Sutter Creek – Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort partner Bill Bunce on Monday asked that his project’s planned park space get credits toward recreation impact fees. Bunce told the Sutter Creek City Council that he and his partner, John Telischak “agree to give 15 acres of park land and will construct the park,” using Amador County Recreation Agency’s specifications, as included in its Recreation Master Plan. They request that those parks earn credit for the developer toward recreation impact fees of $8,600 per dwelling unit. Bunce said they “seek fee credit for land acquisition, as well as for other recreation amenities on the site.” He said they wanted credit toward all ACRA fees because the park will fit the master plan. Bunce said the fees would pay for acquisition and park construction, and they agree to acquire the land and build the 15-acre park, before issuance of the 300th housing unit’s building permit. Councilwoman Sandy Anderson said the developer wanted to avoid paying recreation impact fees on the 1,334 units, which would amount to $11.5 million. Bunce said acquisition is about $250,000 an acre, plus the cost of constructing the park would be several million dollars more. Mayor Pro Tem Tim Murphy said he is “not impressed with the amenities, other than the community park and the trails,” and if they wait for the 300th building permit, “it may be 15 or 20 years from now” before the park is built. Councilwoman Linda Rianda agreed, saying they “could be waiting forever.” Murphy suggested placing a time limit on the park being built, similar to the 36-month limit recommended by the traffic impact committee. Murphy said he thought “the open space is inappropriate for credit.” ACRA Executive Director Tracy Towner-Yep said it was hard to give “credit for something you have never seen,” and she was “hesitant to give credit for parks we did not ask for.” Rianda asked how ACRA would pay maintenance costs for the parks, and Towner-Yep said it would be paid by putting in place a Community Facilities District. Mayor Gary Wooten said he supported Gold Rush supplying the park and building soccer and ball fields on it, instead of collecting the fees and having the city pay for it. He said the city’s recreation fees would stay in the city. Bunce said parkland in the Gold Rush specific plan included the 15-acre park, and 4-and-a-half acres of “passive parks and pocket parks,” each about ½ acre in size. Bunce said the smaller parks are not envisioned to have trees removed and they may have park benches or recreation equipment. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Jackson - The Amador County Transportation is hosting a series of public meetings that will help write its 2010 Regional Transportation Plan Update. 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.

Sutter Creek – Since finding another home for their annual Halloween fundraising haunted house, 2 local families have set a goal of raising double what they did last year for Sutter Creek Elementary School. Jeff Jolly, Lynn Borgquist and Heather Bruen – and their spouses and families – will return to the haunting business starting Friday in the basement of the Sutter Creek City Auditorium. Jolly, a Sutter Creek Public Works employee, and Daniel Bruen (co-owner of JD’s Steakhouse with his wife, Heather) approached the Sutter Creek City Council early in September during a public comment period and said they had been working with City Manager Rob Duke on the possibility of using the basement. The past 2 years, the families and volunteers used American Exchange Hotel for the haunted house, with proceeds benefiting Sutter Creek Elementary, attended by Jolly and wife Erica’s 2 sons and the Bruens’ daughter. Bruen told the City Council it could not use the hotel, and Duke suggested using the auditorium basement, used in the past for other haunted fundraisers. The council supported the idea, and Jolly on Wednesday was showing Mayor Pro Tem Tim Murphy around the false walls of the nearly completed haunt area, telling about safety features and other things. The Bruen and Jolly families have been joined the last 2 years by the Borgquists, Heather’s twin sister and husband Eric, who live in Southern California and come up for the project. It began as a fundraiser for families of firefighters lost in the 911 attacks. Now they will earmark proceeds to help Sutter Creek Elementary School, in an as yet undecided way. They raised $750 last year, and Jolly said: “This year we hope to be able to double that, because we were able to construct this all on donations.” They have taken one loan, but hope it may morph into a donation. Jolly said sponsors will be listed on a donors’ board on the street in front of the auditorium. Sponsors include the city of Sutter Creek, JD’s Steakhouse, Louis Boitano, Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort and American Exchange Hotel. The haunted house will operate this Friday and Saturday (Oct. 23 & 24) and next Friday, October 30th and 31st. Hours are open 5 p.m. and run until we don’t have anybody else Approximate hours of operation will be 5-10 p.m., but Jolly said if they have people lined up and wanting to go through the attraction, they will stay open later. For information, call (916) 716-8426. The Auditorium is at 18 Main Street in Sutter Creek. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Pine Grove – A new crosswalk and button-activated flashing light should be opening in Pine Grove sometime soon, with an aim to improve pedestrian safety – a good fact for the approaching Halloween holiday. The $69,000 project, with paint stripes and warning lights, is expected to be completed Friday at the corner of Highway 88 and Church Street in Pine Grove. Chantel Miller, Assistant Public Information Officer for the California Department of Transportation’s District 10, said this week that crosswalk is a safety project and was expected to be completed by Friday, (October 23rd). She said: “the project consists of a flashing beacon system and a new crosswalk,” and it will have paint striping marking the crossing area. Miller said it will have signs with flashing yellow lights located 140 to 180 feet in advance of the crosswalk, approaching from either direction. The yellow flashing beacons and signs will warn approaching motorists of the upcoming crosswalk. Miller said at the crosswalk, overhead flashing beacons will be installed. Pushing buttons on poles on either side of Highway 88 will activate the beacons for the pedestrians. The lights will be off, and when someone presses the button, the light starts to flash yellow to warn cars to stop or be aware of the crosswalk. Miller said the push-button activated lights are something Caltrans is starting to use more. She said it depends on what local traffic situations require, and it was determined that it would work best at that location, at Highway 88 and Church Street in Pine Grove. She said the project is not a Safe Routes To Schools project. Miller said it uses “100 percent state funding,” from safety improvement project funding. The cost of the project is $69,000, and the contractor is Tennyson Electric of Livermore. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Pine Grove – A new crosswalk and button-activated flashing light should be opening in Pine Grove sometime soon, with an aim to improve pedestrian safety – a good fact for the approaching Halloween holiday. The $69,000 project, with paint stripes and warning lights, is expected to be completed Friday at the corner of Highway 88 and Church Street in Pine Grove. Chantel Miller, Assistant Public Information Officer for the California Department of Transportation’s District 10, said this week that crosswalk is a safety project and was expected to be completed by Friday, (October 23rd). She said: “the project consists of a flashing beacon system and a new crosswalk,” and it will have paint striping marking the crossing area. Miller said it will have signs with flashing yellow lights located 140 to 180 feet in advance of the crosswalk, approaching from either direction. The yellow flashing beacons and signs will warn approaching motorists of the upcoming crosswalk. Miller said at the crosswalk, overhead flashing beacons will be installed. Pushing buttons on poles on either side of Highway 88 will activate the beacons for the pedestrians. The lights will be off, and when someone presses the button, the light starts to flash yellow to warn cars to stop or be aware of the crosswalk. Miller said the push-button activated lights are something Caltrans is starting to use more. She said it depends on what local traffic situations require, and it was determined that it would work best at that location, at Highway 88 and Church Street in Pine Grove. She said the project is not a Safe Routes To Schools project. Miller said it uses “100 percent state funding,” from safety improvement project funding. The cost of the project is $69,000, and the contractor is Tennyson Electric of Livermore. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sutter Creek – Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort partner Bill Bunce on Monday asked that his project’s planned park space get credits toward recreation impact fees. Bunce told the Sutter Creek City Council that he and his partner, John Telischak “agree to give 15 acres of park land and will construct the park,” using Amador County Recreation Agency’s specifications, as included in its Recreation Master Plan. They request that those parks earn credit for the developer toward recreation impact fees of $8,600 per dwelling unit. Bunce said they “seek fee credit for land acquisition, as well as for other recreation amenities on the site.” He said they wanted credit toward all ACRA fees because the park will fit the master plan. Bunce said the fees would pay for acquisition and park construction, and they agree to acquire the land and build the 15-acre park, before issuance of the 300th housing unit’s building permit. Councilwoman Sandy Anderson said the developer wanted to avoid paying recreation impact fees on the 1,334 units, which would amount to $11.5 million. Bunce said acquisition is about $250,000 an acre, plus the cost of constructing the park would be several million dollars more. Mayor Pro Tem Tim Murphy said he is “not impressed with the amenities, other than the community park and the trails,” and if they wait for the 300th building permit, “it may be 15 or 20 years from now” before the park is built. Councilwoman Linda Rianda agreed, saying they “could be waiting forever.” Murphy suggested placing a time limit on the park being built, similar to the 36-month limit recommended by the traffic impact committee. Murphy said he thought “the open space is inappropriate for credit.” ACRA Executive Director Tracy Towner-Yep said it was hard to give “credit for something you have never seen,” and she was “hesitant to give credit for parks we did not ask for.” Rianda asked how ACRA would pay maintenance costs for the parks, and Towner-Yep said it would be paid by putting in place a Community Facilities District. Mayor Gary Wooten said he supported Gold Rush supplying the park and building soccer and ball fields on it, instead of collecting the fees and having the city pay for it. He said the city’s recreation fees would stay in the city. Bunce said parkland in the Gold Rush specific plan included the 15-acre park, and 4-and-a-half acres of “passive parks and pocket parks,” each about ½ acre in size. Bunce said the smaller parks are not envisioned to have trees removed and they may have park benches or recreation equipment. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

San Francisco – Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG & E) announced last Thursday that it inked a deal with NextLight Renewable Power LLC to provide 290 megawatts of solar power to customers across Northern and Central California. The project, to be located in Yuma County, Arizona, is PG & E’s second major contract with a subsidiary of NextLight. It is one of several recent deals in order to acquire 2,000 megawatts of power, including 830 megawatts from solar developers for use by PG & E customers, including thousands in the Sierra foothills. “The Agua Caliente project will deliver about 700 gigawatt-hours of energy per year, enough to serve the needs of more than 100,000 average homes. Initial deliveries are expected to begin in mid-2012, with the project becoming fully operational by late 2014,” said PG & E in a statement last week. In June, the companies announced a project for 230 megawatts of solar power in Antelope Valley, California. The PG & E statement said “both projects, which are subject to approval by the California Public Utilities Commission, will use photovoltaic panels to generate clean, renewable power.” Shares of the company were trading at $42.18 the day after the announcement on the New York Stock Exchange. “In keeping with state policy and our own commitment to a cleaner energy future, we continue aggressively to pursue additional sources of renewable power,” said Fong Wan, senior vice president of energy procurement at PG&E, adding: “Our agreements with NextLight will help PG&E, and the state of California, show continued leadership in the development of solar power.” Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sutter Creek – Since finding another home for their annual Halloween fundraising haunted house, 2 local families have set a goal of raising double what they did last year for Sutter Creek Elementary School. Jeff Jolly, Lynn Borgquist and Heather Bruen – and their spouses and families – will return to the haunting business starting Friday in the basement of the Sutter Creek City Auditorium. Jolly, a Sutter Creek Public Works employee, and Daniel Bruen (co-owner of JD’s Steakhouse with his wife, Heather) approached the Sutter Creek City Council early in September during a public comment period and said they had been working with City Manager Rob Duke on the possibility of using the basement. The past 2 years, the families and volunteers used American Exchange Hotel for the haunted house, with proceeds benefiting Sutter Creek Elementary, attended by Jolly and wife Erica’s 2 sons and the Bruens’ daughter. Bruen told the City Council it could not use the hotel, and Duke suggested using the auditorium basement, used in the past for other haunted fundraisers. The council supported the idea, and Jolly on Wednesday was showing Mayor Pro Tem Tim Murphy around the false walls of the nearly completed haunt area, telling about safety features and other things. The Bruen and Jolly families have been joined the last 2 years by the Borgquists, Heather’s twin sister and husband Eric, who live in Southern California and come up for the project. It began as a fundraiser for families of firefighters lost in the 911 attacks. Now they will earmark proceeds to help Sutter Creek Elementary School, in an as yet undecided way. They raised $750 last year, and Jolly said: “This year we hope to be able to double that, because we were able to construct this all on donations.” They have taken one loan, but hope it may morph into a donation. Jolly said sponsors will be listed on a donors’ board on the street in front of the auditorium. Sponsors include the city of Sutter Creek, JD’s Steakhouse, Louis Boitano, Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort and American Exchange Hotel. The haunted house will operate this Friday and Saturday (Oct. 23 & 24) and next Friday, October 30th and 31st. Hours are open 5 p.m. and run until we don’t have anybody else Approximate hours of operation will be 5-10 p.m., but Jolly said if they have people lined up and wanting to go through the attraction, they will stay open later. For information, call (916) 716-8426. The Auditorium is at 18 Main Street in Sutter Creek. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Jackson - The Amador County Transportation is hosting a series of public meetings that will help write its 2010 Regional Transportation Plan Update. 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.

Jackson – The Amador County Joint Water Committee heard an update on the “2040 Master Plan” for the East Bay Municipal Utility District on Monday. Specifically, they heard about the East Bay MUD board’s recent vote to omit the most extreme expansion of Pardee Reservoir in Amador County, but it also retained 4 other options for its expansion. Amador Water Agency Chairman Terence Moore said it was not clear to him “what they did relative to Pardee.” The Foothill Conservancy’s Pete Bell said the 2040 plan included 5 options, including 4 the Conservancy did not know about. The original plan to increase the size of the dam at Pardee (which was opposed by nearly every Amador public entity) was taken from the 2040 plan last week. But 4 other options were left in, all dealing with expansion at Pardee. Bell said of those, the most far-reaching was Option 4, raising the dam to flood Mokelumne River shores and raise the water level to 1,000 feet above the Highway 49 bridge. Option 3 would raise the water level up to the 49 bridge. Option 2 would raise the water level to a few hundred yards downstream, below the bridge. Bell said Option 1 would be to build a dam below Pardee, flooding the area below Pardee and keeping the water levels at the same “high flow height.” AWA Interim General Manager Gene Mancebo said the Integrated Regional Conjunctive Use Project collaboration still needs work to see how much underground water storage would be created. He said building storage may be required. In a related, but dissimilar action, Bell said the East Bay MUD board also voted 6-0 last week “to endorse and actively support ‘Wild & Scenic’ designation on the Mokelumne River.” AWA board Vice Chairman Bill Condrashoff said “that’s pretty huge. It seems like a big partner to have.” Bell said it is, but he asked how it compared to the same board in the same meeting voting 5-2 to keep Pardee Lake in its 2040 plan. Amador County Supervisor Chairman Ted Novelli said the board of supervisors has an upcoming workshop on the Wild & Scenic designation issue in regard to the Mokelumne River. Novelli said it is “a workshop with possible action,” set for November 2nd. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.