Ledger-Dispatch

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

Questions remain about what to do with = the=20 effluent of a new county jail at this proposed site off Locomotive = Lane in=20 Martell near the business park.

Photo by: Jerry=20 Budrick
It's just a matter of time until = Amador=20 County builds a new jail that will have twice the capacity than its = present=20 facility.

At Wednesday's technical advisory committee meeting, = officials=20 from the agencies involved agreed that this project has to = happen.

One=20 major obstacle stands in the way: there is nowhere to send the = wastewater that=20 will be created by the proposed 165-bed facility. Estimates of effluent = flow=20 vary widely, from 18,000 to 66,000 gallons per day.

The intended = location=20 of the jail is in the Amador Central Business Park, near the recently = opened=20 Amador County Health and Human Services building, on 8.2 acres of land = presently=20 owned by Sierra Pacific Industries. The business park in Martell = includes the=20 Amador Central Business Park, Amador Ridge Business Park and Sierra West = Business Park in what is referred to as the old mill property; all of = their=20 wastewater is treated in the Sutter Creek sewage treatment plant, under = terms of=20 a contract between the Amador Water Agency and the city of Sutter=20 Creek.

The water agency has tentative plans to build a regional=20 wastewater treatment plant, which could accommodate the needs of the = jail and=20 other projects, but those plans are not firm.

In a letter from = the city=20 of Sutter Creek to Heather Anderson of the county planning department, = it=20 states, "The AWA contracts with the city for disposal of up to 113,000 = gallons=20 of wastewater per day ... AWA does not have sufficient capacity left in = that=20 allocation to accommodate the wastewater the proposed jail would=20 create."

Also in the letter is a request from the city of Sutter = Creek=20 that, at a minimum, "a focused environmental impact report be prepared = for the=20 proposed facility due to the wastewater impacts the jail would have on = the city=20 of Sutter Creek." A focused EIR could take months to = prepare.

Amador=20 County has applied for a grant to fund 75 percent of this project. Funds = from=20 that grant, if obtained, will have time restrictions attached. With this = in=20 mind, the county and SPI will be signing a contingent purchase = agreement, before=20 the question of wastewater treatment is resolved. Provision of = wastewater=20 disposal and CEQA compliance will be contingencies.

The = wastewater issue=20 was a surprise snag for some.

"This comes as a kind of a shock," = said SPI=20 representative Dave Brown. "We're being told different things now than a = month=20 ago."

When it became apparent that the impasse was a disagreement = between=20 AWA and Sutter Creek, Brown asked, "Can others get involved in=20 this?"

County Planner Susan Grijalva reminded the committee that = a=20 previous meeting had included talk about low-flow devices and modern = methods of=20 minimizing effluent flow, which might help in resolving the issue. = Anderson=20 suggested the possibility of mitigation as an alternative.

County = General=20 Services Administration Director Jon Hopkins will be joining water = agency=20 representative John Griffin, Sutter Creek City Manager Rob Duke or = Assistant=20 City Manager Sean Rabe and Brown in an upcoming meeting to work on = possible=20 resolutions.

Given the enormity of the effluent problem, other = necessary=20 elements of the project seemed straightforward. The county will be = required to=20 prepare elevations, plus architectural, landscape, grading and site = plans for=20 the planning department. The county will also have to prepare traffic = and=20 employee studies for the public works department.

Jerry = Budrick