First and foremost I would like to thank Mr. Scott for his volunteer work as golf coach for Amador High School. His guest commentary of Nov. 14 has some inaccuracies that I would like to address. A short history of Gold Rush would probably be helpful to all. In 1999, the city of Sutter Creek approached Mr. Troy Claveran with a proposal for a private/public partnership to purchase the Noble Ranch and part of the Allen Ranch - 945 acres in all. Once purchased, the property would be annexed into the city with the intent to build a golf course, clubhouse, small hotel, and 300 vacation time share townhomes. The city and Amador Regional Sanitation Authority would have the right to spray 1,300 acre-feet of treated effluent on this property. Public monies were used to assist with this purchase. The project as originally presented by the developer was approved in 2004. There was no citizen opposition to the original project; even the Foothill Conservancy was not opposed. Project approved, go forth and build.
Mr. Scott, why are we not playing golf at Gold Rush today? Very simply put, the developer got greedy and reneged on his agreement with the city. Remember, he had an approved project in hand. Maybe the possible profit of hundreds of millions of dollars had something to do with it. Maybe that kind of profit leads to the gracious generosity of which you speak. In conclusion, Mr. Scott, most of the citizens of Sutter Creek would welcome a golf course and vacation rentals, but not at the price of 1,400-plus homes and 57,000 square feet of retail space. Losing our small-town quality of life is too high a price to pay.