Amador County - At 10am on Wednesday March 4th at Hein and Company Bookstore on Main Street in Jackson, several members of the Jackson City Council will be available to answer questions related to city services or budget, discuss neighborhood issues, provide information regarding Neighborhood Watch programs, or listen to any special interests or concerns of Jackson residents. This is the first of a twice monthly series of meetings that will be held throughout the year on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month. The next scheduled meeting is March 18th at 3pm at the Rollingwood Community Center in Jackson. The full schedule can be found on the city’s web site at www.ci.jackson.ca. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - The City of Ione has released its progress report for the 2008-09 fiscal year, which expectedly highlights the city’s notable accomplishments. “The report is intended to provide the residents of Ione with an overview of key accomplishments by the City Staff, Council, Planning and Parks Commissions over the past year,” said City Manager Kim Kerr. The accomplishments are divided into key areas, including administration, finance, planning, public works, building inspection, maintenance, police and fire. Each category includes numerous achievements met or exceeded by city staff during a tumultuous year in city government. Most finance-related achievements pertained to streamlining finance processes, including credit card payment options for city services and on-line payments. In planning, the city established guidelines for all planning documents, which was called “a model document and leading in the County.” This has been requested by other cities for use as a guideline. The city improved its infrastructure with a number of street overlays and sidewalks built by funds from the Safe Route to School grant. A Draft Master Plan was completed that includes the Howard Park CEQA Analysis and new restrooms for the arena. The most publicized infrastructure project was the new Preston Area Fire Station, completed on schedule and within budget. Grand opening is planned for March/April of 2009. A waste water master plan was created and the environmental impact on improvements to 2030 is in progress and due to be completed by September 2009. In regards to fire and public safety, Ione continues to develop paid fire call staff with weekly training and enhanced skills. The city is developing a working relationship with Jackson Valley Fire District to share paid employees with Measure M funds. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Sutter Creek Planning Commission pored through three chapters of the Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort Specific Plan. With “current economic conditions” thick in the air, about 40 people heard an early discussion on single-family lot sizes. Commissioner Frank Cunha asked whether the City would agree on having a “majority” of single family lots with parcels in the 5,000- to 7,000-square-feet size. Cunha said the single-family lot size limit was 7,000 square feet in the city General Plan. Chairman Robin Peters asked Gold Rush if they had a percentage number in mind for the number of single-family lots they wanted under 7,000 square feet. Consultant Anders Hauge said that was an unknown number. He said part of the problem was that they do not know what the market will allow, and the aim was to allow the developer an ability to maintain flexibility. Commissioner Robert Olson said “majority” meant that most properties would be under 7,000 square feet. Gold Rush’s Jim Harnish pointed out areas in the plan where 10 to 20 percent of the parcels are 10,000 square feet or larger. Cunha said that “to say the range is 5,000 to 7,000, you might as well say all of them will be 5,000.” Peters said “right out of the gate we found an issue that needs much more discussion.” He said “Sutter Creek is not the most progressive city around in regard to planning.” Gold Rush’s Greg Bardini said they did not want to get caught up on the lot sizes, because the project is fixed in its number of units and limited by acreage. He said if they “build all of the homes on 5,000 square foot lots, that would leave a lot more open space.” He said they did not have a number on which lots would be under 7,000. Cunha said if they could come up with a percentage, “I’m willing to talk about this.” Hauge said he thought the planning commission should “keep a unique designation for this specific plan and where it comes to single family lots, work with the applicant on the percentages.” Peters said he could agree with that but he did not want to give Gold Rush “cart blanche” when it came to lot sizes. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – A new limited liability company has been looking lately at powering up the old Ione-area Cogen electric generating plant. Amador Air Pollution Control Officer James L. Harris said Tuesday that the new company, Buena Vista Biomass Power LLC, was looking at reopening the Cogen incendiary power generating plant on Coal Mine Road. Harris said if it opened, it would burn only bio-mass, that is, yard waste and natural trimmings. Harris said the emissions would be better than the Cogen’s initial incarnation, when it burned lignite, a low form of coal. Harris reported to the Amador County Air District Board of Directors on Tuesday that “all back fees due for the power plant on Coal Mine Road in Ione have been paid.” He said the “revenue was anticipated in the budget and the amount paid to the District puts us on track to meet our projected revenue of $406,411, with several thousand (dollars) for carryover into fiscal year 2009-2010. Harris said the new Buena Vista Biomass Power company paid the past due Air District fees. Amador District 3 Congressman Dan Lungren last August visited the Cogen power plant, with a company from Tempe, Arizona, that was interested in reopening the plant to generate electricity. The company called it a “green energy plant,” and hoped to open by May 1st of this year. The project was slated to bring as many as 20 jobs and about $1 Million in annual salary to Amador County. Lungren met with the Cogen plant’s owners, the Oneto Group principals, Rux and Eddie Oneto at the plant on Coal Mine Road, along with a representative of the Arizona company, and Harris. The company interested in the deal that fell through said the plant would burn 200,000 tons of biomass a year. The Air District board next meets April 28th. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Amador Water Agency on Thursday voted to send out requests for proposals for professional services with an aim to eke out more capacity and a longer life-expectancy at water treatment plants in Ione and on Sutter Hill. Engineering manager Gene Mancebo said the consultation could cost anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000 dollars, and would look at treating more water at the 2 plants. District 3 Board Member Don Cooper said the work should include “avoided costs,” or costs that are saved through conservation measures. General Manager Jim Abercrombie said that would be something staff could try to develop and bring back to the board, though he was not sure how PG&E would gauge such measurements. District 1 Board Member Bill Condrashoff said he had a problem with “asking for voluntary conservation so that new people can come in and use that water.” He said he would rather do things to increase capacity and flow. Mancebo said they could address changes to customer appliances and toilets to conserve water among agency customers. Abercrombie said the study’s scope would be to see “what we can do to increase treatment plant capacity.” Mancebo said the plant was already getting tweaked to increase capacity at Tanner water treatment plant, on Ridge Road, which was approved by the state about a month ago to increase treatment capacity from 4.5 Million Gallons a Day to 6 Million Gallons A Day, maximum. They eventually aim to push 6.3 Million Gallons a Day through Tanner. With other changes described by Operations Manager Chris McKeage, Condrashoff said it translated to serving 1,800 new homes. Mancebo said an increase in backwash must be handled and there was “still some imbalancing between the filters that has to be worked out. I’m a little reluctant to say, oh yeah,” AWA can handle the flow rate. Condrashoff said “there’s a potential that these upgrades can take us a long way.” McKeage said he agreed with Mancebo’s reluctance, and warned: “Don’t become too comfortable with riding way out on a limb there.” He said a filter going off-line could lead to flow shortages and DHS infractions. Cooper also added that “you don’t want to pay a consultant to tell you what you already know.” Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - The Amador County Tax Collector will hold a public auction of tax-defaulted property on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 10:00 am, in the Board of Supervisors’ Chambers, located in the Amador County Administration Center, 810 Court Street, Jackson, CA. Parcels become subject to sale by the Tax Collector at the end of 5 years from the date of tax default. The available parcels will be offered for sale on an oral bid basis for at least the established minimum bid. The parcels will be sold to the highest bidder. The primary purposes of the public auction are to collect the unpaid delinquent property taxes that are owed to the County; and to return the property to a tax-paying status. Michael Ryan, Amador County Tax Collector, would like to remind interested parties that these parcels must be withdrawn from the sale in the event that the tax amounts due are paid by the day prior to the auction. Parcels may also be withdrawn in the event certain conditions exist that affect the sale parcels. Information regarding the auction rules, the terms and conditions of the sale, and a list of the parcels being offered for sale, are available on the County’s web-site at www.co.amador.ca.us. Staff Report This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The California Alcoholic Beverage Control was set to post a 20-day-to-indefinite closure of the National Hotel bar late Wednesday night, as agreed upon by the owner. The bar was open earlier this week, with a worker installing locks on the front doors to close down the bar for the allotted time, 20 days or more, depending on the results of the owner applying for a new liquor sales license. Lori Ajax, ABC administrator for the Sacramento District, including Amador and 10 other counties, said the National Hotel bar last July faced 7 violations from an investigation that began last March, which culminated in the sale of alcohol to a female under age 21. Ajax said the “minor decoy operation” was conducted last May 8th after ABC learned that the National was operating under a restaurant and bar liquor license but had not operated a restaurant in 2 years. Undercover ABC officers visited the National to request food on four separate dates, March 22nd, April 4th, April 10th and May 8th of last year. That resulted in charges of four violations of state Business and Professions Code. Also May 8th last year, investigators found 6 tainted liquor bottles, which Ajax said likely had bugs crawl into improper pouring spigots. That resulted in a Penal Code violation of selling “an alcohol solution of a potable nature containing a … poisonous substance.” The state of those bottles also brought a count of violation of Health & Safety Code, “for the sale of alcoholic beverages” … “which were adulterated in whole or part in a diseased, contaminated, filthy, putrid or decomposed substance, or were otherwise unfit for food.” Ajax said the other charges were lesser to the accusation of sale of alcohol to a minor. She said the delay in closing the bar Wednesday, more than 9 months after the violation date last May, was because owner Bill Smith requested an administrative hearing, which was scheduled for last week. Just before the hearing, Smith settled the charges by agreeing to the 20-days-to-indefinite closure of the bar. It will be closed “until he gets the kitchen going,” Ajax said, or until he applies for and receives a bar license. She said Smith indicated “at the hearing that he was going to apply for a different license.” Ajax said Smith has held the liquor license at the National Hotel since November 13th, 1985, with no record of past disciplinary action. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – Spokesman Thom Walker said Wednesday that the closing of the National Hotel will not mean that the business wants to become a homeless shelter. He said a recent newspaper referred to the word, “homeless,” but it is not something the National Hotel wants. Walker is spokesman for the corporation that owns the National, ENG # 1 Inc., or Evelyn Nancy Gannon # 1, owned by Bill Smith. What they do hope to do is continue a decades-long tradition of renting rooms to churches and the Salvation Army for the cost of housekeeping. Walker said “it never was an idea to turn the hotel into a shelter. These rooms are rented out on an individual basis, as many as needed.” The state Alcoholic Beverage Control issued an order to close the doors of the National Hotel and bar at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, due to 7 violations, including selling alcohol to a minor, last May. It will close for 20 days or longer, until the liquor license is met, by opening its restaurant or by applying for a new bar license. Walker said “we’re going to go ahead and file within the next few days.” The bar and hotel will both be closed, though he may try to continue renting rooms to nonprofit organizations. The new bar license paperwork could take longer than the 20-day-to-indefinite closure order. Walker said the “60-day neighborhood is more likely.” It will not be open for Dandelion Days, and no rooms will be rented to the public, but possibly to non-profits. During closure, they plan to clean out the basement kitchen area, and he has offered the antique shop space in the lower level as a free home to the Amador County Museum, which has been closed due to its roof being in disrepair. Walker said the National’s basement was protected against flooding by a “dike of sorts,” built about 10 years ago after a Jackson Creek flood. Walker said the locks have been changed on the National and the doors were to close last night before midnight, potentially ending the hotel’s claim to being the longest running hotel in California, since its rebuilding in 1862 after a fire. The National is up for sale, at a reported $1.9 million dollars. Walker said it is no longer a flourishing business, but the owner would like to seek its intrinsic, historic value. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - A Grizzly Flat woman was arrested in Jackson last Saturday on charges of burglary and the passing of counterfeit money. Officer Collins of the Jackson police Department answered the report of a counterfeiting call Saturday at the Sierra Trading Post gas station located at 306 Sutter Street. When he arrived at the scene, the employee said that a young woman had attempted to make a small value purchase so she could receive as much change as possible. The Sierra Trading Post employee refused to honor the transaction and called police immediately, passing on a description the suspect and her vehicle. Upon further investigation, Collins discovered there were other business victims, including the Jackson Rancheria Hotel and Casino. He immediately issued a bulletin to surrounding law enforcement agencies, including the Jackson Rancheria Tribal Police, who notified Jackson Police that the suspect had been detained in front of the Tribal General Store on Dalton Way. According to a press release by Jackson Police Chief Scott Morrison, “tribal police also reported that the suspect…actually passed a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill to Girl Scouts selling cookies in front of the store.” The suspect, Summer Ann Mascott, 28 of Grizzly Flat, California, was arrested on the scene by Jackson police Sergeant Breedlove. The U.S. Secret Service was notified for further investigative actions. Mascott has since made bail and local businesses are advised to keep a look out for Mascott or any counterfeit currency or checks. Call the Jackson Police Department at 223-1771 if you have any information. Alex Lane, Staff Contributed This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.