Our neighbors at the RMK Mine have an update on their efforts to safely and responsibly close the mine and provide for long-term monitoring:
Important Supervisor’s meeting tomorrow, 9am, San Andreas
A number of Diamond XX residents have been doing great work in sorting through the marijuana cultivation issues. Here is an update – please strongly consider coming to the County Supervisor’s meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, at 9am.
We have recently started working with an alliance group that filed a petition in an effort to ban commercial marijuana processes in Calaveras County. The petition, Notice of Intention to Circulate Petition, was filed today.
However, it is extremely important that we have as many people as possible attend tomorrows 9:00am Board Meeting. They don’t have to speak but please at least be there to show support for our group. Unfortunately, the Board is persuaded by those in attendance at the meeting and so far commercial marijuana cultivators make up the vast majority that does attend. Our group goal for tomorrow is to STOP the Urgency Ordinance from being passed. The ordinance will not stop the land grab that’s currently taking place and gives some legitimacy for commercial cannabis cultivators’ current actions, not to mention it is written almost entirely for the benefit of commercial cannabis cultivators leaving us with little to no protection or rights.
Can you please reach out to people and let them know the urgency of the situation? We need to get everyone possible to attend tomorrow’s meeting. It will be held at:
Calaveras County Board of Supervisors
891 Mountain Ranch Road
San Andreas, CA 95249
Time 9:00 amI know this is on very short notice but we need all the support we can get. If people just aren’t able to attend, please ask them to send the Board of Supervisors an email asking for a Ban on Commercial marijuana cultivation.
Email addresses for the Board is as follows:
To: ’bosclerk@co.calaveras.ca.us‘ <bosclerk@co.calaveras.ca.us>; ‘bos@co.calaveras.ca.us‘ <bos@co.calaveras.ca.us>; ‘cedson@co.calaveras.ca.us‘ <cedson@co.calaveras.ca.us>; ‘cwright@co.calaveras.ca.us‘ <cwright@co.calaveras.ca.us>; ‘mcoliveira@co.calaveras.ca.us‘ <mcoliveira@co.calaveras.ca.us>; ‘dponte@co.calaveras.ca.us‘ <dponte@co.calaveras.ca.us>; ‘swkearney@co.calaveras.ca.us‘ <swkearney@co.calaveras.ca.us>; ‘kcw@caltel.com‘ <kcw@caltel.com>
URGENT! DIAMOND XX NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT!
- bosclerk@co.calaveras.ca.us
- bos@co.calaveras.ca.us
- cedson@co.calaveras.ca.us
- cwright@co.calaveras.ca.us
- mcoliveira@co.calaveras.ca.us
- dponte@co.calaveras.ca.us
- swkearney@co.calaveras.ca.us
- kcw@caltel.com
Apparently the lack of clarity from the County is resulting in a land rush to set up growing operations in Calaveras County:
Marijuana growers move to buy land in Calaveras County
It could happen here…
It is important for all of us to be aware of what is going on in our neighborhoods. If we don’t want a bunch of commercial pot grows taking over the Diamond XX, we need to be contacting our Supervisors to enact the appropriate ordinances right now.
Last night Bob & I spoke at the LAFCO hearing in order to comment on the report of the status of Calaveras County CSAs. Three other CSAs were represented by their advisory committee members. Diamond XX residents, Ed & Diana Fischer, also attended the meeting and offered comments.
In general, LAFCO got an earful from the community of volunteers who put much time and effort into their roles yet were completely ignored when it came time to conduct a study of their CSAs. As a result of being left out of the reporting process, Diamond XX Advisory Committee was compelled to present their comments at the LAFCO hearing in an effort to identify faulty opinions & recommendations made by this report that lacked sufficient data. We did this because we believed the report should be both thorough and accurate with opinions based on sound analysis and because LAFCO will use this report to make recommendations to our Supervisors that may effect county CSAs.
LAFCO’s response was a promise to include advisory committee members next time (5 years from now) a report on CSAs was to be conducted.
Going forward, my own responsibility will be to keep a watchful eye on LAFCO and other county agencies who are spending our tax dollars and making decisions that effect our lives.
Sometimes just to show up and let them know you are watching is enough.
Respectfully submitted, Jeane Kennedy, CSA 4 Advisory Committee Member
An article in the Calaveras Enterprise concerning Calaveras County CSAs and LAFCO (Local Agency Formation Commission) came as a surprise and generated concern to your Diamond XX Road Committee members – Bob & Jeane – particularly the following quote, “Moving forward, Jennifer Stephenson, who prepared the report, told the Local Agency Formation Commission at a November 16 meeting that it would be more cost-efficient to establish a countywide CSA to maintain roads.”
$20,000 of your taxes was budgeted for the creation of this report on the status of CSAs within Calaveras County. Your Diamond XX Road Committee was not interviewed by the consultant nor were we informed that there would be a comment period and then a hearing.
Because we were alarmed about several of the conclusions this report made, we began seeking information from our Supervisor, Debbie Ponte, as well as from LAFCO’s Executive Officer, John Benoit. As a result of those emails we were able to find out LAFCO’s hearing date for this report is January 25 and we urge anyone with concerns to attend. There is also a current comment period ending December 29th. Comments can be submitted to: John Benoit (LAFCO Executive Officer), johnbenoit@surewest.net
Here is a link to the report: http://www.calaveraslafco.org/uploads/1/1/4/5/11454087/calaveras_csas_public_review_draft_downsized.pdf
This report leads you to believe that CSA’s are sitting on a pot of money rather than spending it on road maintenance. Yet, when our Road Committee looked back through correspondence with Public Works during the reporting period, the reason CSA #4 had almost $300,000 was because:
- FEMA had finally paid us for flood damage suffered in the flood of 2006.
- Public Works did not have the resources available to do the projects we wanted to have done that year.
- Some CSA funds were saved for the Stagecoach Bridge project (which we later we found out did not require matching funds)
While no factual errors were found in the report prepared by Ms. Stephenson, the report does not tell the whole story about road maintenance activity that was or was not taking place in the CSAs nor the reasons why.
In studying the recommendations made by Ms. Stephenson, we fail to see a benefit to Diamond XX residents for the following reasons.
- We fear that the compiling of our funds with other CSAs will remove it from the close scrutiny your Road Committee has applied to these funds for over a decade.
- More administration costs rather than road maintenance will be applied to our account.
- Our road fees may then be able to be raised at will by the county.
So, please read the report, comment if you wish, and attend the hearing Jan. 25, 6pm at the Board of Supervisors chambers.
Sincerely,
Jeane Kennedy
Bob Toynbee
Road Committee members
County Public Works has replaced one of two culverts on Cantle. They expect to replace the second culvert, completing the road repair, the week after Thanksgiving. Cantle will be closed to traffic during the day as they replace the culvert, but the road should be open in the evenings.
Hi all,
One of the annoyances in managing this site is the continual barrage of spammers trying to register and hack the site. I’ve changed the registration process with some new software, and you may be required to confirm your registration the next time you visit. Confirming is easy – just follow the instructions and the site will send you an email.
Thanks,
JP
A new neighbor has lost their older dog. Here is the note I received from Christina G.:
My dad just moved into Diamond xx on Chuckwagon Drive. Sadly his old dog has walked off and he cannot find her anywhere. Because she is old she doesn’t hear like she used to and isn’t used to the area. I was hoping you may know a Copperopolis site for Diamond xx that I may be able to post on about his dog? I figured I’d ask. This site is the only one I’ve seen.
I’m worried people will think she isn’t friendly because she looks like a smaller Doberman. But she is the sweetest dog, and VERY old.
Keep an eye out, and if you see (or have seen) a dog that meets that description, contact Christina at capttinkerbell (at) gmail.com
Hello neighbors,
Many of you have attended our recent community meetings with Debbie Ponte (our County Supervisor) in attendance. She and the rest of our county leadership meet most Tuesdays, with the public portion of the meeting beginning at 9am. You can attend these meetings and make your voice heard during the public commenting time. The November 10th meeting is coming up!