With local construction at a virtual standstill, at least one builder has chosen to take some action.

General contractor Paul Bramell has come up with what he calls the Amador Economic Stimulus Package, aimed at providing a shot in the arm to the local building industry. At this morning's meeting of the Amador County Board of Supervisors, Bramell and County Administrative Officer Terri Daly will be presenting details of the package to the supervisors, hoping for a decision.

The national and international financial meltdown that has resulted from the sub-prime mortgage fiasco continues to affect area builders. There has been a decline in numbers of building permits in the county and its cities, with county figures showing 247 permits in 2006, a drop to 94 in 2007 and a total of only 15 so far this year.

Bramell's theory is that substantial savings on fees might tip the balance in some minds to building this year, rather than waiting until next year.

There are two types of fees attached to residential construction: permit fees and impact fees.

On an average 1,600 square foot home, permit fees, charged for items such as building, septic, well or grading permits, as well as road encroachment, fire and life safety or plan review, add up to nearly $5,000.

More costly to builders are the impact fees, which are intended to pay for future community or infrastructure projects, such as parks and roads. Impact fees can also pay for county construction projects, like jails or administration buildings. These impact fees, which average $15,000, are under the supervisors' control to reduce, defer or entirely eliminate any or all of these fees. There are additional fees for school and fire impacts that are beyond the supervisors' control.

Bramell hopes supervisors will eliminate all of the impact fees for six months, 50 percent of the fees for the next six months, and 25 percent of the fees for six more months.

It isn't just carpenters, plumbers and electricians suffering from the construction slowdown, Bramell said, but designers, engineers, real estate agents, title companies and many other segments.

"This is our community," Bramell said. "This is something we can do for ourselves. When we're not working, so many others aren't working, either. We also would like to get local business people to participate in this package."

The last time something of this nature occurred was in 1995, when so many local businesses jumped on board that a rather thick coupon book was the result. The book contained coupons for all sorts of goods and services related to home construction.

There is another side of building projects. The county has numerous departments that become involved in any construction that takes place in the unincorporated areas and each of these departments has employees whose jobs are dependent upon activity. Without something to kickstart construction, layoffs may be a possibility.

"None of us wants to do layoffs," said District 3 County Supervisor Ted Novelli.

Whether correct or not, people on both sides of this situation are confident that present conditions are temporary. Builders are used to the cyclical nature of the construction industry. County officials have seen this sort of thing before. California continues to grow, with recent figures showing that the population of the state rose 500,000 in the past year, despite economic stagnation.