Amador County – Sutter Creek Planning reviewed a revised traffic impact study Monday for the Gold Rush Ranch & Gold Resort, looking at mitigation expectations. Commissioner Frank Cunha suggested including the Allen Ranch Road connection to Highway 49 as part of the EIR. Commissioner Mike Kirkley said a “lot of traffic comes into the older parts of town, and the only park in the development will be out here too.” He suggested making those part of the traffic EIR, in a study of old Highway 49. Consultant Bob Delk said he met with city staff, Caltrans and ACTC and he didn’t “believe they had any comments to look at traffic on old Highway 49.” Kirkley said most mitigations are “fair share” percentages, and asked about keeping track of those payments and also about “statements of overriding concern.” Consultant Anders Hague said “statements of overriding concerns likely will be done by staff and the city attorney.” He said the commission is being asked to determine adequacy of the EIR and make recommendations. “If there are overriding conditions, you can offer them with the recommendation.” Kirkley said he cannot make a recommendation without that information on old Highway 49. Hague said “there are going to be projects built to satisfy” impact mitigations. Commissioner Frank Cunha said “the fair share portion of this bothers me,” asking if “the city keep track of the (developer’s fair share) or does the money go into the regional transit fund?” Cunha said “if the developer is keeping track of them, are they ever really going to be done?” Delk said “different tiers of improvements are identified in the Regional Traffic Mitigation Fee Program.” He said ACTC is developing a CMX, or Circulation Mapping Exercise to determine fair share fees. ACTC Executive Director Charles Field said the CMX tool is “stalled in committee” and it was too soon to be able to rely on it for mitigation. Cunha said he has a “hard time calling it a mitigation if you know it’s never going to be built.” Assistant City Manager Sean Rabe said by law, the city “can only require development to pay their fair share.” The commission’s next meeting is 7 p.m. Monday, May 11th, when they go through errata sheets and individual commission comments. Peters said “the unresolved issues are all that we have left – the hard stuff.” Cunha asked if they could get the next meeting’s documents sooner, as they will be “basically going through all of this.” Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – During Monday’s meeting of the Jackson City Council, Jackson Police Chief Scott Morrison announced a new addition to his team: a K-9 drug sniffing dog. The German Sheppard’s acquisition was made possible through a grant from an anonymous donor from the bay area. The total cost of shipping the dog from Germany, vaccines and papers cost around $10,000. Reserve Officer Al Lewis, who is currently retired but previously spent 18 years in charge of the canine program at the Newark Police Department, will have full responsibility over the animal. Lewis will make a reserve wage and be authorized to act in a law enforcement capacity over 3 shifts per week. Morrison said the dog was needed in response to a growing drug problem in Jackson and the county as a whole. “We’ve been touching the top of the iceberg as far as narcotics in our city,” he said. The majority of funding for the upkeep and continuation of the program will come from the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund. This covers the costs of a specially equipped car, training and supplies. The dog is expected to be ready for narcotics detection on the streets in 3 to 4 weeks. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

State – Public health officials are working to confirm a possible case of swine flu at a school in Sacramento County. The deadly airborne flu virus which originated in Mexico and has killed as many as 105 people in the Mexico City area has now being detected in at least seven people in California. The federal government issued a public health emergency Sunday to help with the distribution of drugs to treat and prevent spread of the virus to regions most affected. At least 50 people in the United States have been confirmed positive. California state and county public health officials were asking federal authorities Sunday to warn Americans against traveling to Mexico. St. Mel school in Fair Oaks has shut its doors through Wednesday after a seventh grader who recently returned from Cancun fell ill last Wednesday. A group of classmates are also being tested for infection by swine flu. “If we start seeing more cases, and more serious cases, that will require much more serious intervention. It will dictate how aggressive our actions are,” said Gil Chavez, deputy director of the center for infectious diseases at the California Department of Public Health. Even though the World Health Organization has raised its pandemic alert level in response to the flu in Mexico, the federal government has issued statements saying there is nothing to panic about. “We've been fortunate to have a very mild flu (in the United States), but we may only have seen a fraction of what's out there," said Chavez. Anticipating the flood of concern amongst local residents, Public Health Officials in Amador County have posted information on swine flu on their website, including symptoms and methods of prevention. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - Another successful Sutter Creek Duck Race floated down Sutter Creek last Saturday. Residents from miles around gathered at the baseball field for food, music and prizes. Nine local charities benefited from proceeds of the fundraiser. The winners were announced Monday afternoon. Final Race Grand Prize of $2,500 went to Benita Bachman of Jackson. 2nd Place and $1,500 went to Mary Ann Hewitt of Sutter Creek. In Third with a prize of $1,000 was Trish Klier of Ione. Six other residents one prizes in preliminary races. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Amador County Business Council is the latest group to endorse the giant Gold Rush Ranch and Golf Resort set for development in Sutter Creek. “The Amador County Business Council supports projects that create jobs, invest in new local business opportunities and stand behind our community values - Gold Rush Ranch does all three," said Jim Conklin, Executive Director of the Amador County Business Council, in a statement submitted to the local newspaper. The council is comprised of individuals representing the interests of businesses from throughout the county. This endorsement adds to the list of support from organizations with a business interest in Amador County. These include the Sutter Creek Business and Professional Association, the Amador Association of Realtors, the Amador Chamber of Commerce, and the Amador Council of Tourism. Some are questioning the motives of the business council and theses other entities. In reaction to Conklin’s statement, one resident named Chris Seybolt asked Conklin to “please explain what the council defines as community value.” One Jackson resident said there is a “delicious irony in that those who work to build these homes would never be afforded the opportunity to live in them.” According to Troy Claveran, a partner in the Gold Rush Ranch Development, "We're delighted and honored to have the support of the Amador County Business Council-one of the premier business organizations here in Amador County.” Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – Amador Water Agency board members and staff spoke at a workshop hosted by supervisors last Friday to learn about the East Bay Municipal Utility District’s regional water plans. AWA General Manager Jim Abercrombie said a loosely projected need for 20,000 acre feet of water in Amador likely won’t be needed until 2030 or 2040. And he said enlarging the dam at Pardee “would not be a reliable water supply if we did this project ourselves,” because the county only would have rights to 10,000 acre feet. Looking at other plans in the region, a groundwater recharging plan in San Joaquin County, the Duck Creek Reservoir and the Pardee expansion, he said it didn’t “seem viable to do 3 unrelated projects.” But combining them in the Integrated Regional Conjunctive Use Program could make them possible and decrease their collective scopes. He said not needing the 20,000 acre feet of water for 30 years in Amador County could help finance a Lower Bear River Reservoir project being studied by PG&E. The utility is looking at raising Lower Bear’s dam by 6 feet for pump storage. Abercrombie said looking at the “synergies” in both plans, the AWA could give its water to PG&E for power generation “to pay off the debt service” of the dam at Lower Bear, then “get the water when we need it.” Abercrombie said the “IRCUP concept is not well defined now.” It came from Amador, Calaveras and East Bay joining forces after years of opposition to each other’s projects. IRCUP would use seasonal excess flows. Abercrombie said the flow of the Mokelumne River “is fully appropriated, except for winter flows.” But Amador County’s problem is adequate storage. Parts of the 2040 plan would address that. Supervisor Richard Forster asked how a dam expansion at Pardee might affect the Middle Bar. Abercrombie said “maybe it’s a smaller dam down stream that doesn’t affect levels.” AWA board member Bill Condrashoff said the board opposed the expansion of Pardee because it was the only details given in the 2040 plan. AWA Chairman Terence Moore agreed, and he read from the state water plan that cites conjunctive use as the preferred approach to handling global warming. Symptoms include more flooding in the winter, and solutions include building more storage and routing water to drought areas, like groundwater recharging would do for the San Joaquin County area. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County –Plymouth City Council last week approved a resolution opposing expansion of Pardee Lake, with the bulk of the meeting going to the subject. The project is one of several identified in the Water Supply Management Plan 2040 under design by the East Bay Municipal Utility District. The plan’s author, Tom Francis presented it to the council and answered questions. Councilwoman Pat Fordyce asked for clarification on what raising a dam and what enlarging a lake would mean. Francis said there was a difference, noting that the 2040 plan included an element that looked at raising, or building up, the height of the dam at Lower Bear Reservoir by 33 feet. But he said East Bay MUD might be better served at Pardee by building a larger dam downstream from the existing dam and increasing the size of the reservoir. Fordyce asked: “Can you even build dams?” Francis said “you physically can, but you will probably hear tonight from some environmentalists that will say we will meet lots of issues” and roadblocks. He said East Bay MUD’s most work in the Foothills has been with the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Authority, but the agency has found that it needs “to reach out to the environmentalists too.” Francis said the comment period on the 2040 plan closes May 4th. The East Bay MUD board must answer comments in June, then it will look at the plan on July 14th and decide items to remove or keep. He said “ultimately, we are going to go forward with our water supply planning. We are a water agency.” City Manager Dixon Flynn asked what was in the equation for Plymouth, and will “Amador County get more water from this?” Francis said the county would get more water, but only through the Integrated Regional Conjunctive Use Project. Francis said agency studies of a new Pardee dam downstream would include “green energy” of hydro-generation, plus cold water pools beneficial to fish. He said injecting the aquifer, San Joaquin County desired solution to drought, would be done just as groundwater is extracted – through wells. “We won’t just be putting it everywhere,” Francis said. “We will have recharge well storage areas.” Fordyce said she could not believe that would work. The council adjourned the remaining agenda items to 5 p.m. today in City Hall. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - The Jackson Valley Irrigation District General District Election is scheduled for August 25, 2009 for the purpose of electing two directors. Candidates must be owners of real property within the District. Such owners need not be residents of the District. The nomination period opens May 4, 2009 and closes at 5:00 p.m. on May 29, 2009. Between these dates nomination papers will be available and can be obtained from the Elections Department, 810 Court St., Jackson CA. Further information may be obtained by contacting the Election Department at (209) 223-6465. Staff Report This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors last Friday individually said they opposed expansion of Pardee Reservoir, setting up a likely vote to formally oppose the program at its board meeting Tuesday. The program is part of the East Bay Municipal Utility District’s 2040 Water Supply Management Plan, which the Oakland utility presented in an informational workshop to Amador supervisor on Friday. After a 3-hour presentation, Amador Chairman Ted Novelli said the Integrated Regional Conjunctive Up Program “is a great thing,” but the 2040 plan as presented to the county, he could “not support it in any way, shape or form.” He also noted that East Bay MUD officials made no mention of Alpine County, where 5 rivers originate, and he said East Bay should “get to know Alpine County.” Supervisor Brian Oneto said he saw problems with the 2040 plan, but he “would like to see a better water supply for this county,” through the IRCUP. Supervisor Richard Forster said he “will support staying involved in IRCUP,” but not the projects, especially the “enlarging of Pardee.” He said if East Bay MUD sought to build a new Pardee Dam downstream from Pardee would have the “same impacts as raising Pardee Dam, I don’t think I could support that either.” Supervisor John Plasse agreed, and said “trust is an issue.” Plasse said he should “not support the current project as proposed,” but he believed in collaboration to find regional solutions, and East Bay MUD should “put local support in its EIR.” Forster said if more local involvement was sought by East Bay at the outset, maybe there would be less local opposition. And he asked if “we can get an assurance form the (East Bay) board that Amador and Calaveras have to have a buy-in for this program” to work. East Bay Board Vice Chairman John Coleman said “we are not going to come up here and enlarge Pardee ourselves. We need regional support.” He said they would not pursue raising Pardee dam “without the support and benefits that are derived from local support.” Supervisor Louis Boitano said: “How much water are we taking about for our cut in this partnership? It’s kind of important to make an informed decision.” East Bay MUD General Manager Dennis Diemer said the IRCUP would give Amador County 20,000 acre-feet of water “from Lower Bear reservoir, Pardee or a combination.” Amador Supervisors on Tuesday will consider a resolution to oppose the 2040 plan but to support the Integrated Regional Conjunctive Use Project “Plus” program. 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 voted 4-1 Thursday to join Sutter Creek, Jackson and Ione city councils in opposing East Bay Municipal Utility District’s plan to expand Pardee Reservoir. Plymouth Councilman Mike O’Meara voted against the resolution, saying he thought it was “a little early to be doing something like this.” Katherine Evatt of Foothill Conservancy and Jackson City Councilman Keith Sweet urged opposition to the 2040 Water Supply Management Program. Evatt said the Pardee expansion plan was too detailed to simply be a part of a general water document. She noted that it was a “preferred project” for East Bay. Tom Francis, author of East Bay MUD’s plan, said: “It is a preferred portfolio, not a preferred project.” He said once East Bay settles on a project, it would then be required to do environmental studies. Francis said “we are doing the EIR based on how the conceptual ideas might work.” He used a 1988 study that looked at raising the dam at Pardee by 33 feet. Sweet pointed out a map from East Bay MUD that showed the flooding that would occur on the Mokelumne River if the dam were built up at Pardee. Evatt said there was “no certainty” to build all of the projects in the 2040 Plan. Using other dam-building data, she estimated that creating a 165,000 acre-foot expansion at Pardee would cost more than a billion dollars. Francis said East Bay MUD has “rights to the dammed water, just as much as you have rights to river water.” He said “I think over time, you will see more access to our properties” for recreation. Councilwoman Pat Fordyce criticized East Bay’s meeting at the AWA office in Sutter Creek, where “some people had to watch through the windows.” Those included Supervisors John Plasse and Brian Oneto and Chairman Ted Novelli. Francis said he scheduled the meeting and acknowledged error, saying: “I think we did a bad job getting out talking to people.” O’Meara said “East Bay MUD treated us pretty crappy, pardon my French,” but he said “I don’t feel comfortable taking something off the plate.” Councilwoman Pat Shackleton said they had sent enough water to the East Bay and she would support the resolution, but might support something later. She wanted to send a clear message. Mayor Jon Colburn was “not happy with the presentation” and said East Bay acts “with no regard to impacts” on Amador’s economy. Greg Baldwin motioned to add to the resolution that the council’s objection to the Pardee expansion included the “flooding of historic mine shafts, resulting in possible contamination by hazardous waste materials from mining operations.” Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.