Amador County - The latest addition to the Mokelumne Coast to Crest Trail was opened to the public earlier this month, making another 28.1 miles of hiking and horseback-riding trail available to outdoor enthusiasts from Amador County and beyond. Conceived by trail enthusiasts from Amador and Calaveras counties in the 1980s and overseen by East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), the trail, once completed, will stretch 300 miles in length from the Bay Area to the Pacific Crest Trail in the Sierras near Ebbetts Pass. “It’s conceivable that when the trail is done, someone in the bay area can get on the trail, hike across the state, then get on the Pacific Crest Trail and either go North to Canada or South to Mexico,” said EBMUD Ranger and Naturalist Steve Diers in an interview with TSPN. The newest segment of trail is accessible from the Middle Bar Take Out parking lot and the Rich Gulch Trail Access Point and stretches between James Bar and Middle Bar Bridge. The trail follows the geography of the Mokelumne River and stretched 150 feet in elevation. Diers said in a release that the trail is a “less rigorous trek than some of the sections farther to the west.” He said “equestrians will still need to access this section from the Campo Seco Staging Area, as trailer parking is prohibited at the Middle Bar Take Out parking lot and the Rich Gulch Trail Access Point due to the limited parking and inadequate access roads.” This newest stretch features a number of historical and natural points of interest. Patti’s Point, roughly 1 mile west of James Bar, offers “dazzling” views of the Mokelumne River. The Gwin Mine gold mine site, highly productive in the 1800’s is a reminder of the Gold Rush. The Middle Bar Bridge is a classified historical site and an example of early 1900s architecture. Diers said a half dozen entities are involved in the entire trail project, now almost 50 percent completed. He said these representatives come in and give reports on the progress of trail development in their area during regular meetings. “It’s important to get this trail in because...it provides recreation through all the communities…ties those communities in, and would bring in money, as far as recreation,” said Diers. He said recreation areas in turn require people to purchase fuel, lodging, sporting goods and food. “We also need to be thinking about the future when perhaps it’s not possible to put in a trail because the proposed route has been developed,” he said. Trail access must be gained through one of the staging areas and requires a valid EBMUD Trail Use Permit. For permits and more information, visit EBMUD online at: http://www.ebmud.com/services/recreation/sierra/trails. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Jackson – Amador County Sheriff Martin Ryan yesterday announced his office had received a federal grant of $501,000 to replace 2 deputies that were assigned to a regional narcotics team. The sheriff authorized pursuit of federal grants in an effort to refill 6 deputy sheriff positions lost to the recession, Undersheriff Jim Wegner said in a release this week. He said “with recent stimulus grants being offered by the federal government to address hiring and retention of peace officer positions,” Sheriff Ryan “tasked his administrative bureau with drafting federal grant applications in an effort to obtain funding.” The department has lost 6 deputy positions “due to the fiscal crisis of the past two years.” Wegner said that equates to “a 20 percent reduction in patrol staffing.” Ryan “also directed the drafting of a federal rural county drug enforcement application to fund the two deputy sheriff positions currently assigned to the (Amador County Community Narcotics Enforcement Taskforce).” In total the sheriff requested federal funding for 8 deputy sheriffs through the grant process. Wegner said the sheriff’s office learned that the grant application for the 6 deputy positions was not successful, but on September 29th, Ryan was notified that the U.S. Department of Justice had awarded the his office funding for full reimbursement of 2 deputy sheriff’s assigned to ACCNET for the next 24 months. Wegner said no local matching funds are required. The funding will allow the sheriff, upon Board of Supervisors approval, to backfill patrol personnel that were re-assigned to ACCNET upon its creation in November 2007. The sheriff commended his administrative bureau – specifically, deputies Mendonza and Marchant – in securing the $501,000 federal grant to restore patrol staffing to enable the sheriff’s office to better respond to calls for service from the public. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Pioneer - The Amador County Combined Narcotics Enforcement Team (ACCNET) arrested and booked a Pioneer resident on Wednesday, October 14 on charges related to the manufacture and possession of methamphetamine, according to a release. Keary Halligan, 29, on probation in El Dorado County for possession of a stolen vehicle and resisting arrest, was residing at his mother’s residence in Pioneer when ACCNET agents responded to a request for assistance from Amador County Probation officers who were conducting an address verification. While speaking with Probation officers inside his residence, Halligan tried to flee. He was detained and officers subsequently found him to be in possession of a myriad of illegal drug-related contraband. This included methamphetamine and marijuana smoking pipes, “multiple coin baggies containing methamphetamine residues, approximately 6.8 grams of marijuana, digital scales, and additional smoking paraphernalia.” ACCNET agents conducted a further search of the garage and found multiple matchbooks with their striker plates missing, a common method of acquiring red phosphorous for the manufacture of methamphetamine. A dismantled meth lab was found in a bag that contained these striker plates. Also discovered was a recently harvested marijuana grow. Further investigation into nearby storage lockers revealed additional meth paraphernalia and a search of the residence of his girlfriend, Sarah Mason, 34, uncovered 180 grams of marijuana, 90 pharmaceutical pills and meth smoking pipes. Halligan was arrested and booked into the Amador County Jail for manufacture of a controlled substance, possession of methamphetamine, possession of ammunition by a felon, and violation of probation. Mason was issued a misdemeanor citation for possession of smoking paraphernalia. ACCNET is one of the 48 regional narcotic task forces that is operated by the Attorney General’s, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement. Agents of the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, Clandestine Laboratory Response Team, chemists from the Department of Justice, Bureau of Forensic Services and latent print analysts responded to the residence to assist ACCNET in the processing, sampling, and destruction of the methamphetamine laboratory. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Plymouth – The Amador County Transportation Commission today begins a series of meetings that will help write its 2010 Regional Transportation Plan Update. ACTC hosts the first of 4 public meetings at 6 p.m. today in Plymouth City Hall. Program Manager Neil Peacock said ACTC is hosting the series of “community meetings throughout the county to offer concerned citizens an opportunity to participate in a stakeholders roundtable.” He said ACTC staff in the meetings will explain the commission’s roles and responsibilities and discuss the purpose of the regional transportation plan. Peacock said ACTC in the meetings will also “present a planning process that will forecast future traffic demands in order to plan infrastructure needed to avoid congestion and preserve Amador County’s rural quality of life.” A daytime meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday at the Jackson Civic Center. The third meeting in the series of “stakeholder roundtables” is 6 p.m. Tuesday, October 27th at the Pine Grove Town Hall. The fourth meeting is 6 p.m. Wednesday, October 28th at Ione City Hall. Peacock said it is “ACTC's primary responsibility to implement and regularly update the (regional transportation plan) in order to plan, prioritize, and fund transportation improvements of regional significance.” ACTC staff plan to have a group of “citizens and stakeholders” recommend “policies and priorities” through their participation in the regional meetings. For information on the meetings, call ACTC at 267-2282. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Ione – The Castle Oaks Water Reclamation Plant had an apparent Discharge Violation on October 4th, as reported this week in a letter to the Ione City Council. But the staff report indicated that the violation may have come from a spoiling of the sample. Contract plant operators Perc Water reported the violation by voicemail and by a subsequent follow-up letter the next day to the Regional Water Quality Control Board in Rancho Cordova. Casey Wichert, operating manager for Perc Water in a letter to the regional board’s Mary Boyd said an October 4th “daily total coliform sample was analyzed and found to have a value” that exceeded what state law permits in “a daily maximum limitation.” Wichert said: “At the time of the sample the turbidity, chlorine residual, and detention time of the system were within normal ranges and should not have caused the coliform result to be high.” Wichert said subsequent tests yielded “normal” results. Wichert said: “While there is no reliable way to determine what caused the high result, it is likely due to bacterial contamination during collection of the sample.” With that apparent cause, Wichert said it was “therefore not representative of the effluent.” The letter reporting the violation is on today’s city council agenda. Also today, the council will consider declaring completion of 5 capital sewer projects, totaling $31,000. That included repair of 2 breaks in the existing underground line in a field near the end of East Main Street. City Manager Kim Kerr in a report said the job installed 30 linear feet of PVC pipe. Also, the work made an “in-road repair” at the intersection of North Ione Street and West Jackson Street. A concrete flowline channel was build inside a manhole at the Ione Shopping Center market. An attempt to seal a manhole from groundwater inflow failed. The work, on a manhole at the end of Quail Court, did reduce inflows by at least 90 percent, after 3 attempts to do the work, Kerr said. The work also replaced a manhole frame and cover, with a new concrete collar poured on top, at the intersection of Oak and Poplar streets. The council meets 6 p.m. today in City Hall. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - The latest addition to the Mokelumne Coast to Crest Trail was opened to the public earlier this month, making another 28.1 miles of hiking and horseback-riding trail available to outdoor enthusiasts from Amador County and beyond. Conceived by trail enthusiasts from Amador and Calaveras counties in the 1980s and overseen by East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), the trail, once completed, will stretch 300 miles in length from the Bay Area to the Pacific Crest Trail in the Sierras near Ebbetts Pass. “It’s conceivable that when the trail is done, someone in the bay area can get on the trail, hike across the state, then get on the Pacific Crest Trail and either go North to Canada or South to Mexico,” said EBMUD Ranger and Naturalist Steve Diers in an interview with TSPN. The newest segment of trail is accessible from the Middle Bar Take Out parking lot and the Rich Gulch Trail Access Point and stretches between James Bar and Middle Bar Bridge. The trail follows the geography of the Mokelumne River and stretched 150 feet in elevation. Diers said in a release that the trail is a “less rigorous trek than some of the sections farther to the west.” He said “equestrians will still need to access this section from the Campo Seco Staging Area, as trailer parking is prohibited at the Middle Bar Take Out parking lot and the Rich Gulch Trail Access Point due to the limited parking and inadequate access roads.” This newest stretch features a number of historical and natural points of interest. Patti’s Point, roughly 1 mile west of James Bar, offers “dazzling” views of the Mokelumne River. The Gwin Mine gold mine site, highly productive in the 1800’s is a reminder of the Gold Rush. The Middle Bar Bridge is a classified historical site and an example of early 1900s architecture. Diers said a half dozen entities are involved in the entire trail project, now almost 50 percent completed. He said these representatives come in and give reports on the progress of trail development in their area during regular meetings. “It’s important to get this trail in because...it provides recreation through all the communities…ties those communities in, and would bring in money, as far as recreation,” said Diers. He said recreation areas in turn require people to purchase fuel, lodging, sporting goods and food. “We also need to be thinking about the future when perhaps it’s not possible to put in a trail because the proposed route has been developed,” he said. Trail access must be gained through one of the staging areas and requires a valid EBMUD Trail Use Permit. For permits and more information, visit EBMUD online at: http://www.ebmud.com/services/recreation/sierra/trails. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sutter Creek – The Sutter Creek City Council’s agenda today includes a return to the Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort. Among the items will come reports from the transportation mitigation subcommittee on Gold Rush, and from the project’s fiscal impacts committee, both ad hoc committees of the City Council. The committees met with representatives of the project, including developers, and the public, in separate meetings the last 2 weeks. Amador County Transportation Commission Executive Director Charles Field assisted with the transportation meeting. 2 weeks ago, Gold Rush partner Bill Bunce told the council the project’s size would remain at 1,334 units, or the project’s ability to mitigate impacts would be stunted. The council today may also discuss the Gold Rush development agreement, and outstanding issues in the “decision matrix.” Bunce will start the agenda item with a presentation on the Gold Rush Ranch project, which is the only agenda item, besides the consent agenda. Those include approval of a contract with Mother Lode Job Training for a part time police position. The meeting is 7 p.m. today in the City Auditorium at 18 Main Street. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

La Mel Heights – A water district of 59 customers petitioned to stop a rate increase by the Amador Water Agency last week, leaving the AWA board of directors looking for ways to cut costs in the small district. Interim General Manager Gene Mancebo said La Mel Water Improvement District customers used a “Proposition 218” protest petition to stop the rate increase by the AWA, which has operated the La Mel district since 1986, after being asked to do so by the property owners association there. AWA Attorney Steve Kronick said the petition to oppose was a legitimate stopper to the rate increase. He said it had to have signatures of more than 50 percent of customers. They presented opposition petitions at the meeting last Wednesday at Lockwood Fire Station Number 2. Mancebo said the number of signatures “was nearly 100 percent – in the magnitude of 56 out of 59 customers.” The AWA board took questions and comments and staff will look into other solutions to a growing deficit. A 3-year fee schedule the board considered would have raised rates by 8 percent the first year, and 15 percent the second and third years. Mancebo said the rate schedule is moot, but the board must look for ways to defer a steadily increasing deficit in the La Mel system, run independently through fees from its customers. Without the rate increases over the next 3 years, he said La Mel WID’s budget will be short by $142,000 in fiscal year 1; $155,000 in year 2; and $170,000 in year 3. Ideas included allowing residents in the area to get certified to make meter readings and other work, saving on the 1-hour round trip commute it takes to do service there. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sutter Creek – The Amador Water Agency board of directors last week considered absorbing 59 well customers in the La Mel Heights subdivision into its main water system. The board heard the pros and cons of consolidating the La Mel Heights Water Improvement District with the Amador Water System. La Mel Heights subdivision has 2 wells that serve 59 customers. In 2007 the AWA built a new well and storage tank and improved the La Mel Heights distribution system, using a $350,000 USDA Rural Utility Services grant. AWA Interim General Manager Gene Macebo said Tuesday that the agency “also made a loan to the district for the improvements, but debt service and the community’s small customer base have contributed to an annual budget deficit of about $33,000.” He said a notice was recently mailed to all La Mel Heights customers proposing rate increases of 8-15% and 15% over the next 3 years, which was protested by most customers in the form of a petition presented at the board meeting by La Mel Heights resident Jackie Vaughn. The board discussed the benefits of spreading out the costs of a small improvement district over the larger system, and members also questioned whether or not La Mel Heights customers were in favor of consolidation. AWA Financial Services Manager Michael Lee told the board that, if consolidated, the Amador Water System would continue to service the La Mel Heights system with the same personnel as it currently does and that AWA could absorb the La Mel Heights budget deficit, which represents less than 1% of the Amador Water System’s $5.19 million budget. Mancebo said in consolidation, the question arises on whether some customers “subsidize” other areas, because each region of the county has different water districts and different costs. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

San Francisco - The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Thursday approved a refund of hundreds of millions of dollars after Pacific Gas & Electric admitted to over-collecting from their customers. PG&E says it raised rates last year in anticipation of higher wholesale electricity costs. Since PG&E profits are governed by CPUC, the mammoth utility company was ordered to give the profits back. Customers can expect to receive a distributed refund of $424.4 million. Refunds will be issued in the form of a one-time bill credit during the November/December 2009 billing cycle, said CPUC. “Today's order ensures that the customers who paid the extra costs will now receive that money back in the form of a credit on their bills,” the utility regulator said in a release. “Furthermore, since energy prices continue to be low, the CPUC will establish PG&E’s expected cost of electricity for next year at a level that ensures that customer bills will continue to collect no more than these costs on a going-forward basis,” said the release. CPUC President Michael R. Peevey said “some residential electric customers of PG&E may see a credit as high as a couple of hundred dollars while the average is expected to be approximately $35.” According to the State of California website, “the California Public Utilities Commission serves the public interest by protecting consumers and ensuring the provision of safe, reliable utility service.” PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to most of the northern two-thirds of California, from the Oregon border to Bakersfield, including here in Amador County. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.