Amador County - Lake Amador Manager Bruce Lockhart is among four concessionaires who will stock their lakes with trout, despite threats of a lawsuit from environmental groups. Three concessionaires serving San Pablo and Lafayette Reservoirs in the east bay and Collins Lake in the foothills east of the Sacramento Valley will also continue to stock. All this comes in the wake of a lawsuit from the Center for Biological Diversity that forced the Department of Fish and Game to suspend trout stocking at 175 locations until a comprehensive study on its stocking program is completed in 2010. The action is intended to protect over 25 rare native fish and frog species. Local popular trout fisheries impacted by the settlement include the Truckee River and the Kern River. Lake Kaweah and Lake Isabella will still be stocked. Fish and Game officials quietly came to an agreement last week after hours of backroom talks with environmental group representatives. Fish and Game officials said that while necessary and overdue, the ban could be unwarranted in certain waters. Communities dependent on fishermen for their business voiced objections as soon as the decision was made public. Story by Alex Lane (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Amador County – In other fish-related news…El Dorado Irrigation District officials are monitoring fish populations as part of the rehabilitation process for Caples Lake, after emergency drawdowns left it dry since mid-summer. In mid-November, staff from the El Dorado Irrigation District, the California Department of Fish and Game, and the United States Forest Service, along with volunteers from Trout Unlimited, conducted a fisheries survey at Caples Creek. The survey was an early step in the fisheries plan to monitor fish populations after faulty slide gates prompted emergency repairs and forced the officials to drain the lake. “The monitoring is needed because we had to deviate from requirements specified in our FERC license to facilitate the emergency repairs at Caples Lake main dam,” explained Brian Deason, EID senior hydroelectric compliance specialist. “Crews used backpack electrofishing units and dip nets to capture fish during the survey. Fish were identified, measured, and weighed before being released back into the stream.” Deason said that a follow-up survey will be conducted next year after normal license minimum streamflows are returned and the survey sites can be safely accessed. Staff Report (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Amador County - Two motor vehicles collided on Pine Grove Volcano Road near Masonic Cave Road yesterday around 4:45 pm. A woman traveling in a sedan noticed a cow caught in a fence. She then attempted to make a left turn into a driveway at the same time a pickup truck traveling behind her attempted to pass. The vehicles collided and crashed into a fence on the left side of the road. The woman in the sedan was taken to the hospital via ambulance. The CHP was still investigating the accident when I left. Contributed by Bill Lavallie.

Amador County - The Amador County Unified School District Board of Trustees met Wednesday, with looming budget cutbacks the hot topic of discussion. The first order of business was the swearing in of three board members – returning Mary Walser and newly elected Janelle Redkey and Wally Upper. Walser was unanimously re-elected as Board President. Three Block “A” Community Service recipients were recognized for outstanding public service. Kellsey Long contributed 136 service hours creating a teen suicide prevention outreach program through participation in performing arts. Lena Johnson achieved an extraordinary 150 hours of service. Sarah Post, an aspiring nurse, has supported innumerable groups throughout the community focusing on poverty and hospice. Barbara Murray presented a sobering 2008-09 First Interim Budget Revision report reflecting additions and reductions to the Budget Adoption in June 2008. Murray explained that the report represented the budgetary projections as of October 31, 2008 and stated, “We are in a very different situation now.” Upper questioned, “Can you give us an estimate of revenue cuts expected this year?” The reply from Murray was a simple and sincere, “no.” She added the hopeful expectation of clearer direction from State Budget Proposal being released January 9, 2009. Superintendent Richard Glock stated that the Board had moved to cut spending in September anticipating the current economic climate. Later, during the Reports and Discussions portion of the meeting, board member Karl Knobelauch gave a brief overview of the California School Board Association Conference he attended this month. Throughout the conference speakers, economists and columnists foretold of an increasing state deficit predicting future widespread budget cuts. Due to budget concerns, Knobelauch paid for his attendance to the conference himself. Story by Debi Brodie

Amador County -- A crowd greeted the new Amador Water Agency Board of Directors in its first meeting Thursday. Several members of the Protect the Historic Amador Waterways group addressed the board. Wendell Peart of Pine Grove said the “unsusual replacement of so many of you seems to say the public wanted change.” Peart said people say “PHAW folks” caused the high cost of the Amador Transmission Pipeline, but the past board could have settled and did not and litigation let the $8 Million estimate to grow later to $19 Million. District 1 Board Member Bill Condrashoff said he was there “because I don’t want to see the agency’s customers subsidize growth.” He said the pipeline money is already spent and he cannot change that, but he is “here to prevent it from happening again.” Project Manger Krista Clem of Golden Vale and Mokelumne Bluffs subdivisions, said it was “illegal for the water agency to deny water to limit growth.” She offered a 30-acre pond as part of a water reclamation project for AWA, near Highway 88 and an existing AWA easement. PHAW member David Evitt and Peart urged the board to select a president from its new members. Evitt preferred Condrashoff, saying it would still be the same board approving an upcoming audit, later on the agenda. Condrashoff said “you might have a different president, but it will still be the same board.” The board later kept Terence Moore as its president and made Condrashoff vice president. Engineering Manager Gene Mancebo reported that the Plymouth Pipeline is in the final mode of insurance documents and Mountain Cascade is gearing up for construction. Condrashoff asked if the Plymouth Pipeline could serve all of its 1,000 proposed units in 9 projects there. Mancebo said as designed it could not, but they were looking to add capacity and supplement the pipeline to get more water to Plymouth, which may include using wells. Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Amador County – Four newly elected members of the Amador Water Agency Board of Directors took their oaths of office last Friday in a short ceremony at the agency office on Ridge Road. Amador County Registrar of Voters Sheldon Johnson led the four in their oaths of office, with each swearing to uphold the California and U.S. Constitutions. About a dozen people attended, including Amador County Chief Administrative Office Terry Daly and District 3 Supervisor Ted Novelli. The four new AWA Board members all raised their right hands and repeated the oath. G. W. “Bill” Condrashoff of District 1, Gary E. Thomas of District 2, Don Cooper of District 3 and Debbie Dunn of District 4 finished the oaths then one by one signed their “Certificate of Election” and shook hands with Johnson. The new AWA board will have its first regular meeting 9 a.m. Thursday. The meeting’s agenda includes a 2007-2008 annual audit and the election of board officers of president, vice president, secretary and clerk of the board. District 5 board member Terence W. Moore was appointed November 13th as board President, by outgoing board members. Moore was appointed because he was the lone holdover on the board and also had 2 years’ experience in office, required by board policy to be president. Moore at the time said that might have to be adjusted when the new board selects its president. AWA General Manager Jim Abercrombie in a staff report recommended the board elect Terence Moore as president, due to his being the only member with 2 years’ in office. Abercrombie said that policy requires the general manager be appointed Board Secretary and that staffer Cris Thompson be appointed clerk of the board. The new board on Thursday will also consider approving committee assignments for board members, along with the 2009 calendar. Abercrombie said that to help facilitate the transition, Moore drafted “suggested committee assignments for the new board’s revision and discussion.” Board members also will get a general discussion of Brown Act and conflict of interest requirements, hear of board member training options and their required ethics training. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Calaveras County - The Water Quality Control Board will hold a public meeting concerning a comprehensive new set of regulations governing the installation and inspection of all new and existing septic systems in California. The State Water Resources Control Board has proposed the regulations which would take effect on January 1, 2010. The regulations are required by a law passed by the Legislature in the year 2000. The regulations are intended to prevent the discharge of hazardous waste into state lakes and streams. They would require inspection of all septic systems every five years for a fee of approximately 325 dollars. Homeowners with septic systems within 600 feet of bodies of water already designated as "impaired" will be subject to more comprehensive regulation. Senator Dave Cox, an opponent of the regulations, voted against the bill while serving in the State Assembly. “ I felt at the time that its comprehensive nature and the “one size fits all” approach would not work well in rural California, and places an excessive burden on homeowners throughout the state,” said Cox. Over the next year, Californians will have the opportunity to comment on these regulations at workshops held throughout the state, and at hearings before the State Water Board. Calaveras Supervisor Steve Wilensky is encouraging the public to attend the upcoming meetings. The first local workshop is in the community of Mariposa on December 8, 2008. The Water Quality Control Board public meeting takes place December 9 at 7 PM in the Calaveras Board of Supervisors Chambers in San Andreas. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County -- An open discussion about affordable housing raised some interesting statistics at the Technical Advisory Committee meeting Wednesday. The statistics were used in consideration of the Housing Element and how it relates to affordable housing and employee housing and the applicable fees, permits and waivers. According to General Plan Housing Element documents, housing costs continue to increase without a corresponding increase in the county’s median wage. 73 percent of homeowners paying more than 30 percent of their gross income, i.e. overpaying for housing, are living in the unincorporated area of the county. The majority of renters overpaying are concentrated in the incorporated cities. The largest concentration of low income households occurs in and around Jackson, Ione and Plymouth. The discussion focused on ways to allow more lenient measures for affordable housing, and in particular employee housing, like those units used for farm laborers. Employee housing makes up a large portion of the affordable housing sector. “This is a first (look) towards implementing some of these policies,” said Planning Director Susan Grijalva. One suggestion was to curtail financial incentives and reduce impact and permit fees. Other statistics highlighted Housing Stock. 1.5 percent of the county’s housing is classified as substantially deteriorated or dilapidated. The median year of construction for a structure in Amador County is 1977. Amador City has the oldest median for its structures – the median year of construction there is 1939. Grijalva said the discussion was intended to generate thoughts about ways to make the system easier for lower income individuals. The discussion will continue at future meetings. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Ione City Council heard a report on its financial outlook regarding Retired Employee Health Benefits last week, learning it was liable for 779,000 dollars. Geoffry Kischuk of the Government Accounting Standards Board, reported his analysis and said the amount was relatively low. He said it was good for the city to start the study process of its Retiree Health Benefits liability, noting that the city must have a plan in place in two years. He said the city should plan to account for retirement health benefits while people are working, to accrue liability. The Government Accounting Standards Board, a non-profit organization based in Connecticut, allows up to a 30-year transition to “pay-as-you-go” and accumulate accrued liability. He said the city must reflect the new accounting standards by June 30, 2010. Kischuk said he made an actuarial model of the city to find its current liability on retiree health, using data from city employees to make assumptions. He said if city accruing benefits were due now, the city would be due to pay $779,000 dollars. Now it can be accrued over 30 years. Kischuk said the city had several options to plan for future retiree health benefits. The city could establish its own retirement trust, or invest in longer term assets, which can give advanced credit and make advanced payment numbers smaller. But, in long-term investing, funds are committed permanently. He said prefunding retirement health benefits has advantages, including improved bond ratings, making costs responsive to payroll, and reducing long-term cash expense due to higher investment income. City Manager Kim Kerr said a past city council established the current Retirement Health Benefits plan but did not realize the implications. The city is now paying $4,800 dollars a year. She recommended the city develop a committee to look at management options and she said there are ways to reduce costs. She said a committee could make an agreement between management and labor, to plan for retirement and also get employees to set aside their own money. Kerr said the city should “get the bargaining units involved because it is negotiable.” Story by Jim Reece. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - The driver of a white Dodge pickup that crashed last Thursday night apparently fled the scene on foot, according to police reports. According to CHP reports, a young girl calling from a cell phone reported that she and her father had crashed approximately 3 miles North of Plymouth in a field, but she was unsure of the exact location. Witnesses at the scene said that the male driver and the young girl climbed an embankment and headed into the woods near the roadway. When fire and CHP arrived, they could not be located. CHP at the scene indicated that alcohol may have been a factor due to the presence of open containers. They stated that the truck was registered to an address in the Sacramento area. CHP are still investigating. Story by Bill Lavallie and Alex Lane. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.