Amador County – The Sutter Creek Planning Commission worked several sections of the Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort Specific Plan Monday, finding items to change and some that needed more work. Consultant Anders Hague said items that were part of the development agreement included details of the “Wildlife Management Plan.” Hague said the city must approve the wildlife habitat, so they “must be comfortable with it.” Commission Chairman Robin Peters asked about a stipulation where a developer “must provide a qualified wildlife management” biologist for designation of habitats. Peters asked if the master developer would handle that or if it broke down to individual developers. Hague said “it is layered” and City Attorney Dennis Crabb is working on language to clarify that. Hague said most habitat designations have to do with approval of the final large lot map. Peters thought that “construction and installation should be done by the Master Developer.” He said “small-lot developers should not have to do it, so the master developer should either build it or fund it.” Commissioner Mike Kirkley said he disliked the concept of allowing a biologist to make the determinations because they are not a licensed profession. The “tombstone rocks” of the region came up during discussion of cultural resources, and Hague said the rocks are not cultural resources. Commissioner Frank Cunha disagreed, saying “this is a recommendation: So if people think they are important historically, geologically or aesthetically, then we should be talking about this now.” In public comment, Kathy Allen said the rocks got their name from settlers who used them to build tombstones, and the rocks’ ready availability helped settlers determine were to build towns. Allen said that made tombstone rocks cultural resources. Cunha said they should “insert some language to retain tombstone rocks, where feasible, to at least make a mention of it.” Kirkley said “any time you say ‘where feasible’ – you are pretty much making it unenforceable.” Hague said tombstone rocks were addressed in the conditions of approval. In a section discussing grading, Cunha recommended that “all grading sites shall be contoured and shaped.” Commissioner Bob Olson said that it should include Kirkley’s favorite phrase, “to the extent feasible.” Kirkley asked: “Is there a way to search and kill all of these” portions of the Specific Plan that say “to the extent feasible?” Hague said it could be done. Cunha said the grading section should also exclude the word “mass” in reference to grading. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Calaveras County - Calaveras County will host a workshop Thursday to inform the public of ongoing efforts to improve broadband access in the mother lode. The workshop begins Thursday at 10am in the Sequoia Room at the CalWorks building, 509 E. St. Charles St., San Andreas. Michelle Shelton with the Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency Central Sierra Connect program has been spearheading the effort to expand broadband access in the region. The federal government cited broadband expansion as a goal with the new stimulus package and set aside funding for rural areas, but so far progress in Calaveras County has been slow. Shelton expressed her frustration before the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors last week. She said residents are asking for broadband, but service providers and government agencies are not cooperating. She said that only 3 of the 25 “shovel-ready” projects created so far have come from Calaveras. Neighboring Amador and Tuolumne counties, on the other hand, have created projects such as creating public wireless Internet zones in libraries and government buildings. In total, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will send about $1 billion in infrastructure funding to California, Shelton said. Central Sierra Connect’s regional broadband project is so far funded with $250,000 in grant funds from the California Emerging Technology Fund Grant. The effort is geared toward Amador, Alpine, Calaveras, Mariposa and Tuolumne counties. The main goal of Thursday’s meeting is to bring providers to the table and create partnerships to put everyone on the same page, she said. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - A dramatic car wreck on Easter Sunday sent one passenger with serious injuries to the hospital via helicopter. At around 4:15pm Sunday afternoon, drivers travelling west on Highway 88 witnessed the driver of a Jeep SUV lose control, careen off the road and flip over in the creek just past Dalton Road. The unfortunate position of the vehicle left the driver pinned inside and underneath. Amador County firefighters from several jurisdictions immediately responded to reports of the accident and worked diligently to right the vehicle and free the driver underneath using the “jaws of life.” According to a witness at the scene, “Firefighters close to the scene and passers-by worked quickly to right the vehicle so the trapped passenger was out of danger as far as the water was concerned.” Medics on the scene began their work of assessing the injuries, and the driver was determined to be in serious condition. The driver, who is unidentified as of the time of this story, was transported to the Sutter Amador helicopter pad and he was taken to an area hospital. The accident was still under investigation by CHP. 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 board last week heard how a Community Facilities District could fund expansion of the Tanner Water Treatment Plant. The agency has discussed increasing storage and treatment capacity there, and Dennis McGuire, of Piper Jaffray gave a presentation on funding such Capital Improvement Projects using formation of a Community Facilities District. McGuire’s estimate used 10,000 total customers as it basis, which would require 2,600 new units “to participate in the Community Facilities District.” AWA General Manager Jim Abercrombie said the study was “based on the 2007 Amador Water System financial Plan,” and was made to see if a CFD could “eliminate the need to charge customers for the increase of treatment capacities.” Abercrombie said “we are not proposing on implementing this tomorrow, because of the economy;” but simply to show possibilities. Abercrombie said the study was to see if the agency could fully fund a new water treatment plant, with full use of participation fees, and “without cost to existing customers.” McGuire said the numbers were 2 years old, and the study was meant “to show how the program would work,” but not to give “deep details.” McGuire said the “actual number of participants could actually be much smaller than 2,600.” Abercrombie said if it turns out the numbers are low, the agency “can resize the project.” The study was geared strictly for the Treatment Plant expansion, but a CFD could also be used to fund a “water reclamation system.” McGuire’s presentation included using the “Transmission Line Fee” to pay for the treatment plant at Tanner, and Board Member Bill Condrashoff said he thought that was misusing funds that should go toward paying for the Amador Transmission Pipeline. AWA Chairman Terence Moore said “we are going to borrow from that money to build a Water Treatment Plant.” Abercrombie said the agency can use “internal transfers of bond proceeds” and “buy-in money for anything we want.” Condrashoff said the numbers showed “you are collecting $16 Million Dollars for a $21 Million Dollar plant.” McGuire said the cost of the presentation model “was to support 10,000 units,” and “it was oversized.” He said it used the total impact fee of $8,139 dollars, “up front,” to get the $21 Million Dollars. He said if there was no future development, it would not be paid. Moore said “the reason we came up with the Community Facilities District estimate was so developers would pay 100 percent of the water treatment plant. We wouldn’t ask current customers to pay for it.” Abercrombie said the concept of the design is to build to serve the needs, with an expandable design, like the Buckhorn Water Treatment Plant, which brings in skids of new filters to expand capacity. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Sutter Creek City Council last week agreed to award it trash and recycling franchise contract to ACES Waste Service, keeping the contract local with better rates for customers. Assistant City Manager Sean Rabe reported on the city solid waste franchise agreement, which included issues with the work of existing franchisee, Amador Disposal Service, whose contact expires June 30. Guy Davis of Amador Disposal said all of the issue had been addressed. Issues included trucks leaking oil on city streets, late franchise payments, reports inadequate for the existing franchise agreement, and “various customer service complaints.” Rabe’s said a new truck was brought to work in the city, eliminating oil leaks, and a new manager resolved the issues of on-time franchise payments, adequate reporting and customer service. Paul Molinelli Senior, owner of ACES Waste Service of Pine Grove, also attended and spoke to the council. Amador Disposal offered quarterly neighborhood clean-up dumpsters, while Molinelli said ACES could do that once a year. Amador Disposal offered “no price increase for 3 years,” Davis said, and Councilman Tim Murphy said that was a good offer, but the council voted 5-0 to work on a franchise contract with ACES. ACES under-bid Amador Disposal in all rates of service, including for residential waste cans of 35, 64 and 96 gallons; and commercial bins of 1 and 2 cubic yards. Mayor Gary Wooten asked if ACES would match Amador Disposal’s offer to share 50 percent of profits from the sale of recyclables. Molinelli said he would also offer that, with stipulations “yet to be determined.” He said he would meet with the city, and it would also depend on the recycling market value, “which went to zero and is now coming back.” Molinelli said as far as rate increases, he would discuss any increase with the city and would “employ a rate-making methodology” that would “give transparency in all rates and prevent large rate increases.” He said it would look at indexes, such as fuel and other costs, to justify increases. Murphy asked if ACES could offer a 10 percent discount for senior citizens, “at the discretion of the city council,” noting that such a discount was not legal for wastewater rates. City Attorney Dennis Crabb said the sewer was a public utility and not discountable for senior citizens, but garbage and recycling could be discounted because they were franchise agreements. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - An entry deadline of May 1st has been announced for those wishing to participate in the popular Miss Amador scholarship competition. Hosted by the Amador County Fair board and held during there annual event, the “competition offers the opportunity to reach and grow as a young person of accomplishment and achievement. Participating in a pageant is an exciting and rewarding experience for young women who use the process to sharpen their talents, expand their leadership skills, and broaden their community service.” The competition and pageant will be held July 30th at the fair grounds on the Central House Stage. The event is tailored for ambitious young women between the ages of 16 and 23. Scholarships awards are $2000 for the grand prize of Miss Amador, $1000 to the First- Runner-Up, $750 to the Second Runner-Up, and $500 to the Third Runner-Up. Winners will also represent Amador County and the Fair as ambassadors throughout the year. According to Karen Spencer with the Amador County Fair, “women compete in the areas of community service and fair experience, a personal and fair industry interview focusing on the entrant’s sense of value, attitudes, goals and aspirations, communication skills before a live audience, and an on-stage presentation.” Entry forms for the pageants are available on-line at amadorcountyfair.com or from the Amador County Fair office at Sherwood and School Streets in Plymouth. They can also be found at local high schools. Completed entry forms are due in the Fair office by May 1, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. or more information call the Fair office at 209 245-6921. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - The City of Jackson has announced its Sixth Annual “Clean Our Green” litter clean-up to correspond with Earth Day. Earth Day is celebrated annually on April 22 since 1969, and is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment. “Clean Our Green (on April 25) is a community wide effort to give Jackson a spring cleaning by providing helpful participants with litter bags and gloves to remove litter in public areas throughout the community,” said Jackson City Manager Mike Daly. The Kiwanis Club of Amador, the Argonaut High School Key Club and Boy Scout Troop 78, all graciously volunteered their time to assist in the effort. The event is headquartered at Detert Park next to the Jackson pool, where participants are provided the litter bags, gloves and a free participant t-shirt. From there they can go anywhere in the city to collect litter and return it to the Detert Park bins provided by ACES Waste Services. The Kiwanis Club will provide free barbecued hot dogs, refreshments and other snacks for participants from 10:30 am until noon. The event is funded with California Department of Conservation funds granted to the City from the deposits on beverage containers. Recycling is also encouraged during this event. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

State – Proposed changes to California land-use law could allow Native American tribes to bypass current legal hurdles and public interest and immediately cancel contracts in order to build tribal infrastructure. The revisions are introduced in Senate Bill 170 proposed by Senator Dean Florez on behalf of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash, which has a small Rancheria in Santa Barbara County. “In a nutshell, it will give tribes the ability to say what is in the public’s interest and condemn Williamson Act land, removing one of the legal hurdles citizens, local government and the State have used successfully in preventing fee land from transferring into trust,” said one concerned via email. Under current restrictions set-forth by the Williamson Act, landowners can restrict their land’s use for ten year intervals. In return, the county will tax the land based on lower agricultural values rather than speculative development prices. The Regional Council of Rural Counties (RCRC), the California State Association of Counties (CSAC), and local group No Casino In Plymouth have all made clear their opposition to the bill. In a letter to the Senate Local Government Committee, Kathy Mannion of RCRC and Kathy Keene of CSAC stated that, “these proposed amendments are in conflict with this policy direction and make a mockery of the state’s most successful voluntary farmland conservation program.” The letter went on to say, “our small, financially strapped counties will likely not even have the option to rebut because they lack the resources to enter into a costly lawsuit with tribal interests.” If it passes, the bill will apply to more than 100 federally recognized tribes in the state. The majority of tribes are in rural areas where land borders with Williamson Act land. In many cases, tribes own off-reservation land with Williamson Act provisions. The Local Government Committee, on which Amador County Representative Dave Cox sits, will conduct a hearing on the bill on April 15. In the words of John Gamper, director of taxation and land use for the California Farm Bureau Federation, “this bill would give the Indians more power than the government entities in California.” Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

State - New statistics released by the Board of Equalization on first quarter 2008 suggest that the economic recession began in California –and more specifically, the Sacramento area, before it began nationally. California’s taxable sales fell 3.7 percent overall in the first quarter of 2008 versus a year earlier, but taxable sales in Sacramento County were down 5.3 percent. In Placer County, they were down 7.3 percent. All these numbers give a portrait of the economy when it was first entering the recession. There is a noticeable difference when comparing these numbers to other states during the same time period. Some economists are frustrated with the “enormous time lag” involved in releasing such numbers, but nevertheless say the data is interesting. Taxable sales totaled $127.9 billion in the first quarter of 2008, down $4.9 billion from the first quarter of 2007. How much more of a drop these numbers have taken since that time are still being studied and evaluated. In Amador County, the annual decline in first-quarter 2008 taxable sales was minus 10.6 percent, far more than a larger county like Los Angeles, which experienced a drop of only 2.3 percent. Alpine County experienced no decline, while Yolo County dropped just .2 percent and Kern County was off by only .4 percent. Automotive sales accounted for $3.7 billion of the first-quarter 2008 numbers. Retail businesses associated with eating and drinking made up $3.6 billion, and service stations generated another $3.2 billion. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – Sutter Creek has two meetings this week focusing on Sutter Hill area developments. The Sutter Creek Planning Commission meets at 6 p.m. today to further discuss portions of the Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort. And tomorrow, the city Development Review Committee will get a presentation on the Sutter Hill Transit Center and could make recommendations on the project. The Planning Commission will continue its review of the Gold Rush Specific Plan at 6 p.m. today, with work on “Attachment C” through “Attachment J,” along with the Vesting Large Lot Tentative Subdivision Map, the Revised Zoning Ordinance Amendments,” and conditions of approval. The documents under consideration are all available for review online, and can also be seen on file at the Sutter Creek City Hall. The City Council in the future will consider recommendations of the Planning Commission. The Final Environmental Impact Report will address and respond to comments received during the circulation of the Draft EIR pertaining to the adequacy of the EIR. Send comments to the Gold Rush Ranch review process to the Sutter Creek Planning Department, by e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and by regular mail to Sutter Creek City Hall, 18 Main Street, Sutter Creek, CA 95685. Comments can also be faxed to (209) 267-0639. Tomorrow morning, the Sutter Creek Development Review Committee will meet to discuss and consider making a recommendation on the Sutter Hill Transit Center. The committee will review the site plan and conditional use permit. The Amador Regional Transit Center will give a presentation the proposed site plan for the lower portion of the project for committee review and comment in relation to the Conditional Use Permit of June 9th, 2008. The Development Review Committee meets 10 a.m. Tuesday in the Community Building, 33 Church Street, in Sutter Creek. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.