Amador County - For those interested in a community garden in the Pioneer area, a “Garden Start-Up” workshop is scheduled for July 11th at the Mollie Joyce House on Highway 88. Amador County University of California Cooperative Extension in collaboration with the Amador County Recreation Agency will be constructing a small garden, from fencing to planting and everything in between. UCCE Amador’s Sean Kriletich said the workshop is for people who “want to be part of the fun and satisfaction that comes with producing some of our own food.” All that is required “is an interest in producing some of our own food in a way that will also make our community stronger.” Participants can bring hand tools, such as a shovel, pick-maddock or rake. The project is also looking for donations of 8-foot T-posts for fencing. The Mollie Joyce house is at Mollie Joyce Park, on Highway 88 in Pioneer, near Pioneer Lodge, on the west side of the road. The workshop is 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, July 11th. For information, call Kriletich at (209) 223-6837 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Ione City Council on Tuesday discussed the defaulting of bond payments by local developers JTS Communities Incorporated at the Castle Oaks Subdivision, but dismissed it as not the same as the last Mello-Roos Bond situation. City Manager Kim Kerr said the city knew ahead of time that Sacramento-based JTS and its partners would pay the first half of the year’s special tax on the 99 parcels it owns, then miss the second half of the year’s payment. “We knew they weren’t going to pay,” Kerr said, so city staff worked to be prepared, and waited to hear a report that the taxes were not paid, so that paperwork would be ready to initiate foreclosures. JTS is owned by Jack Sweigart and Larry Carter, and its partners in the Castle Oaks Subdivision are Stone & Youngberg LLC of San Diego; S&Y Capital Group of Los Angeles; and Tower Investments LLC of Woodland. Kerr said the documented agreement would pay administrative expenses off the top. Kerr said “we are not concerned. There is enough money in reserve to make any payments on the bonds for 3 years.” She said JTS “just came and pulled 11 or 12 building permits in the last 2 weeks,” and “they are selling homes.” Though it was before her time, Kerr said “this is totally different than the way it was with the previous bonds.” In the past, the bonds were on the open market. This time, the developer owns most of the properties. Mayor Lee Ard, one of three council members who lives in Castle Oaks, said JTS and its partners were just building capital at the moment. Ard said it was worthy to note that people will not lose their homes as long as they pay their special taxes. Kerr said “there may be a deal worked out between the bold holders and the property owners.” She said any default on a parcel that is more than $5,000 dollars can be foreclosed. She said the parcel owners in default includes private residents, but it was too soon to tell exactly how many. Most likely were not past the $5,000-dollar threshold. She said Improvement Area 1 held large, commercial parcels, owned by JTS and its partners. It exceeded that threshold and would be subject to foreclosure. But it was expected, Kerr said. She also said the $5,000 dollar amount was “negotiated by the bond holders.” Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Region - Tonight marks the first of two workshops this week on historic preservation in the mother lode region. The Amador County Historic Preservation Workshop, from 6 - 9 pm tonight at the Fiddletown Community Center Library, will “continue exploration of means for historic preservation.” Gary Reinoehl, a concerned citizen and workshop promoter, recently expressed to TSPN his concern that the “Economic Development Element of the (Amador County) General Plan doesn’t cover heritage tourism to the same extent that it does cultural tourism.” Based on these concerns, the Board of Supervisors on June 3 accepted an addendum that includes a goal for the County to seek designation as a Certified Local Government and a Preserve America Community, two preservation partnership programs between county, state and federal government. The agenda includes a discussion on becoming certified, and the potential benefits and setbacks. A second workshop, entitled “Keeping Time, Part II,” takes place Friday, June 19 from 9 am to 4 pm at the Church of the ‘49ers Faith Hall in Columbia. The conference includes lectures by Historical Researchers Terry Brejla and Julia Costello, Ph.D., Preservation Lawyer Susan Brandt-Hawley, Restoration Architect Mark Huck, and Senior Planner Roberta Deering. The conference culminates with a tour of Columbia State Park conducted by Cultural Resource Specialist Linda Dick Bissonnette highlighting “preservation success stories.” For further information about the conference, or to register by email, contact Carol Rios at 209-533-6601. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - Jackson couple Kam Merzlak and Kellee Davenport, along with various friends and family, were awarded first prize for commercial float at Sunday’s Italian Benevolent Society Parade in Sutter Creek. The innovative float promoted their respective businesses and showed off Merzlak’s bourgeoning reputation as a float and exhibit designer. Merzlak and Davenport accepted the prize from Paul Molinelli Jr. of ACES Waste Services and Richard Cavalleri on behalf of the Italian Benevolent Society. “Surprisingly, I do real well with talking people into these crazy ideas,” Merzlak said. Merzlak has been dubbed “The Catalyst” by his family and friends because of his ability to bring people together to develop these projects. The float was built to resemble a small house complete with a landscaped yard and For Sale sign. In homage to the animated film “Up,” a large grouping of balloons were attached to the chimney of the house and Amador County Anime Czar Alan Sprenkle chased along behind the float in a Boy Scout uniform. Merzlak orchestrated an elaborate skit meant to highlight the services provided by all businesses involved. Two couples played by Noelle Erosa and Leland Ruddock and Ryan Erosa and Jenny Bird approached the float as if they were interested in buying the house. Each couple had a 2 x 4 foot blank check on a dry erase board. Davenport and Tera Donahoo, both of Sierra Home and Properties, exchanged the checks with giant cutout keys and the “purchase” was completed. “We put a lot of effort into this and it paid off,” said Merzlak, referring to the three weeks it took to complete the project from idea to inception. Kurt Todden of All County Construction in Ione built the house and Don Ritchie Painting added the finishing touches. Merzlak also took both the Silver and Superintendent’s award at the 2008 State Fair for his exhibit titled, “Picture Yourself in Amador County.” The county has authorized him to build this year’s State Fair exhibit, an ambitious project that will recreate a real working gold mining operation. This year’s state fair takes place from August 21 to September 7 at Cal Expo in Sacramento. Story by Alex Lane

Amador County – The Ione City Council voted 3-2 Tuesday to select the Costa Mesa firm PERC to operate the city’s wastewater treatment plant and department. The vote authorized City Manager Kim Kerr to enter negotiations with PERC, find a contract agreement with the company, and bring it back to the city council for approval. A representative from the company offered to adjust its bid to the lowest one received, among the 4 finalists in the sewer department sweepstakes. That lowered the bid to $397,000 dollars for 1 year’s operation costs. Kerr said that was a base rate, a maximum cost bid, on which to negotiate and set the costs for the contract. Kerr said the bids were adjusted slightly to clarify which contain certain costs, with the company bids led by Southwest Water of Los Angeles bidding $397,000 dollars. Severn Trent of Colorado Springs, Colorado, was second at $418,954; and Veolia Water Company of Pleasant Hill was third at $420,756. PERC was higher that Southwest, but lowered its offer by $12,000 dollars, in the offer by its representative. Councilman Jim Ulm said he knows the bidding process he has used for years, and this was doing it differently, adding that “If I was a contractor, I would walk out.” He also said he did not like the fact that the council would choose a company but not get the final number. Mayor Lee Ard said the “costs are not to exceed” the bids, and it was the “time now to select the lowest bid.” Vice Mayor Skip Schaufel moved that the council approve negotiation with Southwest, but the motion died for lack of a second. Councilman David Plank then motioned to select PERC for negotiations. Councilwoman Andrea Bonham seconded the motion and said the “biggest thing” for her was the “transfer of risk,” offered by 2 of the 4 bidders, including PERC. Plank said he looked at all companies and tried not to look at only the dollar amount. He “found PERC had the best track record with no related fines.” Ard said they were all excellent firms, but PERC was the only one that could build a sewer plant. It also had good California experience. Schaufel said he hoped “if PERC was selected that it can create better than a 90-minute response time.” Ard, Bonham and Plank voted to select PERC for negotiations with Kerr, with Schaufel and Ulm voting no. Story by Jim Reece 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 - Caltrans reported Friday that the painting of a crosswalk at Church Street in the Highway 88 Pine Grove Corridor is still a go, despite a letter from the agency’s safety department. Duper Tong, Chief of Caltrans Traffic Safety for District 10, in a letter last month said “a safety improvement is not recommended at this time,” but clarified that Wednesday in an e-mail to John Carlson of the quasi-political group, Pine Grove Community Council. Carlson sought comment on the previously approved crosswalk. Carlson in an e-mail to Tong said “you have indicated that the (crosswalks) in Pine Grove at the Town Hall will be installed this summer,” but he cited a report in TSPN of Tong saying the opposite. Tong wrote Friday that “after review (of) the status, this project is advertising for bid. When the contract is awarded, the construction is anticipated to start this summer.” Caltrans publicist Lisa Balcom said Friday that the rejected safety work was part of a state-wide competitive funding awarding system. Pine Grove did not qualify for the funding, but did qualify for the crosswalk project. Balcom said District 10 “doesn’t have a pot of money here,” but instead, the regional projects compete for funding. She was not sure of the estimated cost of the crosswalk painting, but she said it is usually contracted. She said “it would be great to let folks know that this crosswalk is going in.” She said Tong’s letter referred to another project, part of a detailed safety investigation by a team of engineers. Tong said the study was of Highway 88, between Mile Post 22.7 and Mile Post 24.14. The study found that the accident rate “was lower than the average for similar facilities.” At nighttime during rain, they observed “the visibility of signing and striping” and found that “there is no apparent roadway deficiency.” Tong said “a safety improvement is not recommended at this time,” but Caltrans will consider installing recessed pavement markers in future rehabilitation projects. Balcom said Tong’s comments to her meant that the other studied project would not be recommended. Balcom said that the crosswalk painting at Church Street, across Highway 88, would be started this summer. Church Street is just east of Irishtown Road. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – On Monday, the Ione City Council became the third local city to pass a resolution opposing a state raid on city property taxes. Last week, Plymouth passed a similar resolution “finding a severe fiscal hardship will exist if the state seizes additional city property tax funds.” On Tuesday, the Ione City Council also approved the resolution, encouraged and circulated to city governments by the California League of Cities. League representative for Northern California, Charles Anderson said Wednesday that the governor’s “May Budget Revise” would take funding from the cities’ property taxes to the tune of $2 billion dollars. Anderson said the state has taken about $600 million dollars a year – about $8 billion dollars total – from city property tax revenue, beginning in the 1990s. But he said the law requires that in times of financial crisis, those seized finances must be repaid as a loan, or what the League of Cities calls a “shotgun loan.” Anderson said the city of Jackson could lose $107,000 dollars in the state plan to take property taxes. Sutter Creek Finance Director Jeff Gardner on Monday told the Sutter Creek City Council that the shotgun loan “would mean a $53,000-dollar loss of cashflow next year.” The council voted 5-0 to pass a resolution opposing the program. Last Thursday, Gardner, also Plymouth’s finance director, told the Plymouth City Council that the state loan grab “translated into about $23,000-dollar being left out of our general fund.” City Manager Dixon Flynn said “Plymouth doesn’t have a lot of money to begin with. We don’t have a lot to lose.” Ione’s resolution noted “cumulative property tax losses of cities statewide” was $8.6 billion. Kerr said Ione has lost $25,524 dollars since the 1990s, and next year the city could lose $119,174. Last Monday, May 11, the League of California Cities said “the first of many cities across California declared a state of severe fiscal hardship and opposed” the proposal to “take local property tax funds to finance the state budget.” By Friday, more than 100 cities had passed or were scheduled to pass a resolution declaring a state of severe fiscal hardship. The League said the “actions reflect the impacts that the stagnating economy has had on California cities due to serious declines in local tax revenues.” Statewide budget reductions are causing public safety reduction, employee layoffs, hiring freezes, project delays and program reductions. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – Former Mayor Pro Tempore Bill Hepworth smiled at the crowd and his former council members as the Sutter Creek City Council passed a resolution in honor of the recently retire long-time city leader on Monday. Mayor Gary Wooten read the resolution as the two stood before the audience. Wooten said “this resolution was enacted May 18th, 2009, by a very positive vote.” The resolution noted that Hepworth moved to Sutter Creek in 1977 and was elected to the city council in 1998, then “promptly created a Beautification Committee for municipal improvements.” That committee funded and completed many projects, including the auditorium mural project. Wooten said Hepworth “served tirelessly on many committees and boards, including the Amador County Recreation Agency, the Kennedy Mine Foundation and the Amador Disposal Rate Increase Committee.” The resolution said “the city of Sutter Creek recognizes Councilman Hepworth and expresses its gratitude for the many contributions to Sutter Creek projects and interests that have benefitted the city and residents.” Hepworth, who retired due to health recommendations, said no words after the resolution reading, but received a standing ovation from those in attendance. Those in attendance included members of Boy Scout Troop 63. City Planner Bruce Baracco said troop members were “working on their citizenship in community badges,” and he asked the council to give them a good example of politics at work. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Plymouth Lodge Hill restoration project threatened to climb out of the state financial deep freeze at the end of last month. Plymouth City Councilwoman Pat Fordyce reported to the council last Thursday that Proposition 40 projects are once again being funded by the state, meaning the Lodge Hill project may soon go forward. Fordyce said Plymouth Building Official “Jeff Kelley has plans and specs.” Those may need minor changes. Fordyce said as soon as changes are made, “we can go out to bid.” Fordyce heard the news at an Amador County Recreation Agency board meeting. ACRA Executive Director Tracey Towner-Yep reported the unfreezing, saying as of April 24th, “the grant funds seem to have thawed. However, State Parks is hedging their bets, and are requesting a further delay in the project.” Towner-Yep said “this is excellent news in that there should be some building activity in Amador County this summer.” Plymouth City Engineer Roark Weber sent a letter April 28th to State Senator Dave Cox asking about the stymied fund flow. He said the project was to be funded with $220,000 dollars from the “2002 Recreation Bond Act Per Capita Program,” and the “city could easily spend $300,000 to $400,000 dollars on the project.” Plymouth City Council has authorized staff to advertise for bids when the funds are there, and Weber said “the project stands ‘shelf-, shovel-, or hammer-ready’.” Melinda Steinert, of the state parks and recreation grants office, in an e-mail April 30th to Plymouth City Manager Dixon Flynn confirmed that the “state bond freeze … is over.” Steinert said the agency did “not know when the State Controller will be releasing funds, but the good news (was) that the state is now guaranteeing payment on all bond-funded projects.” Estimated release for Prop 40 funding is late May. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.