Friday, 21 December 2007 01:46
Ione Appoints New Police Chief
In final gestures for the year of 2007, the Ione
City Council at Tuesday night’s meeting approved the appointment of a new
police chief, and put their stamp of approval on the development agreement with
Ryland Homes, the developer of a 201 unit subdivision that will go in next
year. Michael L Johnson
will be Ione’s new chief of police, starting December 28th. Johnson
was chosen after the city conducted a nationwide search, and reviewed 23
applications. Johnson, currently a sergeant with the Eureka
police department, comes to Ione with 12 years experience on the Eureka force.
The council also approved the purchase of
Johnson’s police dog, Hawke, from the Eureka
police department at a discounted price of $6,200. The council then went on to
approve a motion to accept the development agreement with Ryland Homes, for the 201 unit Wildflower subdivision
that will be located approximately 800 feet east of the intersection of
Foothill Boulevard and Highway 124, within the city limits of Ione. The council
originally approved the project which included 276 single residential family
units, but the developer had to reduce the number of homes to 201 units due to
limited availability of drinking water and wastewater facilities. The council,
city manager, and developer all expressed relief at the acceptance of the
agreement. City Manager Kim
Kerr stated, “This project is a good fit, and now Ryland has the room to move
forward with their project.” The agreement will come back to the council
in 30 days for final approval, which will give the public the chance to
comment. And finally, to wrap up the year, the council elected a new mayor and
vice mayor to lead the city into 2008. Current Vice Mayor Andrea Bonham will be
the mayor and councilman Lee Ard will be the Vice Mayor in the new year.