Amador County – The Amador County assessor has determined land slated for future construction of a $150 million casino near Ione has reached a status available to put it on the county’s tax defaulted property list, as reported last Tuesday by Supervisor John Plasse.

The land is owned by the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, which consists mainly of one family.

County Counsel Martha Shaver said the assessor has been assessing real property taxes against the land, whose owners reportedly have not paid property taxes in a number of years.

She said this is because they are “awaiting the eventual determination in court that this land is a reservation and not subject to taxation.”

Amador County announced in July it will seek to appeal a federal judge’s determination that the Secretary of the Interior acted properly in approving by inaction the compact between the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians and the State of California.

Shaver said the county is arguing the land is ineligible for gaming under federal law. She said the county firmly believes that the Buena Vista land is not tribal land. She referred to the previous determination as a “procedural ruling” which “never got to the issue of whether this is Indian land.”

She said the county is filing a written appeal next month, to be followed by a counter argument from the tribe’s representatives and a decision in the federal Court of Appeals in January. If the appeal is turned down, she said, the county may request it be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, although that is “not an appeal by right.” Allowing further appeals beyond January is up to the court.

Plasse said the court’s decision “may affect the decision as to whether Amador County decides to leave the (land) on the tax defaulted property list or not.”

In addition to appealing the federal ruling on the gaming compact, both Amador County and “Friends of Amador County” are currently appealing a recent decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authorizing the tribe to discharge treated wastewater into an unnamed tributary of Jackson Creek.

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Amador County – The Amador County assessor has determined land slated for future construction of a $150 million casino near Ione has reached a status available to put it on the county’s tax defaulted property list, as reported last Tuesday by Supervisor John Plasse.

The land is owned by the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, which consists mainly of one family.

County Counsel Martha Shaver said the assessor has been assessing real property taxes against the land, whose owners reportedly have not paid property taxes in a number of years.

She said this is because they are “awaiting the eventual determination in court that this land is a reservation and not subject to taxation.”

Amador County announced in July it will seek to appeal a federal judge’s determination that the Secretary of the Interior acted properly in approving by inaction the compact between the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians and the State of California.

Shaver said the county is arguing the land is ineligible for gaming under federal law. She said the county firmly believes that the Buena Vista land is not tribal land. She referred to the previous determination as a “procedural ruling” which “never got to the issue of whether this is Indian land.”

She said the county is filing a written appeal next month, to be followed by a counter argument from the tribe’s representatives and a decision in the federal Court of Appeals in January. If the appeal is turned down, she said, the county may request it be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, although that is “not an appeal by right.” Allowing further appeals beyond January is up to the court.

Plasse said the court’s decision “may affect the decision as to whether Amador County decides to leave the (land) on the tax defaulted property list or not.”

In addition to appealing the federal ruling on the gaming compact, both Amador County and “Friends of Amador County” are currently appealing a recent decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authorizing the tribe to discharge treated wastewater into an unnamed tributary of Jackson Creek.

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

Amador County – The Ione City Council on Tuesday agreed to look at delaying a rent increase at Castle Oaks Golf Course, due to the economy.

Councilman David Plank said the council should do everything it can do to help and support Castle Oaks, which is a significant employer in Ione, with 50 employees.

Castle Oaks Golf Pro Dominic Atlan said many employees are part-time but about 80 percent are Ione residents. He said they “try to hire locally, and not within 100 miles, within 2 miles.”

Atlan said they ask only for 1 year of paying the same rent, figured at 2 percent of the golf course’s total revenue, instead of 3 percent, for its land rent.

In public comment, Gary Thomas asked if the city golf course committee was still meeting, and recommended it meet again to be fair to Portlock International, owner of Castle Oaks. Atlan agreed, saying it had not met recently and he suggested it meet three times a year.

Councilman Lee Ard said Castle Oaks is the only retailer in Ione that pays rent to the city.

Councilwoman Andrea Bonham said Castle Oaks helps the city with fundraisers and is home to the city tertiary wastewater plant. She said the lease has been vague, and they should address whether the city can do an audit of the golf course first, so they don’t spend money unnecessarily.

City Manager Kim Kerr said if they did an audit, the city could contract with a Utah company, or ask Portlock to bring its books to town.

Atlan said Castle Oaks has had a three-year pay freeze, lost its dental insurance and its owner has written personal checks to cover costs. He said this year they have made a $60,000 property tax payment and a $40,000 Mello-Roos payment and have not passed on costs to Ione residents in green fees.

Larry Rhodes asked if the city was still “subsidizing” the tertiary plant. Kerr said the city does pay part of that, due to a lawsuit ruling.

Atlan said Castle Oaks pays 85 percent of tertiary plant costs, and the ruling was the result of having city operators cause damage to plant equipment. He said it was not fair that Castle Oaks should pay for city errors.

Kerr said the city does get a report of Castle Oaks fiscal year profits and losses. She said she will report back soon on whether the lease agreement would allow a city audit of the company’s books.

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

Sacramento - All four candidates for State Senate District 1 will appear tonight in a debate at William Jessup University in Rocklin.

Republicans Barbara Alby, Ted Gaines and Roger Niello and Democrat Ken Cooley will field questions from students, faculty, media and community members.

All four candidates have been campaigning for a relatively short period of time to fill the seat left empty by the late Senator Dave Cox, who passed away in July. The upcoming Election Day on November 2 is a primary for the seat, with the actual election to take place in January.

State Senate District 1 is a geographically diverse, mostly rural district which includes all or portions of Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Mono, Plumas Sierra, Nevada, Placer and Sacramento counties.

The candidates forum is hosted by William Jessup's public policy department and the Roseville Chamber of Commerce. It is scheduled to begin at 6 pm tonight (Monday, October 25) in the Lecture Hall at the university, located at 333 Sunset Blvd.

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Amador County – The Amador Water Agency discussed deferring some big costs on the horizon last week, including a sewer treatment plant capacity improvement agreement with Sutter Creek.

Finance Manager Mike Lee said he deferred a budgeted payment of $250,000 to Sutter Creek toward future sewer treatment capacity, saying the agency does not have an agreement in place.

He said meeting the budget still will require negotiations with bargaining units and a reduction in salaries. The board meeting Thursday includes discussion of the agency’s proposed reorganization.

General Manager Gene Mancebo said they are “starting to discuss that capacity” agreement, and he suggested trying to pay Sutter Creek for the sewer expansion over a number of years, instead of paying the “whole nut” at once.

AWA Attorney Steven Kronick said “the AWA participated because it would get capacity,” and it needs to meet waste discharge requirements.

When the Sutter Creek treatment plant “went online, they were having trouble operating,” Mancebo said. “Since then, there have been changes to the agreement” by attorneys on both sides, and the city also hired a new attorney after Dennis Crabb retired.

Kronick said the agency needs “verification of additional capacity that was expected.” Mancebo said the “terms of the agreement are subject to the board’s approval, in my opinion.”

Vice President Debbie Dunn said the city “can speed it up on us,” and Mancebo said there is not a big rush or demand for new capacity, and the project “has not been the highest priority” for the agency.

Dunn said “this is a bargain” and “we don’t want to lose this,” and Mancebo agreed, but said he would like to spread the payments over time. Director Terence Moore suggested that they try to pay their share at the rate Sutter Creek is paying back its loan.

The board has a regular meeting 9 a.m. Thursday, and the agenda includes the agency’s reorganization. The board could also discuss a draft strategic plan, and could have an “update, discussion and possible direction to staff regarding the Wild and Scenic Designation” of the Mokelumne River.

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Amador County – The Amador Water Agency learned that two supervisors supported discussing the Gravity Supply Line project, and that the agency has about $1 million in cash.

General Manager Gene Mancebo told the board last week he had spoken to Amador County Supervisors John Plasse and Chairman Brian Oneto, who “want to see us proceed with the GSL” and support having the full Board of Supervisors consider a request to push back a due date for the agency to repay a county loan of Water Development Funds.

Mancebo said he met October 13th with Oneto, Plasse and county staff and discussed the possibility of pushing back the due date of the $900,000 loan. He said the agency wants to change the due date from December 31, to August 31 of 2011. He said they supported taking that question to the full board of supervisors for consideration.

Finance Manager Mike Lee said the agency has about $1 million in cash. He showed the board budget assumptions for the remainder of the fiscal year, with and without the GSL and its USDA grant and loan.

Lee said the county loan would be assumed to be deferred and renegotiated. The GSL in this fiscal year would take about $320,000 to get the project out to bid, buy easements and give a notice to proceed.

Lee said money coming from USDA for the Gravity Supply Line would allow the agency to pay back the county and reimburse all of its own sunk-costs.

Mancebo said they had already spent $1,145,000 on the GSL, and “all of that would come back in the way of reimbursement, above the $900,000.”

Director Don Cooper said it would take $70,000 to go out for bids. Another $250,000 would get them to the “finish line,” if they decide to proceed.

President Bill Condrashoff said the report seemed to say the agency would be “better off proceeding with the GSL than not proceeding with the GSL delay.”

Vice President Debbie Dunn liked “looking at it in both directions,” and likened it to deciding whether to “buy a new car.”

Cooper said a “delay means we are moving forward” on the GSL, and the agency has “a couple of really huge hurdles to bring it to the finish line,” including a rate change to finance the USDA loan. Director Terence Moore said they are “not assuming any rate increase through June.”

The board sent the budget report to the finance committee for further review.

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