione.” Plank said he would like to see the ordinances in a concise, easy-to-read format. Kerr said staff wants brochures and also a town hall meeting to discuss new ordinances. She suggested forming an ad-hoc committee, which she would like to include people who could look at the ordinance and say “whoa, you are going too far.” She said the issue could be brought before the public in early January and again in February. Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Amador County – If you glanced at the night sky on Sunday, you likely witnessed a rare celestial occurrence. A tight 3-way conjunction between Venus, Jupiter and the crescent moon was visible in the clear night sky throughout Amador County and most of the world. People around the world witnessed the event, regardless of location or light pollution. Europeans got an added treat. For three hours Monday evening, the crescent moon actually eclipsed Venus. Astronomers call such an event a “lunar occultation.” A clear evening allowed locals to enjoy the event from dusk until late in the night. Story by Alex Lane (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Amador County – The Plymouth City Council last week discussed having an Architectural Review Committee, during a public hearing on new building design guidelines. Ultimately, the council referred the ordinance back to the Planning Commission for further work. Consultant Richard Prima and City Planner Darcy Goulart explained the ordinance, which included the description of the Architectural Review Committee, and how the committee would apply and judge the new city building design guidelines. Prima said “these are a fairly flexible set of guidelines – they are not all requirements.” He said it was something the committee can work with and the city council could establish as its own in the approval process. City Manager Dixon Flynn said the council would be the highest appeal body of the Committee, so “each applicant for a building permit,” could appeal Committee decisions, first to the planning commission then to the council. Mayor Jon Colburn asked what would happen if someone tried “painting half of the downtown pink.” Goulart said planning could go back and research historic colors. Councilman Mike O’Meara said that occurred when people took issue with the color of Incahoots Restaurant, but it turned out “bright yellow is good for the period they were shooting for, believe it or not.” O’Meara said they “should call it a color palate,” but “not make it too restrictive.” Colburn asked how they could emulate the “gateway to the wine country” if commercial development were not covered by downtown design guidelines. Prima said it could be amended and Flynn said they could expand historic downtown standards to the Highway 49 corridor and elsewhere, even city-wide. In public comment, Gary Colburn said “I don’t go along with this setting up a design review board with absolute control” over the color he paints his front porch. Councilman Greg Baldwin said he thought a council member, a planning commissioner and a council-appointed citizen should make up the review committee, so applicants have “fewer hoops to go through and simple projects are not too costly.” City Attorney Steven Rudolph said a council and commission member both would be part of the appeal process. If they sat on the committee, they could not sit on an appeal panel. Staff recommended and the council agreed to create a professional review committee with background in architecture, building and the like, with a member of the public. Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Amador County – City Manager Kim Kerr explained how Ione went without reporting samples from its wastewater treatment plant since 2006. The California Water Quality Control Board in a letter said the city could face a maximum fine of $2.56 million, and the Ione City Council discussed the matter Tuesday. Kerr said the fine amount is a “worst-case scenario,” and Councilwoman Andrea Bonham said it seemed to be based on a possible $1,000-a-day fine. Kerr said she did not expect the fine to be the full $2.56 million. Vice Mayor Skip Schaufel asked who was responsible for the failure to submit quarterly reports for 454 days. Kerr said the contracted chief wastewater plant operator, Julio Guerra, was immediately responsible, but she was ultimately responsible for the last 18 months as city manager. The problem spanned 3 years and she said the failure to report was blamed on “a multitude of various excuses … basically, it’s a health issue, it’s this, it’s that.” She said she “never got information to this extent.” Schaufel asked if Guerra ever “talked to you about getting reports on time.” Kerr said that did not happen, though since last February, they had talked about quarterly reports, but she “did not have totality to see that there were issues” from 2006 forward. Kerr said “we are now looking at trying to have everything done 10 days before the due date.” All past due reports had been submitted in the last week except 3, expected to be completed this week.

Councilman Jim Ulm said the board “doesn’t accept excuses” and “we need to have things done … I want it done, whatever it takes to do it. We have to have oversight on this, and ultimate responsibility is the council members’.” Ulm said it’s the city manager’s responsibility to take care of the reporting, and “if nothing is done, I don’t have any problem taking care of that too.” Ard said he saw the city following the process to right the errors. Schaufel said reports were 34 months late and he wanted to see “letters of completion on reports” and receive “a copy of the report that was mailed.” Kerr said reports are on file in City Hall, including every report issued since July 2008, and “you can see the due date and when it was submitted.” Schaufel said: “The people we are contracting with need to be talked to – I don’t want to use the word shot. If I contracted with someone who works like this, they would have been fired a long time ago.” The council directed staff to have a standing agenda item for wastewater plant operation status reports and also to look at options for hiring a contractor for the entire operation of the plant. Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).