Ledger-Dispatch

By Jenifer Gee (jgee@ledger-dispatch.com)=20

Sutter Creek Councilman Brent Parsons, = right,=20 presents Mayor Pro Tem Bill Hepworth with a resolution and plaque = of=20 appreciation for his dedication to the beautification and mural=20 projects.

Photo by: Jenifer Gee

Sutter Creek Councilman Tim Murphy = presents=20 Sutter Creek resident Toni Linde with a resolution honoring her = work on=20 the Christmas Light Parade that light up Main Street last = month.

Photo by: Jenifer=20 Gee
An hour-and-a-half public hearing with = most=20 attendees stating they did not have enough time to review the = information at=20 hand led the Sutter Creek City Council to continue a public hearing on a = matter=20 time sensitive to the proposed Gold Rush Ranch and Golf Course = Resort.

On=20 Monday night staff presented to the council a Capital Facilities Fee = Nexus=20 study, which is a study that will develop the city's fee program for = future=20 developments. The study determines separate impact fees, to be charged = to new=20 development and areas annexed into the city, for various capital = facilities=20 including police, fire, city hall, historical facilities and other=20 areas.

This study proposed that the fee per unit for a = residential unit=20 would be $3,787.

The study, advertised and available for the past = 30=20 days, came as a surprise to some of the attendees in the audience, = including=20 local developers. As a result, several attendees asked the council for = more time=20 to look over the document so they could have their questions=20 answered.

Some of the crowd and council's concerns centered = around=20 whether or not developers were being charged a fair share, what impact = the fees=20 would have to already existing citizens, and other questions.

The = council=20 was asked to approve the first reading, direct staff and the consultant = to=20 answer unanswered questions, and include those in the final report to be = approved at a second reading in two weeks.

Councilmember Tim = Murphy said=20 he, too, was uncomfortable approving a first reading because his = page-long list=20 of questions had not all been answered.

In the end, the council = brought=20 an almost two-hour conversation to an end by voting unanimously to = continue the=20 public hearing until the council's next meeting Jan. 22.

Council = and=20 attendees went on a tangent on an issue that has dogged the city and the = Amador=20 County Transportation Commission for years during a report from ACTC = Executive=20 Director Charles Field.

The vacant lot on the corner of Ridge = Road and=20 Highway 49 has remained vacant for years, with city officials and = developers=20 saying that the main problem rests in the lack of access into the site. = The city=20 has proposed a left hand turn lane off Ridge Road into the development = but that=20 possibility is now being further scrutinized by the state Department of=20 Transportation.

Sutter Creek resident and developer Dennis = Griffin, who=20 previously owned the property, asked Field point blank if he supports = the left=20 hand turn lane.

Field responded by saying he would remain in the = middle.=20 "When I say I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, I understand the = city's=20 place - it's been made very clear to me by the city manager several = times - on=20 the other hand our (ACTC) job is to maintain safety and traffic = circulation,"=20 Field said, explaining that Caltrans engineers are now saying the left = hand turn=20 may not be safe even with a speed limit reduction.

Eventually, = Field got=20 what he came for: an approval of the regional mitigation fee annual = report and=20 expenditure of funds. The fee remains the same at $304 per trip in, = which is a=20 fee charged to every city.

In other news, Councilmember Gary = Wooten was=20 elected as the city's new mayor for 2008 and kept Mayor Pro Tem Bill = Hepworth at=20 his post for another year.

Wooten told the council and audience = that he=20 is ready for the responsibilities that come with being mayor.

"I = do=20 realize how important it is being the mayor of Sutter Creek," Wooten = said. "With=20 all of the important decisions coming up this year, hopefully I'll do a = good=20 job."

Jenifer = Gee