Brian Miller and Deidra Mueller stop by the AM Live set to show off just a few of the wines that are going to be available for tasting at the 2012 Amador County Fair.

'From the Horses Mouth' AC Supervpsors Report for 12-15-12 on AMLive with Supervisor John Plasse

Classic Amador This Week Meet Field namesake John Aime, the coaches the players and find out why little league baseball is a Big Hit in Amador County Re Dedication

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 8-15-12

·       Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort and American Legion Post 108 gave $20,000 to the Wounded Warrior Project.

·       AWA board discusses system-wide water rate structure.

·       Ione Council directs staff to continue adhering to Brown Act, despite suspension by the recent state Budget Act.

·       Electrical storm zaps upcountry water system’s computers.

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 8-15-12 - Today's news guest, Jackson City Manager Mike Daly, talks to Tom Slivick about an AWA Outreach Committee meeting held Tuesday afternoon at Jackson Civic Center.

Amador County – Proceeds from the May Top Cop Challenge were officially donated to the Wounded Warrior Project Tuesday morning in a brief ceremony at the veterans’ wall at the Legion compound in Martell.

Jackson Rancheria Tribal Chairman Bo Marks and American Legion Ambulance President Al Lennox presented a ceremonial check to the Wounded Warriors Project in memory of a local resident who was a great supporter of the program.

The check, for $17,211, was proceeds from the Top Cop Challenge, held May 19 at the Jackson Rancheria. The donation was rounded out to $20,000 with a donation by the American Legion, and will go to the Wounded Warrior Project, which provides programs and services to severely injured military service members during the time between active duty and transition to civilian life. The WWP is “structured to nurture the mind and body, and encourage economic empowerment and engagement.”

Joe Dirickx, of Gold Country Firearms said the first annual Top Cop Challenge was a success, and the Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort and American Legion Ambulance have already signed on to support the next challenge competition, tentatively set for Sept. 14, 2013.

Dirickx said the fundraiser is a singles and two-person team marksmanship contest for law enforcement personnel, and the proceeds of the first competition were donated to the Wounded Warrior Project, in the name of Mac McLean, who passed away at age 29. McLean was an avid supporter of the Wounded Warrior Project, and told his parents that if anything ever happened to him, he would want people instead of giving flowers, to donate to the Project.

Dirickx has know McLean, and his parents, Steve and Karen for years, and made this donation in Marc McLean’s memory. Steve and Karen also attended the ceremony Tuesday at the warriors’ wall park on the grounds of the American Legion Hall in Martell.

The funds came from entry fees, donations, and the awards banquet. Dirickx said $10,000 in donations came in for the raffle and prizes for the Top Cop Challenge, including some celebrities. Those included gifts from Gary Sinese, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, former President George W. Bush, Larry the Cable Guy and Jeff Foxworthy.

The Challenge was hosted by Gold Country Firearms and sponsored by Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort and American Legion Post 108. Dirickx said the idea was born from a partnership he forged with the Rancheria, when they began letting him teach firearms instructions at the Tribal Police gun range at the Rancheria.

Top Cop Challenge individual competition winner was Jose Arevalos of the Jackson Police Department. Second palce went to Brian Bila of the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department. Scott Goebel and Steve Kent of the El Dorado County Sherriff’s Department won the team competition, and Jon Kent and Bob Palk of Jackson Rancheria Tribal Security took second place.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors discussed a system-wide water rate structure and related Proposition 218 notice in a special meeting Monday, Aug. 13, and planned to discuss the expected water costs on Tuesday in an Outreach Committee meeting with Jackson City Council.

Directors discussed the proposal with consultant Bob Reed of The Reed Group, who said some costs of the consolidated rate structure would not be known yet, but his estimates for certain costs for water in the five water systems had dropped significantly with the insertion of participation fees from JTS Communities, of which he said 87.5 percent could be put toward the components of debts service costs for the Amador Transmission Pipeline, and toward buy-in for services.

Reed said $250,000 a year from JTS will offset debt service costs for the already built Amador Transmission Pipeline. He said that represents a pretty significant increase, up from $33,000 and makes the water rates less than they were in previous proposals. He said the typical Amador Water System customer’s rate would go up 14 cents a month. It also would change debt service charges that were delineated per water system.

The rate structure would be formed by the election across the county of water agency customers on a Community Facilities District, and would require a two-thirds majority vote, and also a Proposition 218 notice for allowing protest of the expected rate increases. The CFD would assess a special tax for the Gravity Supply Line project, and would depend on the boundaries of the CFD, which would omit parcels on wells.

Reed said resale water rate increase estimates showed Jackson rates would go up 9.5% in the consolidated rate structure; Plymouth would go down a little; Drytown would go up 16.5%; and Mule Creek State Prison would go up 11.5%.

Wendell Peart suggested that the availability of water for fire fighting be considered. Reed said the fire flow was not about home use of water.

Reed said debt service charges per system were different, and the CFD for the Gravity Supply Line would reduce bills in the Central Amador Water Project service area.

AWA Attorney Steve Kronick said staff is proposing a system wide rate structure and annual adjustments tied to an index, and any year the board could choose not to implement that adjustment, over a five-year term.

Ken Berry asked if the rate could be based on actual spending. Kronick said the Prop 218 notification, which is “in process,” will say that in no case shall the adjustment exceed the cost of providing service.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Ione City Council last week directed staff to adhere to long-standing Brown Act requirements despite partial suspension of the act in the 2012 Budget Act.

City Manager Edwin Pattison said the city submits Brown Act related reimbursement costs to the state quarterly and has been reimbursed several thousand dollars over the last two years.

City Attorney James Maynard in an Aug. 3 report said the California Legislature suspended the Brown Act with the passage of Assembly Bill 1464, the Budget Act of 2012.

Maynard said the League of California Cities Brown Act Committee convened to review and discuss the suspension of portions of the Brown Act and recommended that “cities continue to comply with all requirements of the now-suspended provisions of the Brown Act.” Maynard “also reviewed the Budget Act and concur with the Brown Act Committee’s analysis” and recommendation.

Maynard said AB 1464, signed into law on June 27, contains a schedule of state mandates that are suspended during the 2012-2013 budget year. Further, the Brown Act was included in SB 1006, enacted June 27, which extended suspension of the provisions of the Brown Act to last three fiscal years.

The suspension extends to five provisions of the Brown Act, including “Preparation and posting at least 72 hours before a regular meeting of an agenda that contains a brief general description of each item of business to be transacted or discussed at the meeting.”

It also suspends a provision requiring “inclusion of the agenda of a brief general description of all items to be discussed in closed session” and “disclosure of each item to be discussed in closed session in an open meeting, prior to any closed session.”

It also suspended the “report in open session prior to adjournment on the actions and votes taken in closed session regarding certain subject matters,” and the requirement to “provide copies to the public of certain closed session documents.”

Maynard said AB 1464 refers to “two prior decisions of the Commission on State Mandates in which the Commission determined that these requirements of the Brown Act impose reimbursable mandates on local governments. By referencing the Commission’s decisions, the Legislature intended to suspend only the requirements” as mentioned. “The remainder of the Brown Act therefore remains in effect and meetings of local legislative bodies must generally continue to be open and public.”

The Brown Act requirements were suspended in 1990, at which time most cities reported they would continue to comply with all requirements of the Brown Act regardless of the suspension, Maynard said.

“The suspended provisions are central to the Act,” he said, and “noncompliance with those provisions would unquestionably degrade transparency. Further, notwithstanding a lack of legal consequences, noncompliance could provoke a hostile reaction from the public and could suggest, inaccurately, that the City opposes open government.”

Story by Jim Reece.

Amador County – The Amador Water Agency announced that an electrical storm in July destroyed computer controls throughout the upcountry water system, causing at least $5,000 in equipment damage and staff overtime cost.

AWA General Manager Gene Mancebo said Tuesday that AWA staff was forced to manually operate pumps and tanks for up to three days in several locations after power surges damaged the communication systems that tell pumps when and where to send water to upcountry areas.

At about 11 p.m. on Saturday, July 14, lightning damage shut down the Tiger Creek and Silver Lake Pines pump stations that lift water from the Mokelumne River to the Buckhorn Water Treatment plant that provides drinking water to upcountry homes, Mancebo said. At the same time, the Buckhorn Water Treatment Plant shut down when a transducer stopped working due to nearby lightning.

AWA technicians worked until early morning hours to bypass broken equipment and get the water treatment plant back online before upcountry water storage tanks dropped to dangerous levels, Mancebo said. The storm also damaged Controls at a tank on Trent Way that supplies water to the Jackson Rancheria Casino and area homes, on the well that serves the LaMel Heights subdivision, and an electronic water meter at Mace Meadow Fairway Pines lift station.

Dozens of times each year, electrical problems, wild fires and power outages cause potential interruptions of upcountry water service because electricity powers the water pumps.

Mancebo said the Water Agency encouraged local residents to be prepared for possible water outages by keeping a supply of drinking water on hand. Residents are also asked to follow neighborhood signs and announcements that may ask them to conserve water due to an electrical outage or mechanical failure.

The lightning storm also started 16 fires in Amador and El Dorado counties. Cal-Fire Unit Chief Kelly Keenan reported in late July that most of the fires were in Amador County. He said by July 24 that about 79 acres had been burned, and roughly 300 people were working on the fires at the time, in various configurations of engines, dozers and hand crews.

On July 27, Incident Commander Brian Estes said fire fighters had stopped the so called “Lightning Complex,” which included 12 fires in Amador and 8 in El Dorado County.

Story by Jim Reece.

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