By Holly Boitano -

A new mural project will soon be under way in Sutter Creek. The canvas for the 130-foot “Walk to School” mural will be a cement wall that runs adjacent to the church on Spanish Street. Local artist and teacher Rand Huggett will orchestrate the project, which he said should take about two months to complete. Huggett and resident Mel Welsh presented the design at the Sutter Creek City Council meeting Monday night, to an enthusiastic audience. Huggett is well known for several mural projects throughout the community, and has been an art teacher at Amador High School for many years. Welsh helped to instate the safe routes to school program in Sutter Creek last year. Huggett said that some of his art students would help work on the mural, and he commented that projects like this are very rewarding for everyone involved -- teachers, students, and the community alike.

Staff Report -

The Amador County Peace Officers' Association gave out its annual awards last week, selecting Tom Sage, Tracey Towner-Yep and Kevin Summers as its prize winners. Mark Estey in a news release announced the selections and congratulated Amador County District Attorney Investigator Tom Sage as Peace Officer of the Year for 2008. Amador County Recreation Agency Executive Director Tracey Towner-Yep was named Citizen of the Year. And Jackson Police Officer Kevin Summers was selected as the Public Safety Performer of the Year.

Towner-Yep said Amador County is a “great place to live and work, and it's a pleasure to serve this community.” She thanked her family, friends, staff, and board, for being such a magnificent support network. She said “Thank you also to the Amador County Peace Officers Association for deeming me worthy of this distinguished award. This is truly an honor!” Sage, an investigator for Amador County District Attorney Todd Riebe, said he heard about his winning the award last Tuesday, after an interview at the office, when Riebe broke the news. Sage has been at the DA’s office since 1997. He said the award was a nice recognition and he thanked the Peace Officers Association for it. An awards dinner will be held Saturday, October 25th at the American Legion Hall in Martell.

The Amador County Grape Harvest got off to a good start this Saturday at the Amador Ridge Vineyard, where the Murrill family began by picking about a ton of select zinfandel grapes from almost century old vines planted in 1916. Three generations of the Murrill family were out picking and cleaning, including brothers John and Steve Murrill, grandmother Ruth, and grandson Andrew. Most of Amador’s vineyards and wineries are family owned and operated, and some have been here for over a century. Amador County’s vineyards actually started during the Gold Rush era, but with the decline of gold mining in the late 1900’s and the onset of Prohibition in the 1920’s, local vineyards and wineries suffered. It wasn’t until the 1960’s that Amador’s vineyards and wine production resurfaced when entrepreneurs flocked to this region, attracted by the our warm climate, rolling hills, and rich volcanic soil.

Soon after, Amador wine country blossomed into what is now a major part of California’s wine history, and a major tourist stop. The next stop for Murrill’s select grapes will be Obscurity Cellars in Fair Play, where they will be crushed and will eventually be transformed into about 160 gallons of zinfandel wine, or 66 cases, which is about 800 bottles of wine. Amador Ridge Vineyards, off Ridge Road in Sutter Creek, is known for its award-winning “old vine” grapes, and is credited with that fact on the Obscurity label, which states, “Old Man Murrill Zinfandel 1916.” The Murrill Family predicts that Amador County will have an “excellent” harvest this year.

Amador County – The Amador Water Agency last month discussed “dumbing down” documents, specifically a “notice of a public hearing” for proposed wastewater rate increases in Martell. Director Bill Condrashoff criticized the 4-page notice, saying “this is very difficult to understand,” and the wording left him not knowing what the document was about. He said it seemed like the agency was trying to hide the rate increase. AWA General Manager Jim Abercrombie said “I’m not sure a 4-page notice means that we are trying to hide it.” He said in his 20 years making such notices, it had what customers always wanted in a graph telling what the new rates would be. That graph shows single family dwellings in the Martell District 12 this month pay $65.97 a month. That rate would increase to $75.87 in July 2010 and to $87.25 in July 2011. Commercial rate changes, with 4 different categories, included the highest, a “fixed service charge” which this month is $21.31. It would rise to $24.51 next July and to $28.18 in July 2011. AWA attorney Steve Kronick said he reviewed the notice, written by Finance Manager Mike Lee. Kronick said “Proposition 218 was adopted by voters in 1997, and the agency has noticed Prop 218 probably 100 times since 1997. We have never had (complaints) lodged from the public about the notice.” Kronick said since 1997, “we have never been accused of not being open.” He said the notice has never before included “protest procedures,” although it is not required by Prop 218, but he was “asked by the board to include it.” He said he used the wording, verbatim, from the Jackson notice. The notice sets a June 24th public hearing for comments on and objections to the proposed wastewater user rate increases in Martell. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The city of Plymouth and the Amador Water Agency officially marked the start of an 8-mile water pipeline Wednesday with a ceremonial ground-breaking on Fiddletown Road. Several dozen people attended the event at the Plymouth Water Treatment Plant, under the shade of the city’s water storage tank. AWA General Manager Jim Abercrombie led off the ceremony, naming some major contributors to the project, many in the crowd. Those included Plymouth city grants writer Terry Cox, of Cox Consulting in Tuolumne County. Cox wrote the successful application for $3 Million Dollars for a Community Development Block Grant, along with a successful CDBG loan application for another $5 Million Dollars, to fund the pipeline. Abercrombie also introduced Jack Scroggs of KASL Consulting, which did engineering and environmental work on the pipeline. Abercrombie introduced an aid to Congressman Dan Lungren, and noted that the Amador County Supervisors were unable to attend because they were simultaneously starting their latest General Plan Update meeting back in Jackson. He introduced Dave Hartwell and Frank Risso of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, whose agency brought CDBG funding through the Rural Utility Service. He introduced Erik Christeson, AWA engineer in charge of making sure the pipeline was accurate. He introduced current AWA board member and its Chairman Terence Moore. Moore lauded the partnership with the AWA, which “once again is going to return to a high quality of water to the city of Plymouth.” Moore said “as a Plymouth resident, (he) would like to thank the city council for pursuing the project,” which will finally “lift the building moratorium.” He said the city has rationed water during the Amador County Fair week, but that time is gone. Moore said: “Let’s turn the spigot!” Plymouth Councilwoman Patricia Fordyce thanked the people who worked on the pipeline, to fulfill her dream to be able to turn on the faucet and “get good, quality water.” Abercrombie mentioned AWA Engineering Manager Gene Mancebo, who worked on the project. And Cox mentioned early project helpers for Plymouth, original engineer John German, former City Manager Gene Albaugh, and current City Manager Dixon Flynn, who said his city council was working and could not attend the ceremony. AWA board members Moore, Vice Chair Bill Condrashoff, Gary Thomas and Debbie Dunn then took golden shovels and posed for cameras, with Abercrombie, Flynn, Fordyce and former AWA Director Madonna Weibold. Hartwell and Risso then joined AWA project manager Ken Hunt, Christeson, Cox and Scroggs for photos with the shovels. Hunt said the project, which started last month, has about 1-and-a-half miles of pipeline now in place in the ground. The project will be 8-and-a-half miles long when completed. Project builder Mountain Cascade’s project manager, Tony Batista of Valley Springs, also attended. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - The Amador Tuolumne Community Action Agency, or ATCAA, is among nine area nonprofit organizations to benefit from $215,000 in grant funding awarded by Sacramento-based Sierra Health Foundation. Sierra Health President Chet Hewitt said they wanted to do their part to mitigate the challenges people in our communities are facing. Shelters and food banks throughout the region have had to turn people away because they lack supplies, space and manpower. ATCAA was among a handful of organizations to beat out heavy competition for funding. In total, 250 grant applications were received by the January 15th deadline from philanthropy organizations in Sierra Health’s 26-county funding region. ATCAA, based in Jackson, will receive $25,000 to help the Amador Shelter remain open year-round and continue providing 160 homeless adults and children with meals and shelter for 60-day stays. The Human Resources Council in San Andreas, which is the only safety-net service in Calaveras County, received $25,000 for emergency food supplies. Other grant awardees included Catholic Charities of Stockton, Gospel Center Rescue Mission in Stockton, the San Joaquin County Human Services Agency, Second Harvest Bank of San Joaquin, and the San Joaquin AIDS Foundation. Each of these organizations received $25,000. The Sierra Health Foundation is a private philanthropy promoting improved health and quality of life in the region since 1985, and has committed $1 million to 42 organizations overall. 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 on Tuesday approved specification gathering for roughly $100,000 dollars worth of street repair and another $40,000 to gather specs for a sewer main repairs. The latter will be specs toward repair of sewer mains at various locations around the city, and did not include the cost of engineering. The council passed both requests, including the sewer mains, also with “approval of a contract if the bid submitted is less than the engineer’s cost estimation.” The council authorized City Manager Kim Kerr to work with City Engineer Roark Weber to prepare specifications for repairs. Kerr will also release a Request for Proposals and bids for the repairs to the sewer main. The street repairs were for East Market Street and storm drain repair on Jackson Street. East Market Street had a collapse and Jackson Street has a drainage issue and needs storm drain line repairs. The council approved Kerr to work with Weber on the specs. The engineer estimated the storm drain repair on Jackson Street would cost $3,170 dollars, while the East Market Street sinkhole fix would require about $7,100 dollars worth of material and would take a crew of 4 or 5 workers about 3 days to do. Kerr said city staff could do the jobs, but recommended taking bids on the work. She said the East Jackson Street problem needed a “long-term” solution, which Weber estimated would cost $47,600 dollars, including labor cost. Arroyo Seco Street long-term work, including storm drain repair and fixing sinking sewer lines, would cost an estimated $60,000 dollars. Another project, not on the agenda, was repair of settling manholes on Fairway Drive, which Weber estimated would cost $410,280 dollars. She said that would include grinding of existing amenities, fixing dips in the road, and repairing 30 or 40 feet of failed road. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Amador County Transportation Commission board of directors saw the latest plans for the Ione Bypass Wednesday, and heard the latest cost estimate for the plan. Matt Boyer of Dokken Engineering said the total package would cost an estimated $113 Million dollars, including land acquisition, construction and engineering. But the biggest news was seeing the preferred route on paper for the first time. Boyer said the bypass, now referred to by the city of Ione as the “Western Ione Roadway Improvement Strategy,” had the main objective of alleviating the “largest amount of traffic from downtown Ione.” Its various segments, A through H, would connect Highway 104 in the east back to itself on the west side, and north side of town. Boyer said a recent meeting with Caltrans and District 10 chief of Rural planning and administration, Dan Brewer, was the “best and most productive meeting with Caltrans that he has had in his 20-year career.” The meeting showed that Ione, Caltrans and ACTC plans and long-term goals were compatible. Boyer said a third public meeting will be held in Ione, but the latest preferred plan was selected and recommended by the Ione Planning Commission and placed into the city’s draft General Plan Land Use Element by the Ione City Council. Ione City Planner Christopher Jordan said the city saved about $70,000 dollars on the bypass, including $50,000 by having it included in the General Plan Environmental Impact Report. ACTC Board Member Richard Forster said it was “good to finally see something on paper after 25 years” of talking about an Ione bypass. Among recommendations, Boyer said he thought there should be a separate bicycle and pedestrian bridge built over Sutter Creek, so the existing bridge can be strictly for vehicles. He said parts of the bypass “are essentially modifications and improvements to roads that already exist.” And the segment on Old Stockton Road could eventually be widened, but may not need to be. Some segments, he said, will be tied to developments, including at Castle Oaks and on the Ringer Ranch. Story by Jim Reece 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.).

When Jennifer Sergent’s 13-year old daughter came home from Ione Junior high the day after the election and said her teacher called her a racist, the Ione mom and Mule Creek Correctional Officer was floored. But she was even more shocked to learn of her and her daughter’s “unfair” portrayal in Friday’s edition of the Ledger-Dispatch, which stated that school officials said the girl had a history of behavioral problems. When contacted by phone, the school’s principal, Dr. Bill Murray, says the “behavioral problems” comment did not come from the school and also indicated that he had taken steps to resolve the issue with the teacher. It all began with a complaint to Murray on November 5th, that the girl’s computer class teacher, Kelleen Farrell, had called her a racist in regards to the girl’s questions about why people were crying over Barack Obama’s win. Additionally, the girl claims that Farrell made inappropriate comments in relation to the girl’s support of Proposition 8, the controversial item that will now ban same-sex couples from legally marrying. The 13-year old told her parents that Farrell said, “I hope you grow up to be gay so I can laugh at you when you can’t be with the one you love.” The girl’s parents, Steve and Jennifer Sergent, say they only want the situation to be resolved, and say that other children from Farrell’s class have reported similar situations to their parents. Murray claims that he did arrange for the student and teacher to have a meeting at lunch-time, but since that meeting did not involve the principal or a parent, the girl felt uncomfortable attending the meeting by herself. Sergent says because the principal, nor the teacher, returned her calls, she went to the school last Monday to resolve the issue, which ultimately ended in Sergent being escorted off school grounds by an Ione police officer. The girl’s father, Steve Sergent, relayed the entire story at last Wednesday’s school board meeting, but feels it didn’t do any good as he was only directed to fill out a complaint form. By Jen Wilson.