Ledger-Dispatch

By Jerry Budrick (jbudrick@ledger-dispatch.com= )=20

The four new Amador Water Agency = directors, who=20 will be taking their seats on Dec. 11, were present at Thursday's = AWA=20 meeting with other attendees.

Photo by: Jerry=20 Budrick
"Change" was the rallying cry on = both sides=20 in the battle for chief executive of the United States this election=20 year.

Change was clearly what people wanted and nowhere in Amador = County=20 will change be more evident than at the Amador Water Agency, where four = new=20 directors will be taking their seats in December.

AWA Director = Terry=20 Moore was elected interim president of the board of directors as the = four=20 departing members of the board cast their final votes at Thursday's = morning=20 meeting. Moore will be presiding at the Dec. 11 meeting, expected to be = the=20 first for the new directors, assuming certification of the Nov. 4 = election=20 results by the Amador County Board of Supervisors.

Moore's = presidency may=20 be short-lived. At the first meeting in December of election years, = newly=20 constituted AWA boards of directors elect a president and vice = president. AWA=20 Director Dave Thomas reminded the board that the agency has a two-year = board=20 membership requirement for election to the presidency. There was a brief = discussion and general agreement that the rules may need to be altered = by the=20 incoming board.

No tears were shed, and AWA Director Paul Scott = gave the=20 only farewell speech, thanking the agency, the staff and his fellow = directors=20 for 17 years of enjoyable and productive times. Chairman John Swift = completed=20 eight years as an agency director.

All four of the = directors-elect were=20 in attendance as Swift, Scott, Thomas and Madonna Wiebold joined Moore = in=20 unanimous approval of the few matters on the = agenda.

Miscellaneous fees=20 were raised for service calls, returned checks, public record production = and map=20 printing.

A blanket extension of one year for all conditional = will serve=20 commitments was approved. As the economic downturn has slowed nearly all = activities on construction projects, developers with plans in the works = have=20 been approaching the agency for extensions of time for water hook-ups to = homes=20 or businesses. Rather than deal with each request individually, agency = staff=20 asked for directors' approval of an automatic extension to = all.

"Are you=20 going to be driven by this extension to build infrastructure that you = may not=20 really need?" inquired AWA Director-elect Bill Condrashoff, who was in=20 attendance along with his three fellow directors-elect: Don Cooper, = Debbie Dunn=20 and Gary Thomas.

Consensus was reached among directors and staff = that=20 there was little cause for alarm, given that the economic outlook = offered scant=20 hope for a quick turnaround. Ryland Homes representative Doug Goldsmith = appeared=20 before the board to thank them for approval of the extension and to = alert them=20 to the likelihood that he would be returning with a similar request next = year.=20 Ryland Homes is the owner of the stalled Wildflower development project = in Ione.=20 Ryland was also the main funding source for Ione's new 2 million gallon = water=20 storage tank.

AWA Attorney Steve Kronick reported on activities = at the=20 California legislature, where developing drought conditions have been = giving=20 rise to numerous pieces of water conservation = legislation.

Assembly Bill=20 2882 was recently passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. = Arnold=20 Schwarzenegger, allowing water agencies to base their charges for water = on=20 allocations. Each customer will become subject to an allocation based on = the=20 number of occupants, the type or classification of use, the size of lot = or=20 irrigated area, and the local climate data for the billing period. Use = of water=20 up to this allocation will be charged at one rate, while use of water = beyond the=20 allocation will have a rate high enough to discourage excessive = use.

Jerry = Budrick