Amador County – The Arc of Amador and Calaveras counties for the 23rd year will greet a group of college students who are riding bicycles across the United States to promote understanding of people with disabilities.

Sherri Pitto of The Arc of Amador and Calaveras said that on Tuesday, June 14th, The Arc “will again host a welcoming picnic for the inspiring Journey of Hope cyclists.” She said the “young men are part of the Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity,” and “their philanthropic organization Push America sponsors the Journey as part of their campaign to promote a greater understanding of people with disabilities.”

This year’s PUSH America Journey of Hope 2011 will include more than 70 cyclists, who will leave San Francisco on June 11th on their “Journey of Hope” to Washington DC. Half of the riders will come through Jackson after leaving Sacramento on their way over the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The other half takes a route that goes through Southern California before heading east.

This will be the 23rd year the group has stopped in Jackson before heading over the Sierras, and the 22nd year The Arc has provided the group with a “friendship” picnic with “lots of camaraderie, food, drink, and fun,” Pitto said. The Arc has provided services to people with disabilities since 1971, and the Journey of Hope has become as much of an annual anticipated event for Arc participants as it has for the riders. Pitto said returning cyclists and crew members have said that “the Amador County experience is one of the best experiences of the Journey of Hope, year after year.”

The welcoming picnic will be at the St. Sava’s complex in Jackson between 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 14th in Jackson. Pitto said other local sponsors include Jackson Family Sports, Jackson Lions’ Club, and Mel and Faye’s Diner.

Pi Kappa Phi is the only national men’s fraternity to establish and maintain their own service project. Fraternity members have raised over $10 million for Push America since 1977.

Pitto said: “It’s an amazing adventure and a tribute to the character of the young men who make up Pi Kappa Phi.” Each cross-country trip takes 63 days, and the bicyclist’s average 75 miles per day. Every day, the riders meet with disability groups and promote events to raise awareness and understanding of people with disabilities.

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

Amador County – An Amador County horse is one of 10 from the state that has contracted the neurological strain of the Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1), but it was “caught early,” is quarantined and is being treated.

Amador County Agriculture Commissioner Mike Boitano said Wednesday that one animal from Bakersfield was euthanized, and another is being treated at U.C. Davis. “The one here was caught early and is being treated,” and its facility is under quarantine.

Boitano said California Department Food & Agriculture’s veterinary services are working to try to prevent the spread and they have a pretty good system of detecting diseases. CDFA’s Dr. Catherine “Flynn has been working all week on this.” She got the names of the horses and the owners’ names from the Ogden, Utah, cutting horse show, and contacted them. Dr. Flynn has also met with private veterinarians in the state on the individual cases.

Boitano said there is a bunch of concern about the junior rodeo going on at the Amador County Fairgrounds (Wednesday) through this weekend, but he wanted to get out information and help curb rumors.

He said the virus is killed by sunlight. It has been recommended that the Fairgrounds get a thorough disinfection after the rodeo. The virus has a 14-day incubation period, and the neurological strain of the disease has no real treatment. If horses are treated early on, they will come out of it.

Boitano said: “There is no labeled vaccination for it, but there are some vaccines that may help – and that’s a big may.” Some treatments work, some do not, “and that doesn’t stop the vets from trying.” Some animals they save, and some of them don’t.

He said the industry is doing the best thing in canceling cutting horse shows, stopping the movement of animals, to help contain spread.

The National Cutting Horse Association announced Tuesday that “all NCHA-approved shows for the weekend of May 20-22 have been cancelled. NCHA officer Pam Robison said the association “appreciates this proactive move by show producers in a nationwide show of precaution and solidarity to help stop the spread of the contagious and potentially deadly EHV-1 virus among horses.”

Robinson said the Texas Quarter Horse Association cancelled its cutting classes for a May 24-25.

She said: “While the NCHA does not want to unnecessarily alarm horse owners, we do want to stress the severity of this virus, and be a clearinghouse of factual information so you can make informed decisions on this matter regarding your personal horses.”

Robinson said unofficial reports showed cases of EHV-1 in Colorado, Utah, Washington, Idaho, Arizona and Western Canada.

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

Amador County – Amador County Assessor Jim Rooney released property assessment reduction information in early May, saying that over the past year, property values apparently “have continued to decline, resulting in further reductions in assessments for many of Amador County property owners.”

Properties that may be more directly affected are ones that “had a change in ownership (by purchase) or had new construction as far back as about 2002,” Rooney said, but “if a property owner feels that the fair market value for their property is less than the current assessed value, they can certainly request an assessment review.” If reviewed, “only two things can happen,” those being that “the value may be lowered, or it would remain the same. Proposition 13 value will not be raised as a result of an assessment review.”

Rooney said the Assessors “are obligated to reduce assessments when the fair market value of a property is less than the original adjusted assessment, more commonly known as the Prop 13 value.”

He said the Assessor’s office “has been proactive in the reduction of assessments, however, more may be achieved with help from individual property owners who feel that their assessment may need to be reviewed.”

Rooney said: “Over the past ten years, the increases and decreases in assessments in Amador County appear to be small when compared to rising and falling property values and this can be attributed to Proposition 13, which has had very stabilizing effects on the assessments of Amador County.” ¶ He said a goal of his office is “to have no property in the county assessed higher than its fair market value and with the help of taxpayers reviewing their own assessments, we hope to achieve this goal.”

People who believe they are eligible for a reduced assessment should contact the Assessor’s Office to request an assessment review.

After the request, he said, “we’ll do the research. However, if a property owner wishes to provide comparable sales data on the form, or attach specific data for us to consider, they may do so.”

Rooney’s office is just starting review of 2011-2012 tax year assessments “that we feel may be too high. He said “for the rest of the properties in the county that have assessed values less than fair market values, assessments will have a change of less than a percent. In the coming year all properties in Amador County that have been assessed at their original, adjusted value, will see a very small increase in their assessed value due to the California Consumer Price Index going up three quarters of one percent.”

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

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-18-11

·       Ione rejected bids for Preston Avenue sewer line replacement project, had staff prepare to rebid the work.

·       Supervisors adjusted local Williamson Act lands, and discussed the future of the program in Amador.

·       AWA reorganization approved for upcoming budget work.

·       The presence of an Amador Sheriff’s K9 led to a parolee at large surrendering in Camanche.

·       Jackson Business and Community Association promotes its first annual Mother Lode Cruise antique car show.

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-13-11 - TSPN's Tom Slivick sits down with Aaron Brusatori, the new Community Development Director for Amador County.

Amador County – The Ione City Council for the second time in recent months has approved a reworking of a request for bids on a city work project, this time to rebid the replacement of sewer pipelines under Preston Avenue.

City Engineer John Wanger told the council at its May 3rd meeting that bidders are required to have insurance and to also have that insurance be provided by an admitted carrier in the state of California. He said they opened the bids April 12. However, the apparent low bidder, Casadores Construction, was not qualified to be covered by such California insurance carriers because he “has been licensed for less than a year.”

Wanger said the engineer’s estimate of the project was $116,000, and Casadores’ low bid was $104,983. The high bid was $188,000 from Wunschel & Sons Incorporated, and also bidding was GroundWorks Construction Incorporated.

The other bids seemed to over-estimate the cost of encountering potentially contaminated soil, between Shakely Lane and the Creek, Wanger said. The soil there was contaminated by a Chevron fuel tank leak several years ago, Wanger said, but the site was cleaned and the case was closed. He said if contaminated soils are found by excavation, several things would occur. First they would take the soil to store at the city corporate yard, then test it to see if it needs to be specially disposed.

He said the companies “threw a significant amount of money at that line item” for fuel contamination. Wanger recommended they reject all of the bids, and do a minor change in bid requirements regarding the soil issue, to instruct bidders to use an industry schedule to set costs. Wanger said then they could re-advertise the project and go out for bids again.

Mayor David Plank asked if Chevron could be asked to pay for remediation and hauling off soil, if more contamination was found. Wanger said Chevron would be responsible for paying such costs. He said they could also get funds from the state’s “underground tank fund.”

The council voted 5-0 to follow Wanger’s suggestion to reject the bids, and prepare for a rebid, with an amendment by Councilman Daniel Epperson to notice Chevron about the project and the potential issue.

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

Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors took action on three Williamson Act contracted lands in the county last week, keeping the designation in place, but pointing out that they should discuss the program, and its lack of state support.

Supervisor Richard Forster said they are still using the Williamson Act language, but the state is not continuing the program, so the county must decide if it wants to continue with Williamson Act contracts. Supervisor Ted Novelli agreed they should discuss it in the future, and Board Chairman, Supervisor John Plasse said “the demise is imminent” for the Act.

Supervisors approved line adjustments for the Bamert family on Cook Road; Renwood Vineyards on Votaw Road; and Ruth Crain’s property on Courier Road. County Planner Heather Anderson said the Renwood change would make several acres of vineyards on parcels of 75 and 85 acres, with cattle grazing also on both. She said the project would need easements for a well and roads to maintain viability. Plasse asked about the size of easements, and Anderson said specifics would not be known until the parcels were mapped.

The Crain property was OK’d for 20 acres of vineyard on a 92-acre parcel, and made a 99-acre parcel already grazing cattle. Both would graze cattle. Anderson said the intensive use of the property meets requirements of county code. She said they will be looking at grafting in an orchard, or planting new trees, so they can start to make income from the property. The applicant requested a 5-year extension of the contract, which allows the land, under the Williamson Act, to have its property tax assessed based on its actual use, rather than its potential market value.

Novelli said: “If something goes wrong with the trees, would they come back and tell us?” Forster said the applicant should “come back with a few sentences” if they need an extension.

Supervisor Louis Boitano said they “need a discussion on the entirety of the issue, including non-conforming uses of Williamson Act land.” He said: “I just think annual reporting is the way to go.”

Plasse said: “This is for the rehabilitation of a walnut orchard.” Anderson said the “trees just aren’t producing like they used to.” Boitano said the trees “have a life span,” and they “could take out the trees and replant.”

Supervisors all agreed to the 5-year extension of the contract, a term Forster said they have given in the past.

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 last week approved a tentative internal reorganization of the agency, but also said that rate increases are needed and will be forthcoming.

General Manager Gene Mancebo said the savings will be realized over three years, including $232,000 the first year, $428,000 the second, and $450,000 the third, for $1.1 million in overall reductions.

The reorganization would eliminate a human resources technician position and create a human resources and risk position from the human resources coordinator position.

An information systems manager position would be eliminated, Mancebo said, and the duties would either be distributed to other employees in the agency, or handled by contract.

Mancebo said the plan also called for elimination of the finance manager position, with finance duties taken over by the controller. The position of customer service manager would be taken over by an Office Manager, who would oversee the controller, accountants and customer service reps.

Three departments of construction, operations and engineering, each now headed by managers, would be consolidated into one department, under a Field Operations Manager, with two administrative assistants. Six divisions under separate leaders, include the largest division, under the Canal and Distribution Supervisor, who would oversee 5 distribution, 2 utility, 1 construction and 1 inspection technicians.

There would also be a Construction Foreman over utility techs, and a Supervising Engineer, over an assistant engineer and a tech. A Water Production Supervisor would oversee three operators, a Wastewater Supervisor would have three operators, and an Installation and Electrical Supervisor would oversee two techs.

Mancebo recommended approval, due to the current economy, the “lack of rate increases in some systems during the past five years, increased operation costs and the overall agency financial condition.” The agency identified a $750,000 shortfall, which it discussed two weeks ago, when four of the five members voted 4-0 to approve the draft reorganization plan, and have the board’s specially assigned Ad Hoc Committee look it over, along with comments from the public and employees.

Past AWA President Bill Condrashoff last week said a change in makeup of the Ad Hoc Committee may be a violation of the Brown Act, and they should be leery of actions that the committee takes. Director Paul Molinelli replaced Director Robert Manassero on the Ad Hoc Committee because Manassero was on vacation last week. Molinelli said it may be questionable, but it “doesn’t change the numbers.”

AWA President Don Cooper was aware of the vacation plans, which was why he called the special meeting two weeks ago. Cooper said “this is a critical element for out budget to move forward.”

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

Amador County – The presence of an Amador Sheriff’s K9 led to the arrest early this month of a parolee at large surrendering in Camanche.

The Amador County Sheriff’s Office reported that the arrest occurred at about 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 3, when the “Sheriff's Office received information that Robert James Ramsey, 31, of Ione was possibly seen near the residence at 4081 Zumi Court in the community of Camanche.”

The Sheriff’s officer report said “Ramsey was wanted by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for being a Parolee at Large. Ramsey was also wanted on active Amador Superior Court arrest warrant” for violations of inflicting “a traumatic injury upon a spouse or cohabitant” and for “battery of a spouse.” ACSO said the bail was set at $50,000 on the Amador warrant and the Corrections warrant was “no bail.”

The report said “Amador County Sheriff's Deputies assisted by Amador County Probation Officers responded to the residence. Upon arrival, Ramsey was observed running from the front of the residence toward the rear bedrooms.”

The “presence of perimeter units kept Ramsey from exiting the residence” and “deputies entered and conducted a search,” the Sheriff’s report said. “During the search it was determined that Ramsey had barricaded himself in the attic. Ramsey was given numerous orders to surrender and exit the attic,” and “refused to surrender. Upon the arrival of an Amador County Sheriff's Canine, Ramsey was advised that the canine would be deployed into the attic via a crawl space. Ramsey immediately surrendered and was taken into custody without further incident.”

The report said “Ramsey was processed into the Amador County Jail on the active Amador Superior Court Warrant and CDCR Parole hold.”

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

Amador County – The Jackson Business and Community Association will host its first annual Mother Lode Cruise antique car show Saturday in historic downtown Jackson, with music, food, vendors and lots of great cars.

Set up starts at 8 a.m. and the car show starts at 10 a.m. and runs until 3 p.m. Awards will be presented in different classes and categories, and the show is open to all cars that were issued in 1975 and older. There is a limit of 200 cars. Pre-registration is $20, and registration at the gate is $25. The Mother Lode Cruise will give dash plaques and goody bags to the entrants.

The Mother Lode Cruise is sponsored by the Jackson Business & Community Association, the Jackson Rancheria and AAA Insurance, and the show is hosted by the Mother Lode Cruisers. The Jackson Rotary Club will be hosting its margarita bar during the Mother Lode Cruise Car Show.

Entries may include cars or motorcycles. Organizers said parking will start at 8 a.m. and spaces are given on a first come, first served basis. There will be no parking allowed on Main Street before 8 a.m. Entry will be at Main Street and Broadway only. Motorcycles will park on Upper Level parking at the Jackson City Hall.

For information, contact Walt Hoeser at (209) 223-2026.

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