Amador County – The Sutter Creek Planning Commission discussed the Gold Rush Ranch & Gold Resort draft “Conditions of Approval” Monday, which included suggestions by the commission chairman to require building a firehouse, buying a fire truck and developing 2/3rds of a 15-acre park. Chairman Robin Peters said he was not finished reading the conditions of approval, but Consultant Anders Hauge did have his comments thus far added in a “strikethrough” format, to show his and other suggested changes. His suggestions included requiring that Gold Rush signing a “School Facilities Mitigation Agreement and an Option and Agreement for Conveyance of Property” with Amador County Unified School District. His addition noted that “grading shall protect the existing skyline, oak trees, prominent hillsides, riparian corridors, and other topographically sensitive features and shall emulate the natural topography, which is the shape, height, and depth of the land surface.” Peters also added a requirement of building a firehouse before recording “the final large lot subdivision map.” The conditions included either providing or funding “acquisition of an adequate fire station site.” Peters added that it would include providing “a single-story 4,500 square foot facility with 2 bays, one fire truck, one Type 2 engine, dorm-room housing for 3 to 4 firefighters, a training room, a kitchen and a day room.” Gold Rush’s Greg Bardini said developers had already identified a 1-and-a-half-acres parcel to be specified as the location for the firehouse. Also, Peters added a requirement that Gold Rush developers – prior to recording the large lot final subdivision map – shall “make dedication of a community park containing or providing at least 15 acres of usable area in or adjacent to the Gold Rush Ranch Specific Plan.” It included Gold Rush paying a “fair shair” to construct and maintain 10 acres ( or 2/3rds ) of the park. Peters said the term “adjacent to” the planned area allowed Gold Rush to acquire a site outside of the development area for use as the 15-acre community park. Peters also suggested a stand-alone category for the golf course. The commission returns to the conditions of approval at its next meeting, along with the suggested mitigation measures. The documents are available at City Hall, and online at the city’s website. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - The Native Sons of the Golden West, Excelsior Parlor #31 was “deeply saddened to announce” Thursday that the Annual Father's Day Free Fishing Derby at Lake Tabeaud has been cancelled. After over 30 years of providing free fishing, prizes and food to the youth and disabled veterans of Amador County, the Native Sons have been forced to cancel the derby this year due to the settlement of a lawsuit by The Center for Biological Diversity from Tucson, Ariz. against the California Department of Fish & Game temporarily banning trout plants in certain state lakes. “I'm very disappointed that after 30 years of serving the youth of our community, we've been forced to cancel the derby because of this frivolous lawsuit,” said Past President Chad Simmons. “It only hurts our children and the irony is that PG&E is allowed to stock Lake Tabeaud as part of the settlement, but we can't stock a few hundred pounds of trout for Amador County's children and disabled veterans.” After numerous calls to the California Department of Fish and Game and the County's legislators, neither relief nor assistance materialized leading to the cancellation of the Father's Day Fishing Derby. The Native Sons are urging those with questions or concerns to contact Senator Dave Cox at 223-9140, Assembly member Alyson Huber at 333-5330, or Stafford Lehr, DFG Senior Environmental Scientist at (916) 358-2900. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Region - Republican Jack Sieglock has announced he’ll make another bid in 2010 for the 10th District Assembly seat won by Democrat Alyson Huber last November. Described as one of the harder fought campaigns of 2008, Huber narrowly beat out Sieglock by 474 votes. Sieglock’s lead was anywhere from 9 percentage points to 25 percentage points in San Joaquin, El Dorado and Amador counties, but Huber held a healthy 12-point lead in the more populated areas of Sacramento County. Amador County voted predominantly for Sieglock, 54.55 percent over 37.50 percent. “Maybe six months ago, people didn't think it would be this close. They thought it would be a safe Republican seat,” said Huber, days before her victory was announced. If he were voted in, Sieglock would have become the second consecutive Lodian to gain the seat after Republican Alan Nakanishi termed out. Sieglock — a former Lodi city councilman — said the district remains mostly conservative and he's looking to capitalize on that in the next election. Sieglock claims Huber’s agenda proposes even larger government programs that will take money from taxpayers. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Board of Supervisors Tuesday heard a two-part presentation by Amador County Recreation Agency Director Tracey Towner-Yep concerning the agency’s deepening financial concerns. The Supervisors unanimously approved to continue their contribution of $5 per capita for the next fiscal year. District 2 Supervisor Richard Forster said he “would like to stand by that commitment and keep supporting ACRA, rather than pulling the rug completely out from under them.” Towner-Yep said that even with the County’s continued support, ACRA “is still facing a 75 percent cut in operating funds” for the next fiscal year. Program revenues are down as people draw inward to weather the economic recession and cut extraneous costs. “Basically, as other companies and individuals feel the pinch, we as a soft funded agency feel the trickle down from those negative effects,” said Liz MacLeod, ACRA’s Coordinator of Services and Public Affairs. If ACRA were to provide all of the needed services in Amador County, a budget of 3.8 million dollars would be needed. “In other words, ACRA is already stretching every dollar to meet the recreation needs of the county. Now we’ll have to stretch them even further,” said MacLeod. Towner-Yep said the after-school programs the agency has “shepherded” this year may not be available next year as a result. ACRA also hopes for a $5 contribution per capita from each of the county’s five cities, which totals $170,610 when the county’s contribution is included. In the face of cutbacks and shortages, the agency remains proactive. “As the agencies grant writer, I am currently approaching private foundations with proposals for operating funds which will hopefully ameliorate the negative effects of the current budget cutbacks,” said MacLeod. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Amador County General Plan panel discussed the Williamson Act last week, hearing the limitations and allowances on county agricultural land. Supervisor Richard Forster said “you can’t have a commercial business.” County Planner Susan Grijalva said “our local Williamson Act zoning does allow some business operations.” Amador’s planning department is looking into home occupation permits and home-based industry, but the county must define agricultural property, she said. Forster said “in this county, there are huge amounts of businesses that are being run on Williamson Act land.” Supervisor Brian Oneto said: “How do you shut down an economy? You make it hard to do anything.” He said ranchers may find themselves “starving to death,” so they do welding side jobs, or open fruit stands. Commissioner Andy Byrne said the law “protects neighbors from traffic impacts and a whole list of things.” Jeffrey Gibson of the Amador Wine Grape Growers’ Association said Amador County’s zoning and laws are, by comparison, a godsend. Gibson said a “winery conditional use permit” in Napa “will tell you where you have to buy your grapes” – that is, from Napa – and “you have to run your tasting room by appointment because of traffic” impacts. “I didn’t end up in Amador County just by chance,” Gibson said. “I shopped around.” Grijalva said if the state cuts Williamson Act funding, as is being talked about, the local Williamson Act zoning and programs will remain in place. The California Department of Conservation’s website said the Williamson Land Conservation Act of 1965, “enables local governments to enter into contracts with private landowners for the purpose of restricting specific parcels of land to agricultural or related open space use. In return, landowners receive property tax assessments which are much lower than normal because they are based upon farming and open space uses as opposed to full market value.” The act “has been the state’s premier agricultural land protection program since” 1965. “Nearly 16.9 million of the state’s 29 million acres of farm and ranch land are currently protected under the Williamson Act.” One-third of Williamson Act farmers and ranchers said “without the act they would no longer own their parcel,” according to a 1989 University of California study, “Land in the Balance.” Story by Jim Reece

Amador County – The Amador County General Plan Update panel on Wednesday debated whether to require a fiscal impact analysis, or only to say it “may be required.” Jackson activist Kathy Allen said it should be required of “nationally owned chains.” Supervisor Chairman Ted Novelli asked her if a car dealership, specifically GMC, wanted to locate here, “would you object to their being here?” Allen said: “No, I would object to them not doing a fiscal impact study.” And she said “manufacturing is pure profit,” but retail is a different story. Supervisor Richard Forster said a local tire store owner told him he was not worried about national tire chains coming to the area, saying he supports the community and the community supports his business. Forster said: “If mom & pop (stores) are doing their job right, when the big-box store comes, they will survive.” Art Marinaccio of Amador Citizens For Responsible Government, said Allen’s words “constitute an illegal restraint of trade.” He said cases upheld up in court showed areas aimed to “protect our mom & pop” stores, but the wording must be “very specific” what they want to protect. Commissioner Ray Ryan said a blanket requirement for all national chains was flawed, because if companies cannot deliver, customers will not frequent those businesses. Allen said she wanted to protect local businesses, and Ryan said they “don’t want to put up a road block,” because then businesses would set up shop across the county line. Commissioner Dave Wardall said certain building products are “$45 dollars a foot in Amador County and $10 dollars a foot in Bakersfield.” Similarly, people travel to the Sacramento area for cheaper prices. Wardall said we “need big box stores, or you are going to lose sales tax to Folsom.” Commissioner Andy Byrne said if they require a fiscal impact report, “supervisors can always waive it.” He said the planning commission, including each individual commissioner, asked for a fiscal impact study of the Home Depot that was working to locate in Jackson. Forster said language saying the fiscal study “may be required” would “allow the commission to seek that.” Supervisor John Plasse said the word “may” was not the key word, rather “require” was the key, and he supported the combination. Supervisor Louis Boitano said it was “probably the way to go.” The joint panel reconvenes July 8th to consider including a water sub-element in the economic element. 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 – Supervisor John Plasse hosted a press conference Tuesday morning to announce a new Prescription Discount Card Program through the county’s private partner, Coast2Coast Rx. Plasse spearheaded the cooperative effort to bring the program to Amador County and called it “a terrific win-win situation for our citizens.” Also on hand to answer questions were County Administrative Officer Terri Daly and Martin Dettelbach, Chief Marketing Officer for Financial Marketing Concepts, Inc., the administers of the program. The program helps consumers save up to 38 percent annually on prescription medications not covered through insurance, according to Dettelbach. This includes over 60,000 brand name and generic drugs, even medication for pets. It will also cover “lifestyle” drugs or drugs not covered under typical insurance plans. Dettelbach explained that Financial Marketing Concepts works with buying groups to provide lower costs for consumers. Plasse said the program will be an “exemplary benefit” for our county because of the high percentage of seniors and individuals on Medicare. The program is already underway in states nationwide and in several California counties, the largest being Ventura, where 6,000 to 7,000 people benefit annually. Dettelbach expects at least 150 counties across the country to come on board by the end of the year. Many county pharmacies, including Wal-Mart, Raley’s, Safeway, Long’s and Pine Cone Drug have already agreed to provide discounts through the program. The card is accepted at nearly 58,000 pharmacies nationwide. “Pharmacies don’t make a lot of money, so part of this effort is to drive people in,” said Dettelbach. Plasse said he originally heard about the program while attending the California State Association of Counties Supervisors Institute last December in San Diego. When compared to NACO, the other leading Prescription Discount Card Program, Plasse found Coast2Coast Rx offered greater benefits and steeper discounts- not to mention a 50 cent royalty per filled prescription. Royalties come out of the dispensing fees that pharmacies usually charge. The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved of the program last week and decided all royalties should go to benefit Common Ground Senior Services. Common Ground Director Elizabeth Thompson was on hand to thank the Supervisors, and said the funding is essential to the financial security of Common Ground and the 135 seniors they serve daily through their Meals-On-Wheels program. She announced the recent acquisition of a new meal truck, for which the cost will be partially supplemented by any benefits through Coast2Coast Rx royalties. Daly lauded Plasse’s efforts, saying “it was really John who did it all and brought it all here to us.” Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - The Amador Water Agency will begin work today on the water main upgrade project in Sutter Creek. The project work will take place on Broad Street, beginning at Eureka Street and continuing north across Gopher Flat Road to Mill Street. The Agency is coordinating with the City to increase water flows in and through Sutter Creek. The water main upgrade is designed to alleviate a “bottleneck” in the Amador Water System in downtown Sutter Creek. The upgrade will assure that Sutter Creek residents north of town and customers in Amador City, Drytown and Plymouth will have adequate water pressure and supply. Amador Water Agency construction crews will begin locating utilities starting May 26th. Excavation will begin June 8 and the project will be complete before school starts on August 19th. (VIDEO) Once excavation and pipe placement is underway, it will be necessary to close portions of Broad Street, Eureka Street, Gopher Flat Road, Mill Street, and Randolph Street to through traffic during the day only. Scheduled water outages will be necessary as well. The City and the Water Agency will notify affected residents and businesses in advance when that work is scheduled and will try to keep this inconvenience to a minimum. Barry Birge, AWA Construction Superintendent is the Agency contact for any questions regarding the project. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Ione City Council and Planning Commission opened the Q Ranch land designation to an additional 350 housing units on Tuesday, to be included in the city’s new General Plan. Any project on the 432-acre site is still forthcoming, but its developers said the project would only be feasible with a designation allowing 850 units, instead of the 500 discussed in January, under a “Rural Residential” designation, with 1/2-acre lots. Kevin Walker of Q Ranch said an engineer did an exhaustive study of the site’s 80 square miles, finding that its watershed and “flow of water could be contained in a much smaller area.” He said the project would try to preserve the “viewshed” with “treescaping,” and with a 3-2 vote, the council included that wording in the land designation. Walker said project would include trails for bicycles, horseback riding and pedestrians. Housing would be “Medium Density” (7 to 15 units per acre) and “Low Density” (7 units and under, per acre). City Planner Christopher Jordan said that density would resemble Castle Oaks. Walker said 850 homes in “clustering” designs would allow preservation of more open space than the previous designation. The rough map included 23 acres for parks, 202 acres of “open space,” and 26.5 acres of agriculture land. Walker said they would “restore Dry Creek to its natural state.” One man said it was a “huge change” late in the process of the General Plan update. Commission Vice Chair Joe Wylie said “it is unfortunate and difficult to have something thrown at you in the last minute,” but it was a good idea. He said he would like to see publicly accessible trails connect Highways 104 and 124. Commissioner Stewart Wilkerson asked if the wastewater treatment plant would accommodate the 850 units. City Planner Christopher Jordan said it would, and the “open space” designation in the General Plan policy is defined as public areas. Mayor Lee Ard said the map and density resembled what he was told was in the future for Q Ranch, when he first moved to town. Ard said the designation gives the developers “the opportunity to come forward with a proposal on what they want to do with their land.” Attorney Kristen Castanos said changing the land designation density would only change the map in the city General Plan. It would allow for zoning overlays without a General Plan amendment. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.