Court gets new director, The Union staff, November 24, 2005
NID wrestling with rate increase amounts, Dave Moller, November 24, 2005
Tentative deal with Comcast reached, Dave Moller, November 23, 2005
Are homeowners skirting final building inspections?, B. Retherford, Nov. 18, 2005
NID rate boost shrinks, The Union staff, November 11, 2005
Salter chosen as auditor-controller, Brittany Retherford, November 9, 2005
City clerk retires, Brittany Retherford, November 7, 2005
County changes child support system, The Union staff, November 2, 2005
Alleged assault prompts discussion, Trina Kleist, November 1, 2005
The Union staff
November 24, 2005
The Nevada County Superior Court welcomes Helen Cavanaugh-Stauts as the new
director of the Public Law Center. Cavanaugh-Stauts has been a practicing
attorney in the Nevada County area since 1994. She recently left a position
with Sierra Adoption Services where she staffed a legal aid clinic focusing on
child welfare issues. Her private practice has included appellate work, estate
planning, as well as general civil matters.
The Nevada County Superior Court Public Law Center was established in March of
2001. It won the prestigious Ralph N. Kelps Award in 2002 for Improvement of
the Administration of the Courts. Located on the first floor of the courthouse
in Nevada City, the Public Law Center offers direction and options for
individuals representing themselves in court. Hours are Monday through Friday,
from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed on court holidays.
Cavanaugh-Stauts has been involved in local community agencies. Past service
has included board membership for CASA; the Bowman Solinsky Pool, Nevada City
School of the Arts and a member of the Special Education Local Planning Area
Board.
Prior statewide positions include a past advisory member of the California
Judicial Council Family and Juvenile Law Section; member of the Little Hoover
Commission on foster care and annual presenter on adoption and foster care for
the North American Council on Adoptable Children.
NID wrestling with rate increase amounts
By Dave Moller, davem@theunion.com
November 24, 2005
The Nevada Irrigation District continued to wrestle with rate increases
Wednesday in an effort to produce a 2006 balanced budget.
Earlier this year, the board envisioned a 9 percent increase for most treated
water customers. When the board met earlier this month, members recommended
that be reduced to 6.9 percent.
That recommended figure was retained this week for normal usage. But increases
for high-end users could go to 18 percent as staff and board members continued
to shuffle how much revenue, project cuts and reserve funds should be
considered to reach a balanced budget of almost $42 million.
The board also instructed staff to bring back figures on raw water increases
between 7 and 9 percent to see how they would affect the bottom line. Earlier
this month, the board endorsed a plan to increase the raw water rates 9
percent across the board.
The rates discussion is far from over and final figures probably will not be
reached until next month. Two meetings have been scheduled to keep the public
informed on the matter and they are:
• A special workshop at 6:30 p.m. Monday at NID headquarters, 1036 West Main St., Grass Valley.
• The regular meeting of the board at 9 a.m., Wednesday, Dec. 14, at NID headquarters, 1036 West Main St., Grass Valley. The board is hoping for a final vote on the rates and budget that day.
In other news, the board learned that demand for drinking water in the
Nevada Irrigation District will double with growth by the year 2030.
That was the prediction given by Bob Young, a Sacramento consultant who is
doing an urban water plan for the district.
"The good news is that you have supply in excess of your demand,"
Young said.
"NID has sufficient water to meet customer needs through 2030," said
Judi Garland, who works with Young.
In his report, Young projected that NID's connections would rise from the
current 18,500 to almost 31,000 in the next 25 years. The amount of water
needed will double, but even in short drought periods, NID would probably have
enough to satisfy basic district needs.
Despite the optimistic projections, board President John Drew said NID and
other water districts also need to look at storage capacity in California's
reservoirs as the state continues to grow.
ooo
To contact senior staff writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@theunion.com
or call 477-4237.
Tentative deal with Comcast reached
By Dave Moller, davem@theunion.com
November 23, 2005
Public access television - NCTV - may soon be on solid ground in Nevada County
after several years of financial turmoil.
Nevada County Superintendent of Schools Terry McAteer Tuesday said a deal with
cable TV provider Comcast has been hammered out to fund Nevada County
community station NCTV. It could solidify the station for a decade if the
Grass Valley and Nevada City councils ratify it along with the county Board of
Supervisors.
"It's a 10-year deal to the tune of $65,000 a year for infrastructure
needs, cameras, lighting," and operational costs, McAteer said. Comcast
would pay $50,000 a year and offer a $30,000 grant every other year that NCTV
would have to match with fund-raising.
Those funds coupled with the $50,000 per year brought in by show underwriting
and about $30,000 from city and county government would add up to $160,000
annually. That is enough for NCTV to operate, McAteer said.
"It will give us the stability we need to function over the next 10
years," said Lew Sitzer, executive director for NCTV. "We want to
become a real resource to the community."
Sitzer and McAteer said the deal would allow live broadcasts of the Nevada
County supervisors and both city councils on a government channel. The
agreement also calls for two Sierra College channels, where students can take
classes from live broadcasts, McAteer said.
Sitzer said he may also be able to have an educational channel with satellite
feed shows and local programming. The deal also provides the local access
channels to those in Alta Sierra and Lake of the Pines with Seabridge cable TV
service.
"We'll still have to work pretty hard to bring in the improvements we
need but this will give us the bottom line, assuming it passes," the
local government boards, Sitzer said.
"We should be bringing it to the city councils in the next few
weeks," McAteer said. "It also gives the county funding for an I-net
system that would give the county and cities a free video and data network
that goes over Comcast lines."
According to Sitzer the I-net, or Institutional Network, would allow
governmental entities the ability to share training videos, large amounts of
data and provide a backup communication system for the area in case of
emergency.
McAteer and Comcast negotiator Debbie Luppold admitted that initial
discussions were not pleasant. But both said they learned to trust each other
in order to get the job done for the community.
"I love it when we have success stories in this arena," Luppold
said. "The commitment that is there for the children and the future is
great."
McAteer's office bailed out NCTV in 2004 when it took over from Foothill
Community Access Television, which had suffered financial difficulties. The
superintendent gave the station $40,000 to survive and sought a new deal from
Comcast for stability.
NCTV has survived since then on McAteer's gift, about $30,000 from county and
city governments and another $30,000 from underwriting, Sitzer said.
Under law, Comcast has to provide funding for local cable access television
when it has a monopoly on services like it does in the Grass Valley/Nevada
City area.
The station is currently looking for an operations manager, which pays
approximately $27,000 to $32,000 to start. The position came open after the
former operations manager took a new job, McAteer said.
ooo
To contact senior staff writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@theunion.com
or call 477-4237.
Are homeowners skirting final building
inspections?
Nevada County has 185 newer homes with fees unpaid
By Brittany Retherford, Staff writer
November 18, 2005
Nevada County could be missing tens of thousands of dollars that should have
gone toward traffic improvements, officials say.
The money is revenue that is collected in the final stage of building a new
home — the inspection. Upon approval, the homeowner must pay a fee, which is
then lumped in a pot designated to improve traffic.
And if no inspection happens, no money gets collected. This is where the
problem is — and the missing money, says Rick Haffey, the county’s chief
executive officer.
Brian Washko, the county’s director of building, said his department has
counted 185 new residences that are currently being lived in, but have never
gotten a final inspection.
Some of these extend back to 1985, he said, however, the majority — or 107
— have been built since 1997. This is quite a few in a county that typically
issues between 100 and 150 new home building permits per year.
Washko, who up until four months ago was working for Monterey County, figured
out the discrepancy soon after he started his new job, he said.
“Typically where I come from, we do not let people occupy a house until a
final inspection. If they wanted to occupy a house, they would have to put up
an occupancy bond,” he said.
But in Nevada County, the system is different.
“If it is health and safety approved, you can occupy it sooner,” Haffey
said. Oftentimes, “they get to that point where it is almost done, and for
whatever reason, they don’t tell us they completed it.”
The traffic fee itself is also a bit of an anomaly from other
similarly-collected fees — such as those for parks and schools. These are
collected when the building permit is pulled, Haffey said. How it came to be
this way, Haffey said he didn’t know.
“That's a darn good question,” he said. Sometimes that is just how the
system was set up and no one ever changed it.
And while the amount missing is undetermined, it is “in the tens of
thousands of dollars. That’s why we are looking at it,” he said.
Haffey also said the county will be looking at a way of changing the timing of
collecting the fee to coincide with the others.
Washko said to rectify the situation in the building department, “we will be
looking at some type of occupancy bond and we are going to have to go back and
start notifying folks.”
It will be tough for the older homes, which may have had two or three
different owners.
In those cases, “we will send them a letter that (the inspection) never
happened and perform a courtesy inspection just to make sure it got closed,”
he said.
“Our job is to make sure everything is OK. The whole purpose is to make sure
the house is safe for occupancy,” he said.
To contact staff writer Brittany Retherford, e-mail brittanyr@theunion.com
or call 477-4247.
Annual Report of Transportation Mitigation Fees
Board asks staff to revise proposed rate
The Union staff
November 11, 2005
The Nevada Irrigation District will revise proposed rate increases to help
balance the 2006 budget.
NID will host a public workshop to discuss the revisions at 6:30 p.m., Nov.
28, at district headquarters, 1036 West Main St., Grass Valley.
The board this week told staff to cut the average treated water rate increase
down to 6.9 percent, a bit lower than the 9 percent originally envisioned. The
board embarked on a five-year plan in 2004 to raise treated rates 9 percent
annually so that income could pay for operations.
That timetable could be lengthened if the board goes ahead and passes the
revised rate increases later this year. The board also chose to cut the
proposed rate increase for Grass Valley and Nevada City municipal water
customers from 15 percent to 9 percent.
The board also endorsed a 9 percent across-the-board increase for irrigation
water. Earlier this year, the proposed increase was an average of 8 percent,
but it called for large irrigation water users' rates to go up as much as 18
percent.
The board also approved a preferred site at NID's Valley View Reservoir for
the new Lincoln-area water treatment plant. The plant is about five miles
northeast of Lincoln and will provide water to customers in that area who live
inside NID boundaries.
Salter chosen as auditor-controller
By Brittany Retherford
November 9, 2005
Marcia Salter has been appointed to replace Bruce Bielefelt, Nevada County's
auditor-controller, who plans to retire Dec. 31.
Salter now works as Bielefelt's assistant, a position she has held since July
2001. She is also working on a master's degree in public administration from
Chico State University.
Bielefelt initially nominated Salter for the position, the decision supported
by county staff, and the appointment confirmed unanimously by the Board of
Supervisors during its Tuesday morning meeting.
Salter will begin her new duties Jan. 1 and she will serve until Jan. 1, 2007.
Salter now works as Bielefelt's assistant, a position she has held since July
2001. She is also working on a master's degree in public administration from
Chico State University.
Bielefelt initially nominated Salter for the position, the decision supported
by county staff, and the appointment confirmed unanimously by the Board of
Supervisors during its Tuesday morning meeting.
Salter will begin her new duties Jan. 1 and she will serve until Jan. 1, 2007.
- Brittany Retherford
Poznik-Coover described as'mainstay'
By Brittany Retherford
November 7, 2005
City Clerk Bobbi Poznik-Coover, one of Grass Valley City Hall's many longtime
employees, has announced plans to retire on April 7, 2006.
"You know, it's going to be really sad not having her there because she
is like a mainstay," said Linda Stevens, a former city councilwoman who
worked with Poznik-Coover during all her terms.
Poznik-Coover has served the city for the past 25 years, mostly as the liaison
between members of the public and government officials. She's dutifully
recorded hundreds of meetings, scheduled appointments and published meeting
notices. She's been responsible for administering the oath of office to all
new councilmembers and committee members.
Other councilmembers recall Poznik-Coover as being particularly adept at
handling new councilmembers struggling to understand the government process.
"Bobbi is always there to walk you through the process," said
Councilman Mark Johnson, who said he remembered getting help from
Poznik-Coover as a first-time councilmember in 1994.
"She is such a great combination of being so thorough and precise, and at
the same time, so calming," he said.
Dee Mautino, who retired from the council last year, has similar memories of
starting out, and called Poznik-Coover a "lifeline" and
"lifesaver."
"She's always been so helpful. You can ask her things that you would feel
uncomfortable asking somebody else with regard to everyday happenings at the
city," she said. "She was always a very strong supporter of all the
councilmemebrs, without her we would not have survived."
Mautino also admires Poznik-Coover's work ethic and dedication to bettering
herself.
While working as city clerk, Poznik-Coover continued her education at Chico
State University, receiving a bachelor of arts degree in social science. Along
with high honors, she was awarded the "Outstanding Student Award"
for her efforts.
Ultimately, Poznik-Coover will be missed by many. "I just think she is a
very rounded lovely lady and its been a joy to know her all the years I
have," Mautino said.
A search for a new city clerk will officially begin after the City Council
approves a selection process at its Tuesday meeting. The new clerk is
tentatively scheduled to begin duties the first week of April.
ooo
To contact staff writer Brittany Retherford, e-mail brittanyr@theunion.com
or call 477-4247.
County changes child support system
The Union staff
November 2, 2005
Child support payments are no longer being processed through the Nevada County
Child Support Services offices.
But those who pay or get the payments can still call the office at 271-5437 to
get information on the new program. According to the state, the county will
still receive payments from payers, but they will be quickly sent onto the
state, which will issue the checks.
For the next few months, the new, federally mandated program may delay the
checks to payees for a few days, the department said.
If you are a child support payer:
• Your payment must go to the county by the 20th of each month.
• Next June, those payments have to be sent directly to the state.
• You can pay by the Internet or phone with a credit card or electronic transfer.
• If your employer withholds your payments, they will be posted to your account once they reach the state.
If you receive child support:
• Your check can be directly deposited to your bank account.
• You can get a payment card that can be used at ATMs or stores for cash or purchases.
Cat Karnezis at the county Child Support Services said Tuesday the public
is encouraged to call about the new program and brochures explaining it are
available. The program is not expected to result in any layoffs at the county
office.
For more information, log onto to www.childsup.ca.gov
on the Web.
Alleged assault prompts discussion
Calanan Park incident raises concerns about safety
Trina Kleist, trinak@theunion.com
November 1, 2005
Nevada City police are investigating a possible assault at Calanan Park, but
the alleged incident reveals both deeper problems and the chance to bring
people together to solve them, officials said Monday.
The incident occurred Thursday afternoon when Peter O'Brien, 36, was reported
with blood on his face.
O'Brien's mother, Janice O'Brien of Nevada City, said her son was attacked by
someone wielding a board who smacked him in the face. She accused the alleged
attacker of being part of a group of people in their 20s who hang out at the
little downtown park.
"They have taken over the park," Janice O'Brien said. "My son
is homeless and alcoholic. Whenever he's under the influence, they take
advantage of him."
Concern about public safety at the park has prompted discussions at City Hall.
An assault at the park "is really unacceptable," City Manager Mark
Miller said.
"We've had concerns over the years there, with people using (the park) to
smoke pot," Miller said. "We have increased patrols there."
But young adults at the park on Monday called themselves a "mellow"
group and said they had not heard anything about a fight.
"I've been hanging out here for 13 years and I've never seen any hard
drugs," said a 25-year-old man who identified himself only as Charles.
"There's been a few fights, but the kids are older, and they're trying to
be cool."
Charles and others at the park said they arrive after school or between shifts
or between jobs and meet up with friends. They said another group of park
regulars - including Peter O'Brien - sit over in a corner and drink.
"We pretty much leave them alone and they get drunk," Charles said.
Some at the park complained about the police, who have started asking them to
leave. On Monday afternoon, a few children romped among the planters; regulars
said very few of their friends were there that day due to the police patrols.
That, said Nevada City Police Chief Lou Trovato, has to do with public
perceptions.
"People do get nervous if there's a large number of (young people)
there," Trovato said. "There's a perception that if the park is nice
and quiet, everything is OK."
His officers are trying to find witnesses to the incident that resulted in
Peter O'Brien's bloody face. O'Brien would not talk to police about the
alleged assault, Trovato said. Anyone with information is asked to call the
Police Department at 265-4700.
Perceptions can be misleading, said Nevada City Chamber of Commerce
President Bob Buhlis. In working with a similar problem along Commercial
Street, merchants have found that many of the youths who hang out there are
willing to cooperate so that the streets are welcoming to all - including
jittery tourists.
Likewise, not everyone who hangs out at Calanan Park is a trouble-maker,
Buhlis said. "There are a few who do those things, and the others who are
hanging around. The finger gets pointed at the whole group."
Buhlis invited the Calanan Park regulars to come to a meeting at 8:30 p.m.
Nov. 15 at the Tortilla Grill on Commercial Street. Merchants hope to work
with all groups in the area to find a way they can all enjoy what the city has
to offer.
ooo
To contact staff writer Trina Kleist, e-mail trinak@theunion.com
or call 477-4231.