At its Monday morning meeting, the Amador County Administrative Committee dealt with three important matters in a very short time.

Nearing the end of a 10-year contract with the state of California, Amador County Health and Human Services Director Tracy Russell made a presentation to the committee requesting the contract be allowed to expire.

The contract in question was signed in 1998 in response to state-mandated programs that required the services of highly-specialized personnel in Health and Human Services. At the time, the state's contribution to the viability of the contract came in the form of a subsidy to the county.

As time has gone by, Russell said, "The state has changed the way it does business. They have started to ding the county more and more. We can't afford to continue to pay for the state's overhead."

If the contract expires, County Administrative Officer Terri Daly estimated that it would save the county between $70,000 to $100,000. This will happen because two positions affected by the contract will end on the expiration date, June 30, along with an end to administrative payments to the state.

Mike Israel, director of the county environmental health department, informed the committee that the contract expiration would leave the department short-handed. Daly recommended that recruitment of replacement personnel begin as soon as possible, bearing in mind the county's present hiring constraints.

The decision of the committee was to allow Health and Human Services to write a letter to the state of California, informing them of the county's intention to allow the contract to expire on June 30.

Of more immediate concern to the residents of Amador County was a request from the Amador County Public Works Department. Public Works has received word from the state that the county's share of funds from Prop. 1B will be $1,152,210, substantially more than the $861,000 preliminary estimate made last year. These additional funds have allowed the department to revise its budget upwards.

Public Works Director Larry Peterson presented the revised budget, seeking a committee recommendation that the budget be sent on for approval by the full board of supervisors. "We can begin to access these funds by the end of March," Peterson told the committee. "The new short list of projects consists of eight roads. Some projects have been added, some dropped."

The eight roads on the short list are Ridge Road (twice), Climax, Jackson Gate, Michigan Bar, Fiddletown and Shenandoah (also twice).

In comparing the new list to the old, District 2 Supervisor Richard Forster, who co-chairs the committee with District 3 Supervisor Ted Novelli, noted that he personally received many more complaints about Curran Road's condition than about Michigan Bar Road.

Gary Schaff of Public Works replied that "Curran Road has been repaired in the past and is on a future list. As long as that section stays under water as often as it does, it's really hard to repair. Even FEMA has been involved there."

The plans for work on the eight roads include overlay and chip seal, repairs that staff members estimate will last for some time between six and 15 years. The committee approved the Public Works request.

The committee's third matter was consideration of the county budgeting process.

"I don't want to say that we're entirely safe," Daly said, "but if everyone holds to a no-growth budget, we should be OK. There will have to be no increase in services and supplies and no new positions created."

When asked by Novelli what is being done with departments that are staffed heavily and not so busy due to the slowdowns in some areas affected by real estate and building, Daly responded, "We are working on shifting personnel where possible."

Forster and Daly discussed the county's ongoing need for a Deputy County Administrative Officer, which Amador County has not had since 2001. They agreed that it would be extremely helpful to have someone to coordinate the departments of environmental health, planning and building, but the budget doesn't allow for filling that position right now.

The next step in the budget development timeline is the upcoming study session with the full board of supervisors on March 4.