On July 12, 2011 the Board of Supervisors adopted the the new district lines placing Copperopolis in District 4 with Tom Tryon as the District 4 Supervisor.
Tryon was introduced by District 5 Supervisor Darren Spellman as the 2nd longest sitting Supervisor in the State of California with 27 years of experience and expertise.
Tryon opened the meeting thanking all for coming and introducing Mike Miller of the Calaveras County Planning commission. He spent some time catching the crowd up to speed with the current issues facing not only the county but Copperopolis. When addressing the subject of the new district lines he pointed out the "commonality of interest along the Hwy 4 corridor" and stated that policies that will benefit one community on the Hwy 4 corridor will benefit the whole corridor.
The General Plan:
Tryon is not in favor of tying individual community plans to the general plan stating that one lawsuit could stop the whole plan "the weakest link breaks the chain." The Board is working to get a general plan in place and then community plans can be completed on an individual basis so that each community plan can move forward independently of each other.
Poole Station Rd re-alignment:
COG (Council of Governments) obtained funding and CalTrans is anticipating a spring 2012 start due to migratory birds trees along the re-alignment route. Originally a three stage project the Tryon stated that the price had come down enough where he feels it can be done all in one phase.
Noise ordinance:
According to Tryon there will be a county noise ordinance in the General Plan with set decibel limits. When asked if each community plan could adjust the noise ordinance for their community Tryon felt that was not a possibility. Spellman spoke up stating that he and Supervisor Wilensky, along with County Counsel have discussed nuances of the ordinance for each community stating that "not one size fits all." Tryon did note that a noise ordinance is different from a noise nuisance such as barking dogs, loud party, etc.
Land ownership conflict of interest:
Recusing himself from votes that affect his 700+ acres now just inside the sphere of influence in Angels Camp, Tryon came under fire for sitting on committees such as COG (Council of Governments) and LAFCO (Local Agency Formation Commision). Pointing out that if this was truly a conflict of interest "anyone with property can be accused of the same."
Low level offenders:
With the recent influx of low level offenders returning to jails to reduce the prison population Tryon was asked how this would impact the county financially. Tryon stated that reimbursement from the state goes hand in hand with prisoners returning to county jails. His concern was that the inmate fire camps that our foothill communities rely on heavily for not only fire suppression but for prevention and local labor work force are all low level offenders that may be returned to their respective counties and that we may see either a decline in fire camps or a loss of them altogether. "If we lost that, it would be a real loss to the County."
Tri-Dam park on BLM land:
A possible recreation area to be built by Tri-Dam was brought to Tryon's attention. The proposed site for the recreation area land is BLM land with restricted access from the lake and no current road access at the end of Blackcreek as it feeds into Lake Tulloch. Tryon had not heard of this and will look into it.
Transfer station:
Tryon wished to let the residents of Copper know that there is currently nothing before the Board of Supervisors reducing the collection of green waste. He has heard that the Copper transfer station will no longer be taking yard waste, "This is not true." He acknowledges that the collection is undersized for the area but that they are not discontinuing green waste collection at the Copperopolis transfer station.
If you would like to email Supervisor Tryon he can be contacted at ttryon@co.calaveras.ca.us
By, C. Maness
I was happy that the Town Hall meeting was held in the evening so us “working folk” could attend. Sorry we were late. We attended last night’s town hall meeting with the express purpose of asking one question. Due to the continued rhetoric and long-windedness of some, we had to leave before we could ask it. (Why use one word when a million will do?). Our question is this:
ReplyDeleteHow will Mr. Tryon support local businesses in Copperopolis in this economy? As you may know, we have a business in the Copperopolis Town Square off Highway 4. We have had hundreds of customers “suggest” to us that we need a sign on Highway 4. Before we signed the lease, we were told that 4 million people travel along Highway 4 each year. Factoring in that it wasn’t 4 million different people, we believed that we would have a good chance of enticing quite a large number of those people to travel off their path into our store with signs along the Highway ala Berma Shave signs of yesteryear (since this was in line with our 1950’s theme). Without a clear sign on the highway, and with the numbers of travelers significantly less than 4 million per year, our numbers are down and well, you can see where that would lead our business.
As one of Calaveras County’s main industries is tourism, economic development should be high on the list of issues for our County Government. I realize that our sign problem is due to the State and not the County; however, I need the support of our County Supervisors to help to bring MORE people to this area if not to help change the rules so businesses along the corridor can survive. How will you help to do that for Copperopolis Mr. Tryon?
Thank you.