In her Nov. 23 blog, writer Katherine Evatt wrote, "Do planning and public participation count? Maybe not in Amador County," taking on the
issue of Amador County Transportation Commission member John Plasse calling for
a reconsideration vote less than one month after the commission - including
Plasse - voted unanimously to approve the Pine Grove Corridor ImprovementProject. The blog went viral on Facebook, and comments criticizing Plasse -
including my own - reached the Amador County District 1 Supervisor. On Nov. 26,
Plasse asked to speak with me personally to talk about my concerns. During our
discussion, he elaborated on his response to Evatt, why he voted the way he did,
and why he's asking for a reconsideration vote.
GB: What is your response to Katherine's blog?
JP: I would say that most of what Katherine put on her post - sans the offer to provide the feathers to
tar and feather me with from Mr. Matt Turner, -I believe was the name- aside
from that, most of what Katherine put on her post is reasonably accurate. Frankly,
Katherine suffers from the sins of omission to a certain extent in her post. If
she's trying to put information out there, she did not put out that the vote
was to spend an additional $5 million to $6 million to get the Pine Grove
project "shovel ready," which would then, likely as a result of the
community taking the stance that now that you've got $8 million invested in it,
how can you possibly not build it? That would cost an additional $30 million or
so to complete build-out. And then that money - what's called the STIP money - State
Transportation Improvement Program - comes to Amador County in two-year cycles.
To commit that expenditure to the Pine Grove Project would be encumbering all
of Amador County's STIP monies, making none available for any other worthwhile
projects in Amador County. It would encumber those through the year 2028. So the
next 15 years, and other provisions that have been discussed in the background
as far as partnering back in the tri-counties MOU with Alpine and Calaveras
counties, could potentially extend that encumbrance or commitment of Amador STIP
funds into the 2030 years. This is per ACTC staff's presentation to me
personally.
GB: When you voted to approve everything in October, why are
you changing your mind now?
JP: I voted with the majority in October because we had been
in a very lengthy meeting. The Board was of no mind to have a full and complete
discussion on this - that was pretty obvious. The only way I or anybody else
can request a reconsideration of the vote is to be a member of the voting
majority. Those are the provisions for a reconsideration vote. It keeps a
member of the minority that lost on a vote from constantly calling for a
reconsideration. So I voted with the majority so I could do just that.
I have spoken with Charles Field about this proposal, about
the presentation that was given to me by Neil Peacock privately when I began
wanting to place this as reconsideration vote. Neil took the time to give me
about a two-hour personal explanation of the historical context of the Pine
Grove Project and what documents support it and how they support it and why
they support it. Again, it was about two hours and Charles Field has advised that if the commission votes to
have a reconsideration vote, that we schedule that reconsideration vote for early
next year, and plan to have an entire workshop specifically going
into the funding timeline, the funding encumbrance timeline, as I just
discussed out to 2028 going into the 2030s, which I find very interesting because
if the commission needs a full workshop to fully understand the funding
commitments that it's making to a singular project in Amador County, then why didn't
we have the workshop before we made the initial vote? If it's necessary in a
reconsideration, it's necessary in the initial vote. And I don't feel the
commission was fully apprised of all the information out there.
If you are interested in providing your input, attend the
ACTC meeting Nov. 27 at 9 a.m. at the ACTC office - 117 Valley View Dr. in
Sutter Creek. Please see the agenda for more information.
I keep thinking about Don Liston when I read this. Don died simply trying to walk across the highway in the middle of Pine Grove. The safety issues that caused Don's death are one reason, just one, that the Pine Grove project has been a priority for local funding for more than a decade.
ReplyDeletePlasses's basic argument seems to have two parts: first, if the ACTC spends more money to get the Pine Grove project shovel-ready, there will be a great deal of momentum to ensure it is in fact built; and second, that if the Pine Grove project moves forward, it will take all of the county's STIP funding for years to come.
First, I would argue that the Pine Grove project is needed, so what if there's momentum to build it? Second, I spent maybe an hour and a half on the phone with ACTC to make sure I understood the facts. If the ACTC decides to construct the project with STIP funds, yes, it would take those funds for some time. But there are other funding options for Pine Grove. ACTC can use part STIP funds and other funding sources, or other funding sources and no STIP money. As designed, the project is well positioned for funding from a number of pots of money. Plus, it IS the top priority in the existing transportation plan and 2014 draft plan update. So if we want to see safety, congestion and operations improvements in Pine Grove, the project SHOULD move ahead. Other projects, including the Plymouth roundabout mentioned in the Biz Council letter, can be funded from other pots of money.
Pine Grove deserves a safe main street, like every other Amador town.
As to the "tar and feathers comment," that was made by an Amador County native on my Facebook page, in the sort of light banter one sees on Facebook. I offered up feathers and dog hair as an inside joke for my friends who know that we have had birds and fuzzy dogs for decades.