The City of Plymouth recently rejected a proposed ordinance which would have added a statute regarding the broadcasting of noise to their municipal code. The ordinance would have required that sound, or broadcasting, coming from motor vehicles be attenuated so that it cannot be heard from 25’ away. The ordinance was being requested by councilmember Greg Baldwin and had the support of the Amador County Sheriff’s Department. Present from the sheriff’s department were Deputy Eric Madsen and Deputy McElvish, two officers whom are stationed in the Plymouth and Amador City area. Deputy Madsen told the council that the ordinance would give police officers “more probable cause and initiative to stop people who may have committed more serious offenses.”

Tuesday the Board of Supervisors reviewed the request for a front setback of a home proposed to be located north of Shenandoah Road on the east side of River Trail and Emigrant Trail in River Pines. The applicant Lou Garcia requested a variance to allow for the construction of a single family residence located on a 3,000 square foot lot. In order to build the 792 square foot home he said the home would have to encroach 10 feet into the required 25 foot setback, 15 feet into the 50 foot setback from the centerline of the roadway and 10 feet into the 15 foot rear setback.

The Amador County Board of Supervisors has considered the El Dorado irrigation District’s request to impose a new speed limit on Silver Lake. Bill George, president of the EID Board began his presentation by presenting a resolution from his board formally requesting the speed limit change to 5 miles per hour. George explained that his board held public hearings on the matter before approving the resolution requesting the change. Legal counsel for EID stated that the resolution   EID looked at limited personal water craft and reducing the speed limit. The lake has many submerged hazards, is small and not suitable for high speed travel by boats and other watercraft.

Tonight will begin a series of two Public meetings on the proposed Flying Cloud Casino to be held by the the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians. The meetings are required under the rules of the Tribal Environmental Impact Report Process and will be at the Evelynn Bishop Hall in Ione from 5 to 8 p.m. this evening and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. The Hall is located in Howard Park. The tribe released their latest Draft TEIR in January and will now accept public comments on the plan as part of the environmental review process. The tribe is now looking at a plan that would phase in the tribal gaming enterprise in 3 stages. The gaming floor would be increased at each stage, as would the amount of tables and machines offered for prospective customers. To see the tribal environmental impact report on the proposed casino, go to the tribe's Web site at buenavistatribe.com/tribal_gaming.htm or the Amador County government Web site at www.co.amador.ca.us/EIRs/BVCP/index.cfm.The report is also available at the Amador County library branch in Ione at 25 E. Main.

 

Wide disparities in children’s well-being from county to county are presented in a new report by Children Now, a leading nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that all children thrive. Released last week, the 2007 California County Data Book is an online, public resource providing the most comprehensive county-level data on children’s health, education and family economic status. It also provides county rankings for key indicators. These data illuminate the vast differences between counties that are masked by statewide figures.

Last week’s meeting of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality control board included an executive officer report regarding a Notice of Violation and draft Cleanup and Abatement Order, filed against Sierra Pacific Industries for their facility in Martell. Sierra Pacific Industries owns property where lumber processing was historically performed. Under Waste Discharge Requirements, Order No. 98-094, the Discharger, SPI, is required to close and remediate a wood waste landfill, ash disposal area, and fungicide dip area. On May 5 2007, the Discharger was issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) for discharge of waste to the surface water and groundwater, in violation of WDRs Order No. 98 094

The Amador Computer User’s Group Celebrated their 13th Annual Election Night, and Installation of Officers, at their January meeting. The 2007 Board of Directors are: President – Barbara Kreiss, Vice President – Graham Paul, Secretary – Richard Kennon, Treasurer – Richard Johnson, Program Director – Joran Kreiss, Publicity Director – Sherre Tassos, Director – Sherdean Swift. ACUG meets the first Tuesday of every month at 7 PM at the Senior Center in Jackson. Visitors are always welcome and admission is free.

 

A subject sure to generate heated discussion here in Amador County is that of the Board of Supervisors legislating mandatory garbage pick up for all Amador County residents. The subject was last discussed in the May of 2004 when the Board heard from, at that time Asst. Director of Public Works, Larry Petersen regarding the development of a mandatory garbage policy. In 2004 the Board was considering some exceptions from mandatory service for Ranchers and those with little garbage and a voucher system for self haulers and low income individuals and families. Currently, driving the discussion this time around is proposed state legislation that would mandate garbage and recycling to be 75 percent of all garbage and recycling waste products.

Is it true that an accounting error has lead to the discovery of nearly 10 million dollars in state transportation funds by the project director of the Tri County’s projects? Yes, but is more complicated than that according to Amador County Transportation Commission Executive Director Charles Field. Field explains that project manager Scott Maas had reported 13.9 million dollars in project deficits, due to cost overruns on both the Sutter Creek project and massive overruns on the Angel’s project. Maas now reports that Prop 1b funds have come to the rescue and although the larger deficit showed on previous reports, now the deficit is just 3.5 million dollars. The subject of these overruns has been an ongoing issue in the Tri County Alliance which includes Amador, Alpine and Calaveras Counties.