Tom

Amador County – Sutter Creek Mayor Gary Wooten apologized last week for an outburst he made July 6th in a council meeting, saying he was caught up in the moment. Wooten apologized to those in attendance July 6th, When he said Chris Seyboldt was making a “low-life comment” about an issue being discussed. Wooten said the council was being grilled about the recent Grand Jury report, and when he gets passionate about issues, he gets very intense. He said: “I have trouble intimidating my wife and my 3-year-old grandchild.” Wooten said the Grand Jury finding that the council rules with “intimidation” was not true, that he was not trying to intimidate people at Sutter Creek City Council meetings and he was sorry if he did intimidate them. Wooten said none of the Grand Jury findings are major, and “all of them have been corrected.” Sutter Creek resident Ed Arata disagreed, and urged the city to “investigate further and consider possible legal action” on 20 of the findings. Arata admitted to submitting a 4-page, 8-item complaint to the Grand Jury about Sutter Creek city government, which launched the jury’s probe of Sutter Creek. Arata, in a letter to the city council, said the council should “immediately rotate the mayor position to a council member who is more responsive to the citizens” and “who does not badger and attempt to intimidate the citizens speaking at public meetings.” City Manager Sean Rabe and Mayor Pro Tempore Tim Murphy are working on a draft response, which the council could consider at its August 6th meeting. Ed Swift in public comment asked the council to consider making downtown sidewalks safer, instead of simply addressing liability. He noted that the city was liable for this now that Caltrans had relinquished Old Highway 49 to the city, after completion of the bypass. Swift also said the “city spent highway money for other purposes,” and “I think it’s wrong.” Wooten said “Caltrans did give Sutter Creek $3 million when it relinquished the highway to the city.” He said that money was not specifically designated to be used on anything. He said it was spent as the city needed it, and was not misused. City Finance Director Joe Aguilar agreed, saying “there is no restriction on the use of that money.” Councilwoman Linda Rianda said the council passed a crosswalks ordinance, but still must address sidewalk liability. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in Local

Monday, 26 July 2010 06:10

FOAC Files Appeal to EPA Approval of BV Wastewater Permit

Amador County - Friends of Amador County (FOAC), a community group opposed to the proposed Buena Vista Casino near Ione, has filed an appeal to a recent decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authorizing the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians to discharge treated wastewater into an unnamed tributary of Jackson Creek. The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit is just one of many steps necessary in the tribe’s pursuit of a new $150 million casino. In a letter to the EPA, FOAC Chairman Jerry Cassesi lists in detail four reasons why his group feels the permit should be revoked. Cassesi references the permit document, saying the “permit assumes that the ‘location where discharge enters receiving water’ is understood,” but “this location is…anything but clear.” He goes on to say that further permission would be required from surrounding “landowners” and the exact location of the “receiving waters” are not clarified. In his second point for review, he says “there is no finding, no clarity, and no guidance” in what is referred to in the permit document language as “the discharge point to receiving water” and requests that the area of “several miles” be described specifically. Referencing a section referring to “reclaimed water limitations,” Cassesi says “you do not have to be a hydrologist to understand that some surface water goes into the ground, particularly in deep porous topsoil as in the Jackson Valley where the Buena Vista Rancheria Casino is proposed.” He says this is “a deep-seated concern” to local residents because over the years “there have been several occurrences in the surrounding Ione area of generational sterility and birth defects” and “four instances of canine deaths due to cancer” in close proximity to the proposed wastewater discharge point. Finally, he requests “a review of the annual flooding of roads leading to the proposed casino which will be greatly exacerbated by wastewater discharge of the magnitude allowed by this permit.” Cassesi writes that “all four of FOAC’s requests for review involve failure to make essential findings of fact.” He said “this results in erroneous presumptions that pose a significant threat to the health and safety of the people of the Jackson Valley, now and in the future.” The construction of the casino remains a contentious issue in Amador County. The Amador County Board of Supervisors has consistently opposed any Indian gaming expansion and specifically opposes the establishment of the Buena Vista Casino near Ione. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in Local

Monday, 26 July 2010 06:08

Plymouth Ok's Joint Greenhouse Gas Grant

Amador County – Plymouth City Council Thursday agreed to apply for a grant for a countywide greenhouse gas inventory, but still wants information before finalizing the decision. Community Development Director Barry Siebe said the county would lead an application for Proposition 84 funding to inventory countywide sources of greenhouse gas, as required by new law, Senate Bill 32. Siebe said the law requires the inventory on any project that requires a California Environmental Quality Act study, and doing the inventory would make Plymouth and the county more attractive to development. The estimated cost to apply was $7,000. Siebe said the county was asking each city to join the application at no cost, but each is urged to contribute what it can afford. Ione last week joined and contributed $1,000. Siebe and Amador County Planner Susan Grijalva said there is a movement to repeal SB32 or suspend it due to the economy. Councilman Mike O’Meara said he knew they had to cover their “rear ends,” but “cap and trade is going to kill” his and other businesses, or push them to other states. Councilman Greg Baldwin said the only emissions the state should worry about are from vehicles, and supported taking a “stand” against SB32. Mayor Pat Fordyce was leery of the law being rescinded, wondered if the application was premature, asked if funding would be extended (if the August 31st filing deadline was missed). Siebe was not sure, and Grijalva said staff could ask that question at a workshop on the grants this week in Sacramento. The council approved the application, but will “rescind it,” Baldwin said, “if we don’t like the answer.” The council will get the answer August 4th in joint meeting with its Planning Commission. The council, on O’Meara’s suggestion, also approved sending a “very strong letter” to “explain to Sacramento that this is going to kill us.” Councilwoman Pat Shackleton said she was “sick and tired of voting for things” under pressure of a deadline from the state, adding that: “We’re on the pipeline and I wish to heck we weren’t. I’m not going to vote for it.” She eventually changed her mind and voted for the resolution to prepare the application, on a 5-0 vote. Grijalva said she will take the joint application to the Board of Supervisors August 3rd. She said “we have to do it together or individually, and it will be cheaper to do inventory together than separately and redundantly.” The grant could total $100,000 to $1 million. Siebe said if all cities and the county don’t approve the joint application, then Plymouth is “off the hook.” Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in Local

Monday, 26 July 2010 06:01

Jackson to Decide On Multiple Agenda Items

Amador County – The Jackson City Council will meet this evening to discuss a packed agenda, including wastewater treatment, Measure E transient occupancy tax funds and a request to lease city property near the Amador Senior Center for a radio station antenna. “Jackson Wastewater Treatment, Storage, Disposal and Reclamation Options” are the subject of a staff report which will seek direction from the council on facility upgrades, the possible negative effects of removing city effluent from Jackson Creek, and “the formation of a sewer rate committee to evaluate the impact of the recommendations on sewer rates in Jackson,” among other items. The Council will also consider a request by Hometown Radio owner Jim Guidi to place an “85 foot tall fiberglass radio antenna and a small equipment building behind the northerly parking lot at the Amador Senior Center.” The antenna will eventually be used to help Guidi achieve his goal of once again broadcasting his station on a much broader AM frequency. The station is currently only available using special sideband radios. Also on the agenda, the Council will review a recommendation by the City’s Measure E Advisory Committee “for allocation of transient occupancy tax funding to the Amador Council of Tourism and pass a motion approving an allocation of $12,400.” In a related item, the Council will consider authorizing the Mayor to send a letter opposing “a propaganda campaign” advocating an amendment to proposed legislation that would exclude online travel companies from paying the full transient occupancy tax. These taxes generally amount to about 10 percent of the City’s General Fund revenue. Finally, the council will consider continuation of the Amador Regional Planning Committee after the recent formation of a similar County group called the Executive Committee. In a memo to the Council, City Manager Mike Daly explains that while the committees do have similarities, “the distinct differences are the public nature of one (the Planning Committee) and the exclusive nature of the other as well as quite dissimilar objectives.” The Council will vote on and discuss these and other issues at its regularly scheduled meeting tonight at the Jackson Civic Center in downtown Jackson. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.