Which bridge to name after a fallen Iraq soldier brought about a somewhat sensitive debate at Monday's Administrative Committee meeting.

Sutter Creek resident Robert Allen said he recently was surprised when he read in the newspaper that the Amador County Board of Supervisors planned to rename one of the bridges on the new Highway 49 bypass after Army Private First Class Jay-D Ornsby-Adkins, who died last April while serving in the military in Iraq. While Allen supported the sacrifice the soldier and his family had made, he wanted to point out that there were at least 64 families named on a plaque in Sutter Creek that had made the same sacrifice. He instead proposed that the bridge be named something that would honor all veterans.

"I'm sure the soldier who died in Iraq would agree that it's more of an honor to name the bridge after all the veterans that died," Allen said.

Supervisor Richard Forster, who chairs the committee alongside Supervisor Louis Boitano, offered a few suggestions that the county was considering in naming the two bridges and highway.

He said while he would pursue naming another bridge in the county after Ornsby-Adkins, he was open to naming a different bridge the Veterans Memorial Bridge or naming the highway Veterans Memorial Highway. He said the county would first check with the state Department of Transportation to see if those locations had reserved names and would proceed from there.

The county put a hold on the resolution to name the bridge after Ornsby-Adkins last week when it called Sen. Dave Cox's office (R-Fair Oaks) asking him to wait another week while the county figures out what it wants to do. Forster did add that the board received a letter of support from the local chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars for naming a bridge after Ornsby-Adkins.

Allen also pointed out that there was a resolution to name a bridge or the highway after the Allen family because of its donation of right of way to build the bypass. Forster asked that Allen bring a copy of the resolution to the county.

The item will be discussed further at an upcoming board of supervisors meeting.

In a separate item, County Administrative Officer Terri Daly announced that, pending approval from the board, county employees will no longer be issued county cell phones. In the past, some county staff were given cell phones to use for business. Now, the Internal Revenue Service has "clamped down" on how many of the calls on those phones are for business and personal use, Daly explained. Which means that county employees would have to start a log of every call made and received on the county phone and then reimburse the county each month for every personal call. "It creates a mountain of administrative work," Daly said.

To eliminate the cumbersome work, Daly proposed that the county offer a stipend to employees who will soon have to use their personal cell phones for business. Early estimates of the stipend were $30 a month for a cell phone and $75 a month for a wireless device such as a BlackBerry, Daly reported. She hopes that by the end of the year, management and mid management will be paid through the stipend. She said the impact to the budget will not be significant and will probably not show up until next year.

"I anticipate outcries," Daly said, but added that employees will have to accept the change.

Forster said he would like Daly to come back to the committee with a list of which employees would be eligible for the stipend.