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.

Amador County - Effective 8:00 AM, Friday, October 22, 2010, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) announces burn hours will not be restricted on permissive burn days on private lands within the Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit. This includes the counties of Calaveras, Tuolumne, and those eastern portions of San Joaquin and Stanislaus that are within the State Responsibility Area. Lifting the burn hour restrictions also applies to lands within the Direct Protection Area (DPA) of the Stanislaus National Forest.

Burn permits are required. Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit Chief Mike Noonan adds “Conditions will continue to be monitored and restrictions or suspension will go back into place if conditions warrant. Open hours burning on permissive burn days allows home owners to burn debris created by working on 100 feet of defensible space.”

Even with the cooler weather and forecasted rain a fire can still escape. It is critical that the person conducting the burn keep close watch on the fire at all times. If the fire gets away, that person can be held liable for the damage and suppression costs.

It is the landowner’s responsibility to check with the local Air Pollution Control District for permissive days by calling the local APCD office.

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

Amador County – Amador County Supervisors discussed the Wild & Scenic designation proposed for the Mokelumne River on Tuesday, hearing from both sides before deciding not to support the designation.

Executive Director Chris Wright said the Foothill Conservancy added a portion to the designation land area, to stretch it from just below the Salt Springs Reservoir to the upper pool of Pardee Lake. He said the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management also added to the footprint in their respective land plans.

Wright said it would not include lower tributaries or power plants, and would only affect public land, and “stop any new dams or diversions on that river.”

Supervisors John Plasse and Chairman Brian Oneto said the designation would put the land under National Park Service control, but Wright said it would not have that affect.

Supervisor Richard Forster said he has worked with the Conservancy on the designation, but issues such as that showed the need for third party involvement in discussions. He said he would like to get county consultant John Hofmann involved in future discussions.

Forster said right now, he did not support Wild & Scenic designation. Supervisor Louis Boitano said he has been on the Conservancy’s board, and said he would not support the designation until the Conservancy won the support of Elton Rodman and Roaring Camp mine. Boitano said that was still true.

Dennis Rodman said the designation bill “sounds really great unless you read the document, then it scares you,” and “gives away your rights.” He said a quarter-mile easement is taken in the designation. It allows landowners to “do what you do now, but if you change, you have to go get permission.”

Plasse agreed, saying all mining activities are subject to approval by the Secretary of the Interior, or the National Parks.

Rodman said: “It’s the beginning of the end for Roaring Camp. It may take a few years, but we’re done.”

He said “Dan Lungren called my father and said: ‘Elton, we thought you all liked this?’ So somebody out there is telling people we like this, and believe me, we don’t.”

Rodman said: “This feels like poison to me.” About six property owners along the river spoke against the designation, including Carol Cuneo and Mike Boitano, and a woman who would lose property under the East Bay Municipal Utility District 2040 Plan.

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

Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors approved $42,000 in tourism spending for three local organizations on Tuesday, with the stipulation that the groups will have to come back to the board to report how funds are being spent.

The board approved a $25,000 request for funds by the Amador Council of Tourism, a request for $15,000 by the Amador County Chamber of Commerce, and a request for $2,200 by the Amador County Film Commission.

Supervisor Richard Forster moved that whatever was not funded in the budget be taken out of the contingency fund. The board discussed the original budget of about $50,000, which was reduced by former Chief Administrative Officer Terry Daly.

The supervisors passed the requests unanimously. Supervisor John Plasse noted that the funds were coming from the county Transient Occupancy Tax, with totaled $86,000 in the unincorporated areas of the county. He said cities in the county generated $600,000 in their TOT taxes.

Plasse said the county is putting 50 percent of its TOT funds into promoting tourism, and “maybe the cities should do that too?”

Forster said he wanted to see the money used in the best way possible for the “promotion of tourism and bringing people to the county.”

He said the $25,000 was budgeted by Daly, but he wanted to “keep the business of tourism rolling in Amador County,” because tourist dollars are spent on lodging and retail. He said they should use some of that tax money to fund ACT, the Chamber and the Film Commission.

Forster said if supervisors “wanted to split it five ways,” they could all put in some of their district discretionary funds. He said it “should pay dividends by bringing tax dollars back into the county.”

He also requested a “full accounting of the use of the funds.” Plasse said he thought the requests for funding in the future should come with a list of proposed uses of funds.

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 on Tuesday approved a letter of support for Preston Youth Correctional Facility as rumors came out this week that it could be among facilities consider for closing.

Preston Board Member Bob Conrad told the council “it’s just a rumor at this point.” City Manager Kim Kerr said the rumors say the facility is “on the chopping block to be closed,” and they expect to “have an official announcement” this week or next week.

Councilman Lee Ard said rumors say that layoffs are coming and Preston could “shut down towards the end of the fiscal year.” Conrad asked for support for Preston, which also gives to the community. He said it gave $18,000 to Howard Park and raised close to $50,000 just from its golf tournament.

One counselor said Preston has close to 400 employees now. Kerr said that is down from 530 employees last year.

Dominic Atlan of Castle Oaks expressed support, and Gary Thomas said Preston is probably 80 percent along in meeting new court mandates, which “might be an interesting point of view” in comparing it with other facilities.

Kerr said a support letter signed by Mayor Skip Schaufel will be sent to the governor and state candidates. Schaufel said Supervisors approved a letter Tuesday “requesting public hearings before it happens.”

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 on Tuesday approved a draft letter detailing their opposition to a proposal by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to close the Preston Youth Correctional Facility.

Drafted by staff with the expectation that it will be signed by Board Chairman Brian Oneto, the letter “requests that all factors surrounding any closure of CDCR-DJJ facilities in Amador County be fully investigated before a decision is made.”

The closure would affect 400 staff and 218 juvenile wards. If it goes forward, it will take place June 30, 2011.

The board’s consideration of such opposition was added to the agenda even though no formal announcement has been made. Supervisor Richard Forster recused himself because he is also an employee of CDCR.

“Any decision to shut the doors at Preston Youth Correctional Facility in Ione will have a tremendous negative impact on the community of Ione and the County,” reads the letter. “Preston is considered a generational institution because it was constructed and opened in 1894. Because of this, many generations within families in our community have made their profession in the field of corrections.”

The letter says, “The CDCR should not ignore the fiscal savings in millions of dollars to the State of California and the department from the young men that go through this transition in their life, successfully parole, and do not return to the system.”

It says the closure will effect the “synergistic relationship” between Preston and the Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp, which has also been threatened with closure in recent years. It says “Preston has maintained a higher training and compliance rate than any other institution in the State.”

The letter also lists a number of services provided for the youth of Preston. These include Drug program services, Behavior Treatment programs and a Culinary Arts program.

In conclusion, it says,“The Amador County Board of Supervisors are dismayed at the lack of transparency from the CDCR and the method of doing business that does not make an ‘apples to apples’ comparison of facilities to allow a business decision that benefits all taxpayers in the State of California” and asks that a more complete analysis be made.

“This is something that concerns the Board of Supervisors greatly,” said Oneto on Tuesday. “If it closes down it will have a pretty big impact.”

A revised draft will be submitted shortly to CDCR Secretary Mathew Cate, including a request that CDCR hold local community hearings to discuss the impacts the closure would have.

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