Amador County – The next American Legion Post 108 blood drive in Amador County, set for April 4, will include a donation by a man who in effect will be repaying a large loan of sorts, which he took out in the amount of 95 units of blood received after a motorcycle crash 29 years ago.

Veteran Community Blood Drive promoter Robert Saracino, of American Legion Post 108, said he did not know until recently that the local man was quietly repaying a debt. Saracino said he learned about it at the last drive, when the man said that he had one more unit to donate in order to replenish the 95 units.

BloodSource account manager Stephanie Kress said Delbert Mendoza, a man in the Jackson area, will be donating his 95th unit, or pint, of blood and received 95 units of blood after an accident in 1982. He will donate blood at the April 4 Veteran Community blood drive in Sutter Creek.

Kresse said “Mendoza believes in giving back what one has received,” and on April 4, “if he’s feeling well and healthy, he will give back his 95th pint of blood, replacing the 95 units he used following a terrible motorcycle crash with a semi-truck in 1982.”

Mendoza said: “I technically died 12 times over the following two weeks and then went into a month long coma.” He “had many broken bones and received 95 blood transfusions.”

Kresse said he “survived not only to share his story, but to thank blood donors and encourage others to give. He has looked forward many years to replacing in full the number of donations he received that allowed him to go on with his life.”

Mendoza thanks blood donors, saying: “My heart can’t speak nor can I translate into words to express a message of thanks for your generosity. You saved my life! From my heart to your heart, thank you!”

Kress said Type O-negative blood is “especially needed for trauma patients” like Mendoza. Blood donors can celebrate saving lives at the Veteran Community Drive set for 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, April 4 at the American Legion Hall, at 11401 American Legion Drive in Sutter Creek.

Sponsors are the American Legion Post 108, along with Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8254, and the Disabled American Veterans Post 188. Blood donors will be automatically entered into a weekly drawing for a $250 fuel gift card.

For eligibility info, call BloodSource at 1-800-995-4420. For information, call (209) 223-4389. Donors are asked to eat and drink before they donate, and to also bring a photo ID.

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Amador County – The next American Legion Post 108 blood drive in Amador County, set for April 4, will include a donation by a man who in effect will be repaying a large loan of sorts, which he took out in the amount of 95 units of blood received after a motorcycle crash 29 years ago.

Veteran Community Blood Drive promoter Robert Saracino, of American Legion Post 108, said he did not know until recently that the local man was quietly repaying a debt. Saracino said he learned about it at the last drive, when the man said that he had one more unit to donate in order to replenish the 95 units.

BloodSource account manager Stephanie Kress said Delbert Mendoza, a man in the Jackson area, will be donating his 95th unit, or pint, of blood and received 95 units of blood after an accident in 1982. He will donate blood at the April 4 Veteran Community blood drive in Sutter Creek.

Kresse said “Mendoza believes in giving back what one has received,” and on April 4, “if he’s feeling well and healthy, he will give back his 95th pint of blood, replacing the 95 units he used following a terrible motorcycle crash with a semi-truck in 1982.”

Mendoza said: “I technically died 12 times over the following two weeks and then went into a month long coma.” He “had many broken bones and received 95 blood transfusions.”

Kresse said he “survived not only to share his story, but to thank blood donors and encourage others to give. He has looked forward many years to replacing in full the number of donations he received that allowed him to go on with his life.”

Mendoza thanks blood donors, saying: “My heart can’t speak nor can I translate into words to express a message of thanks for your generosity. You saved my life! From my heart to your heart, thank you!”

Kress said Type O-negative blood is “especially needed for trauma patients” like Mendoza. Blood donors can celebrate saving lives at the Veteran Community Drive set for 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, April 4 at the American Legion Hall, at 11401 American Legion Drive in Sutter Creek.

Sponsors are the American Legion Post 108, along with Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8254, and the Disabled American Veterans Post 188. Blood donors will be automatically entered into a weekly drawing for a $250 fuel gift card.

For eligibility info, call BloodSource at 1-800-995-4420. For information, call (209) 223-4389. Donors are asked to eat and drink before they donate, and to also bring a photo ID.

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Amador County – The Sutter Creek City Council voted 5-0 Monday to sell 10 units of the city’s wastewater treatment plant capacity to the Amador Water Agency, at a total cost of $54,000, to help the agency meet demand for a new company in Martell.

City Manager Sean Rabe recommended the sale of the 10 “Equivalent Dwelling Units” worth of capacity to the AWA, saying he “asked City Sewer Engineer Grant Reynolds to analyze the city’s ability to provide the additional capacity.” He said “city staff believes the plant has enough capacity to sell AWA the 2,000 gallons per day and recommends doing so.”

Reynolds in a memo to Mayor Tim Murphy and the City Council said that in 2009, under the direction of former City Manager Rob Duke, and with the assistance of City Planner Bruce Baracco, city staff “created a spreadsheet showing the committed capacity of the city’s wastewater treatment plant.”

Reynolds said the city is permitted for 480,000 gallons of sewer plant capacity, and has 15,580 gallons of capacity available. He said AWA requested purchase of “wastewater treatment plant capacity to accommodate sewage disposal for a new business in the Community Service Area Number 4 business area,” in Martell.

The council approved a resolution that held the purchase terms. It said the AWA requested the purchase of “2,000 gallons per day of additional sewage treatment capacity from the city of Sutter Creek’s wastewater treatment plant.”

The resolution said the agency sought the equivalent of 10 “single family units,” or 196 gallons per day each, and a current agreement signed with the county and with AWA sets the connection fee of $5,300 per unit. The 2,000 gallons equal 10.2 units, setting the cost of the sewage capacity connection fee at $54,060.

The resolution said “prior agreements between the city, the AWA and Amador County … set the equivalent flow for a single family residence at 196 gallons per day.”

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Amador County – The Amador County Unified School District this week received a report of the district and Office of Education’s financial status, and heard that staff is working to get $1.3 million from its tax district.

Interim Chief Business Officer Teresa Ryland discussed revisions in a report, saying the “major change to the budget is due to the Basic Aid status of the District,” reflected in “revenue and other designations of the budget revisions.” She said District staff has found that Amador Unified is a Basic Aid district. After the revisions, she said the district’s “unappropriated ending fund balance” would be $833,000.

Ryland in the report said staff has been working with Amador County and the California Department of Education “to determine if the District is an excess tax district or basic aid district,” and it was determined it is a Basic Aid district. She said per education code and revenue and taxation code, “the district is entitled to all of its property taxes, excluding” the Educational Revenue Augmentation Funds, “and that amount is greater than the district’s calculated revenue limit.”

She said: “Receiving this year’s proper entitlement should happen automatically as the year is still open. However, we have received resistance to the County reopening last year’s property tax distributions, even though the correct distribution would have been to increase the district’s allocation by $1.3 million.”

Ryland said: “We will continue to work with the County, CDE and whomever else is necessary to assure the district receives its fair share of funding.”

She planned to give the Board of Trustees a detailed explanation of the changes at its meeting Wednesday. Ryland said “revenue limit changes reflect the Governor’s ‘Plan B,’ or tax extensions not passing this summer. In the district’s case, however, the maximum loss of revenue limit funding is the amount by when the district is Basic Aid.” She said “at this time, that is almost $900,000, instead of over $2 million if the district were not Basic Aid.”

The Board also was to consider removing a “high school computer literacy requirement” for graduation and “replace it with industry relevant technology electives for career pathways.”

Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, Elizabeth Chapin-Pinotti in a staff report said: “Computer literacy must move into this century and encompass all of technology.” She recommended the elimination of the computer literacy requirement. She said Amador County Unified is “one of the only districts in the region to have a computer literacy requirement for high school graduation.

Chapin-Pinotti said the change would “allow more room for all types of Career Technical elective” classes.

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Amador County – Amador County Board of Supervisors approved an emergency purchase of a dump truck and trailer Tuesday for $108,000, pending assurance that the truck has a clear title.

Supervisors directed General Services Director Jon Hopkins to do verification of information and request a clear title on the truck, which is a 2008 Kenwood T800 dump truck, for sale in Prescott, Arizona. Hopkins in a report to the board asked for the item to be “blue slipped,” that is, inserted into the board’s agenda as an emergency. He said the information was not available until after the agenda was posted” and “if the matter was postponed to the next regularly scheduled board meeting on April 5, the opportunity to secure the negotiated price” would be missed.

Hopkins asked for a waive of the formal bidding process, saying that the GSA had worked with Public Works Department for more than a year to find transport “trucks and trailers that meet Public Works specifications.” He said Dan Ryan of Arizona is “willing to sell his truck and trailers that meet the majority of public works specifications for $100,000.”

Hopkins said “many variables have been explored and no truck and trailers have been located within the budgeted amount during this time period.” He said the truck purchase was approved in the budgetary process but was limited to $110,000 in the current budget. The GSA estimated that painting the truck and trailers would cost about $12,000.

Hopkins said “Ryan reduced his asking price because he is downsizing and is willing to sell as a private party further saving any auctioneer or sales commission.” He was “also willing to pay off the lien holder to avoid any complications and ensure a clean transaction.”

Regarding the bidding, which was waived, Hopkins said: “Due to the uniqueness and variables of used equipment, bidding is not possible and, therefore, waiving the bid process is recommended.” He said “sellers cannot guarantee the equipment of interest will not be sold while awaiting the approval process.”

The non-compliance of specifications that Public Works was looking for included mileage. It sought a truck with less than 50,000 miles, though the Kenworth has 74,000 miles. The truck also had a 13,200-pound front axle, instead of a 20,000-pound axle that was sought. The truck complies with California Air Resources requirements for 18-speed diesel trucks.

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Amador County – The Bureau of Land Management is seeking public nominations for three open positions on its Central California District Resource Advisory Council, which advises the bureau on public land issues.

Public Affairs official David Christy said BLM will consider nominations until May 2. BLM’s Resource Advisory Councils are “composed of citizens chosen for their expertise in natural resource issues” and they help the BLM “carry out its stewardship of 245 million acres of public lands.”

Christy said BLM “manages more land than any other Federal agency.” Each Council consists of 12-15 members with an interest in public land management, including such individuals as conservationists, ranchers, outdoor recreationists, state and local government officials, tribal officials, and academics.

Diverse membership of each RAC is aimed at managing the public lands for multiple uses. The Central California RAC advises BLM officials for the Hollister, Mother Lode, Bakersfield and Bishop field offices.

BLM Director Bob Abbey said “people who live, work, and recreate near or on BLM-managed lands deserve a formal voice on public land issues. Their input will enhance our agency’s ability to manage the public lands for multiple uses while conserving resources.”

Individuals may nominate themselves or others to serve on a RAC. Nominees will be judged on the basis of their training, education, and knowledge of the council’s geographical area.

Nominees should “demonstrate a commitment to consensus building and collaborative decision-making,” Christy said. Nomination forms and additional information are available on the BLM’s website. Three RAC positions open in the Central California District include two categories. Category One, with one open position, is open to “public land ranchers and representatives of organizations associated with energy and mineral development, the timber industry, transportation or rights-of-way, off-highway vehicle use, and commercial recreation.”

Category Two, with two open positions,” is open to “representatives of nationally or regionally recognized environmental organizations, archaeological and historical organizations, dispersed recreation activities, and wild horse and burro organizations.”

For nomination info, call (916) 941-3146.

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Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors discussed its financial plan for the Gravity Supply Line at its last meeting, and talked about the bidding process, and a series of “coffee shop” meetings to discuss the elements involved.

The agency board discussed the Gravity Supply Line project with engineering and financial reports, during what was scheduled as a staff update of the progress, and talk of plans for a public education program.

AWA General Manager Gene Mancebo said staff is going through a prequalification for bid contractors, and once they are pre-qualified, then the agency will go out to bid on the project. Engineering Manager Erik Christeson said the agency has a projected May 24 bid opening target date, based on the progress of staff work, and easement acquisition.

Mancebo said the “financial plan is making assumptions on what the bid will be,” and it includes different bid levels, including low or high bids, in different plans.

He said the Public Relations Committee and staff have come up with ideas for a series of “coffee shop” meetings with small groups to talk about the GSL and the Central Amador Water Project, likely in April. He said they hope to discuss issues with the CAWP system, not just the GSL and answer questions such as: What is CAWP, how was it created, and what does it do? Mancebo said they want to find out how customers want the agency to spend their money, and they want to get feedback for the board on what the public would like to see. He said they have not yet set dates for the meetings.

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