Amador County – An Amador County extension of Sacramento’s Consumes River College, or CRC, is gearing up for fall semester, and school officials are hoping for another successful turnout. That turnout will help determine the viability of a community college campus in Amador County says Amador Community College Foundation Vice-President Richard P. Vinson. He says that Amador County is only one of two or three counties in California not aligned with a Community College. Efforts to erase that statistic include an offer by Sacramento County’s Cosumnes River College, or CRC, to allocate 40 percent of its marketing budget towards advertising and promoting the newly established Amador Learning Center. Vinson called this “quite a generous offer”, considering that Amador County currently has approximately 1 percent of the student population of CRC. That’s roughly 140 students compared to 140,000. Stephen McGloughlin of CRC, speaking at an Amador County Board of Supervisors meeting last December, said “140 students may not seem like an awful lot, but from zero it’s quite an increase.” At that same meeting, Supervisor Richard Forster thanked Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer for stepping up with the initial grants to develop a local college, saying “we hadn’t gotten any help or leverage before them.” County Grant Writer and Learning Center Co-developer Renee Chapman said that one of the first questions asked by businesses looking to develop a local presence is whether the County has a community college. Officially established last year, the “learning center will establish a formal community college presence in Amador County”, according to the Amador County website. CRC’s fall curriculum offers courses in Computer Information Science, Curriculum and Interactions in Early Childhood Education, Emergency Medical Technician Services, College Composition and Emergency Digital Technologies. Courses take place at the Amador Learning Center at Independence High School, 525 Independence Drive in Sutter Creek. Registration for the fall semester, which begins Aug. 22, is open until Aug. 21. The semester runs until Dec. 17. Efforts to establish an official college in Amador County are ongoing. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Amador County Supervisors and Planning Commissioners resumed work on the general plan update Wednesday, and voted 8-1 to remove the “Urban Reserve” designation from the land use project description. A consultant instead will look at the impacts of having an Urban Reserve overlay alternative that would be placed on county unincorporated lands inside city “Spheres of Influence.” Supervisor John Plasse said “my question becomes: Who represents the county residents, who live outside of cities, can’t vote for city council members and yet live in a city sphere of influence, so the city has the say over the land designation.” Plasse said one policy, the “economically viable ag element,” protected timber from encroachments, but he said there was nothing to protect timber or ag land when the sphere-of-influence comes in with “incompatible uses right up against ag” land. Plasse said “we are relinquishing decisions over county property to city people.” He said he has been to city council meetings were people have said unincorporated county residents can have their opinion, but it does not matter because they don’t live in the city. Councilman Brian Oneto agreed, but said it was harsher, with people saying: “They are not in the city, so we don’t care what they say.” County Planner Susan Grijalva said “the Plymouth sphere of influence dates to the 1970s because twice it met with strong objections from land owners,” and twice they were told to come back with something more acceptable. Grijalva said “LAFCO is not in the practice of including people in spheres of influence who do not want to be included.” Supervisor Richard Forster said inclusion against an owner’s does or can happen, if surrounding pieces are added to a city sphere of influence. Michael Vasquez, a realtor representing Ken Deaver’s interest around Plymouth, said he and the developers have spent thousands of dollars. And if the land is included in the Plymouth sphere, it would be zoned “C-2,” forcing the owner to approach the Plymouth City Council for “more permission.” He asked that the property be excluded from Urban Reserve designation, saying that they “need to have a potential for development.” Plasse said he was concerned with the UR overlay tying land to a “40-acre designation” size, “then if you want to develop, you must go to the city.” Oneto asked if a city could “Open Space-you without representation?” Grijalva said the city could do that. Oneto said “you are basically going from the owner having no representation” to the city having none. Or, added Grijalva, the county having none. Forster suggested separate EIRs for Urban Reserve and without it. But he moved to remove Urban Reserve from the project description, and add it to an alternative, to be studied for impacts. Commissioner Andy Byrne voted no, saying “I think everybody wants to study it because it is a strong tool.” He said Urban Reserve designation was a useful tool though it unfortunately put the land use person at risk. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – Amador County Assessor Jim Rooney told the Sutter Creek City Council Monday that a tentatively scheduled State Assessors’ Annual Conference could be a potential boon for the city and the county in 2010. Rooney told the city council that “in 2010, the California Assessors Association has tentatively planned to hold its annual northern conference in Sutter Creek in mid August” of next year. Rooney said “there is still planning with decisions to make and it won’t be easy,” but he will “get it done.” He said “these conferences are generally put on by larger counties with large staffs and it is something that can be overwhelming, so any assistance from the (Amador County) Chamber of Commerce and the city of Sutter Creek would be welcome.” He said from an assessor’s standpoint, he was sure that the conference would be a success. He said he wanted inform the city council of his intentions to host the meeting, and to address any concerns or questions, “before plans go too much further.” He said in a letter to the council that “around 200 people from assessor offices and assessment related businesses throughout the state will arrive in Sutter Creek starting on a Sunday for the 3-day conference.” Bigger cities generally host the assessor conferences at large hotels, but Rooney “suggested that a small town venue like Sutter Creek would be a nice change for the Assessor Association.” He said it would also be a nice boost for Sutter Creek businesses, restaurants, hotels, and B&Bs, especially during a generally slower time of the week. “This might also be helpful to surrounding areas,” Rooney said, “because there may not be enough rooms and restaurants in Sutter Creek to accommodate all of the attendees.” He said that could mean an overflow of business into Jackson and Plymouth and possibly Ione and Volcano. He said many of the attendees would be coming from larger urbanized cities, and may be looking forward to spending 4 or 5 days in a “relatively quiet and slow-paced” area like Sutter Creek and Amador County. Rooney said a “government conference that is also a very pleasant experience could also help with future tourism for the city and county.” Rooney said Tuesday that the city council was excited about the prospect of the city hosting the conference. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – Federal officials signed a deal late yesterday that will protect nearly 28,000 acres of regional land under the nation’s largest safe harbor agreement. The property is within San Joaquin, Amador and Calaveras counties. The agreement was signed at Pardee Reservoir Observation Point in Amador County between representatives of the East Bay Municipal Utility District and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. EBMUD will voluntarily manage its property in order to restore and maintain the habitat for three federal protected species: the elderberry longhorn beetle, the California red-legged frog and the California tiger salamander. In return, the federal government has agreed not to impose any restrictions on the land. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would acknowledge in advance that incidental species impacts may be caused by routine EBMUD land-use practices. Details of the agreement date back to 2008, when EBMUD created a Mokelumne Watershed Master Plan outlining long-term strategies for protecting the 19,000 acres of land in the Mokelumne River watershed that EBMUD owns. “In order to successfully conserve federally listed species, we need cooperative agreements with private landowners in California,” said Susan Moore, field supervisor with the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife service office, in an interview with the Sac Bee. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – County Administrative Officer Terri Daly gave a dire report on the status of the 2009-2010 county budget and deficit during the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday. “It’s as bad as you can possibly imagine, and then ten times worse,” said Daly, referring to opinions she gathered at a recent CSAC Legislative Conference. “So far I’m happy to report that the vast majority of (Amador County) Departments are very, very conservative with their money,” she said. Even then, Amador County is now facing an approximate $2.6 million deficit. Daly said that because of mandated expenditures, “we will have to dip into the General Fund for the first time ever.” She said the only “pleasant surprise” is that the estimated bid of over $2 million to close the Amador County landfill came in closer to $775,000. That leaves a significant balance, but its up to Daly to see if there’s any other costs involved. Even then she warned that the landfill was still under notice of violation from three regulatory industries. No fines have been levied thus far. Of the not so pleasant surprises, Daly anticipates next year’s social services budget could be “out of whack” by close to $2 million. To make matters worse, the state has proposed borrowing from local property taxes as just one of many measures to deal with its $24.3 billion deficit. The state has also discussed cutting out Williamson Act subvention funds and cutting some programs altogether. “I’m sure that whatever the state does to balance its budget, it will hit us,” Daly said, adding: “I anticipate that whatever the state does, it means more layoffs for us.” Supervisor Brian Oneto said he agreed with Daly. “I like keeping (our reserves) for a rainy day, but I think that rainy day is here,” he said. While discussing the state’s budget negotiations, Supervisor Louis Boitano said “I guess they can’t figure it out, but when they’re in a hole they have to stop digging.” Daly said that from her discussions with representatives in other counties, things will never be the same. “(In the future) we have to figure out how to run our government differently,” she said. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Amador County Behavioral Health Services Department heard Monday it is eligible for $5.7 million dollars in state funding. Consultants told a workshop of 20 people, mostly mental health professionals, that Amador County had $7.5 million dollars available from the 2004 Mental Health Services Act. Kayce Rane of Resource Development Associates, of Lafayette, said Amador had only spent or allocated $1.8 million dollars of that, “so you’ve got some money left to think about.” Rane and Jennifer Susskind said they were helping Amador BHS plan for the funding in 5 areas of mental health services. Those areas included Community Services & Supports; Prevention & Early Intervention; Workforce Education & Training; Capital Facilities & Technology; Housing; and Innovation. The consultants took roundtable comments from attendees, to hear various organization concerns. Rane said she was impressed with the respect attendees seemed to have for each other’s opinions. And she liked their areas of interests and concern, including young children, family involvement, transitional age youth, awareness, resiliency and wellness, housing, and justice. She noted that there was no school district or education represented in the group. Rane said Proposition 63 the Mental Health Services Act of 2004 imposed a statewide 1 percent tax on incomes of more than $1 million dollars. Funds are distributed to counties based on population, and are meant to “expand and transform mental health services in California.” They told the funding amounts available to Amador County. She said for Prevention and Early Intervention, Amador’s portion is $727,600 dollars. But she said 45 percent – or $327,000 dollars – of those funds must be used by July 2010, prompting a fast-tracking in that area. She noted that a minimum of 51 percent of the funds “must be dedicated to” children and youths age zero to 20. Susskind said Workforce Education & Training funding in Amador amounted to $450,000 dollars, which must be used in 10 years. Amador is eligible for $778,500 dollars in funds for Capital Facilities & Technology; and another $501,000 dollars for Housing. The county also is eligible for $230,000 dollars for the “innovation component.” The planning process will included a community kickoff and visioning meeting, stakeholder interviews, focus groups, written surveys, workgroup meetings and strategy roundtables, community prioritization meetings, and document review and comment. Consultants will host a series of meetings for community outreach and involvement, starting with a “planning council” meeting 3:30-6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 30th at the Behavior Health Services building on Conductor Boulevard. 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 last week discussed the promotion of events on Main Street banners, with sides differing on what events should be promoted. Councilwoman Sandy Anderson, chairwoman of the Sutter Creek Promotions Committee, talked about a petition circulating around town that would urge limiting the promotion of out-of-town events on the downtown banners in Sutter Creek. Resident Bart Weatherly asked what the petition was about. Anderson took one of the petitions to Weatherly in the audience, and said it was a protest about a banner that promoted the Jackson Rotary Club Mother’s Day Brunch at the Amador Senior Center in Jackson. Councilman Pat Crosby, a Promotions Committee member, said he knew all about the banners. Crosby said to get them up on the wire, between the two buildings at the corner of Main and Spanish Street, “you have to go through my wife’s living room,” their house above the Lizzie Ann’s Bubblegum Bookstore. Crosby said Ed Swift owns the hooks and wire, and Dennis Griffin and Russell Evitt own the buildings on either side of Main Street. Crosby said the banners stay hung until Police Chief Rob Duke tells the committee to take it down. Mayor Gary Wooten said he did not “want to offend anyone,” but “being offended by Jackson is wrong.” He said the city of Jackson has had an event shuttle bus to take people to shop in Sutter Creek. He said “we should be working together.” He said the Jackson Rotary has done a lot for Sutter Creek. That includes building a visitor’s event kiosk just completed on Main Street, on the south end of town. Michelle Grondin, manager of the Sutter Creek Farmer’s Market, said the banner has been a good thing. And someone pointed out that Belotti’s restaurant has run out of certain food items advertised on the banner. Ed Swift said on the cable on which the banner hangs: “That was my cable. I always considered it the city’s.” Councilwoman Linda Rianda said the then current Main Street banner was promoting the Kennedy Mine Barbecue, in Jackson, to benefit the Amador County Recreation Agency. The issue of Main Street banners was discussed at the May 19th meeting of the Promotions Committee. Discussion centered on the “committee taking care of banners and they be used solely for promotion of the city and county, not for private business.” Committee members Anderson and Crosby will write up a draft of guidelines. The Committee next meets June 15th at The Annex. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Plymouth City Council last week discussed the issue of cleaning up the town by way of fining offenders. That item was Dixon Flynn’s City Manager Report, among different ongoing projects, listed as “code enforcement policies.” Flynn said it involved “the full range of code enforcement,” because the city had plenty of ordinances to regulate, but lacked in ordinances of enforcement. City Attorney Mike Dean asked if Amador County uses “administrative fines,” and he suggested using that type of find. He said administrative fines “come directly to the city and do not go through the state.” Vice Mayor Greg Baldwin said it would be good for people to get fines, so then they would start cleaning up their yards. Dean said the alternative method, using a “nuisance abatement process” requires a “reasonable notice – whatever that means – and an opportunity to be heard.” He said an administrative citation requires no notice or hearing, “but there is an appeal process there.” In other business, Flynn delivered draft policies on risk management. He said no action was required, and council members could look over the policies and bring them back on a case by case basis. City Clerk Gloria Stoddard, the city’s risk management coordinator, and the safety committee already had worked on the policies. Baldwin asked who had promoted the policies and what were they doing to fund them. He said thought they “should go for the bare minimum.” Stoddard said the Public Agency Risk Sharing Authority of California gave the city a template so the council can adjust it to fit Plymouth. She said the committee did eliminate some safety inspection reports, but they “got written up” by PARSAC. In other discussion, Flynn said Stoddard is going on vacation soon, to go to her grandson’s graduation. Flynn also introduced the city’s new administrative employee, Kathleen Johnson. He said Johnson, a Sutter Creek resident, was selected from 50 applicants in a process that started last fall. Johnson said she was “really excited to be here” and she has “been a Plymouth fan for years, as a visitor.” The Plymouth City Council next meets June 11th. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

State - Amador County agencies and interest groups are up in arms over Governor Schwarzenegger’s controversial plans to cut, borrow and sell in order to help solve California’s budget crisis. After the state’s proposed budget solutions were roundly rejected by voters in the May 19th Special Election, Governor Schwarzenegger vowed to take all steps necessary in order to make the budget solvent. State park officials released last week predictions that Schwarzenegger's plan would take more than $213 million away from state parks over the next two fiscal years. In other words, 80 percent, or 220 of 279 parks would be shut down as early as this fall. In our region, this includes Sutter’s Fort, Indian Grinding Rock, Columbia State Park and Calaveras Big Trees Park. Previously announced reductions include another $680 million less for schools, further cuts for in-home care and children’s health programs, and a 5 percent cut for some 235,000 state workers. Schwarzenegger also plans to cut welfare programs all together, effectively returning billions of federal dollars, but faces attacks from Democrats and Republicans who say the plan is too severe. California’s non-partisan Legislative Analyst has suggested that the state could borrow $500 million from water and wastewater agencies – possibly as much as 100% of the agencies’ property tax revenues. When that would happen is unclear. According to a recent report by the California Budget Project, or CBP, 430 Amador County children would lose health coverage under Governor Schwarzenegger's proposal to eliminate the state's Healthy Families Program. That affects 942,000 children statewide who would have been covered through June, 2010. The CBP also predicts 730 children would lose health coverage under the Governor's proposed elimination. Amador County would lose approximately $393,000 in state and federal funding for children and families in 2009-10. Calaveras County would lose approximately $671,000. While many of the governor's plans won't go fully into effect, the net result is likely to be painful cuts, increasing unemployment and the loss of high profile amenities like parks, camping grounds and even perhaps libraries. Currently, Schwarzenegger and lawmakers are dealing with an estimated $24.3 billion deficit. For more information on proposed state park closures, visit the website on your screen. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Pine Grove Council and the Pine Grove Civic Improvement Club, two quasi-political groups in the upcountry, will meet Wednesday to discuss redistricting and upcountry representation, among other items. The council has been discussing the option for some time with Supervisors Louis Boitano and Ted Novelli, whose districts both include the Pine Grove area. Debbie Dunn, who is a member of the Amador Water Agency, the Pine Grove Council and Co-chair of the Upcountry Community Council, has been the driving force behind the move. Dunn and other upcountry residents have been critical of “a lack of representation” in county decisions, mainly because Pine Grove is not an incorporated city and therefore not entitled to a seat in many county government entities. At the Pine Grove Council meeting May 8, Dunn said if one person on the Pine Grove Council in the last 6 years sat on ACTC, it would benefit Upcountry. Dunn said “2/3rds of the county” is not represented because they live in the Upcountry. Election office records show that 4,044 registered voters live in District 3, the fewest in any district. District 5 has the most voters with 4,517; District 2 is a close second with 4,408; District 4 has 4,236; and District 1 has 4,087. Dunn also says Pine Grove and Upcountry residents have “no representation on the Amador Regional Planning Committee,” and it is “leaving 2/3rds of this county out.” Dunn said she “went to whine about representation” at a past meeting and Sutter Creek Councilman Tim Murphy told her he did not think the Regional Planning Committee was “going in that direction.” The discussion continues Wednesday, June 3rd, at Pine Grove Town Hall. The Pine Grove Council meets at 5:30pm and the Pine Grove Civic Improvement Club meets at 6:30. Also on the agenda, the club will get updates on the County Fair window for Pine Grove, Hot August Nights - a Pine Grove sponsored music event in Pine Grove Park, and the Town Hall Renovation Project. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.