Notes Submitted Re: Poker Flat Meeting w/Spellman

Notes from the Poker Flat meeting with the Boat Patrol and Supervisor Spellman

Prior to the Homeowners meeting at the Poker Flat Homeowners association Calaveras County Deputy Sheriff, Sergeant Blain Smith spoke to the community regarding how Calaveras County is considering imposing a boating fee for all boats using Lake Tulloch. The revenue from the fee will be used to increase the sheriffs’ patrol on Lake Tulloch for a 40 hour a week full time deputy.  At present, Calaveras County only has two full time deputies available for all the lakes in Calaveras County. All boat owners will be required to pay a use fee, which could be an annual or a day use fee. All boat will need to pass a compliance/safety inspection and checked for gas and oil leaks before sticker are issued. Signs will be posted at all launch ramps on the lake notifying that boaters are required to apply for a sticker and the locations where stickers are available. It is hoped that the places collecting the fees will be manned by sheriff volunteers. This proposed program is designed after the Bass Lake project. In the next 30 days he will have a draft ready for review.

District 5 Supervisor Spellman also spoke before the meeting. He emphasized his support for the boat fee and feels another full time deputy for Lake Tulloch is necessary. He then introduced Calaveras Counties Tom Garcia who gave an update on the Coppercove Guard Rail, the left-hand turn lane for Poker flat, the proposed new multi million dollar bridge to replace the old O’Byrne’s Ferry bridge and the needed repairs to the Old Bridge.

The Coppercove guard rail:  This should be completed in April of this year.

Repairs to the old bridge:   The guard rail on the Tuolumne side of the O’Byrne’s Ferry bridge was damaged when it was hit by a truck, When the county examined the railing to be repaired they discovered that damage was done to more that just the railing. A structural engineer was called in to determine the actual damage done to the bridge. Because this section of the bridge has been hit many time it was determined it had to be re-engineered and special materials had to be manufactured for the repair. The bridge is scheduled to be repaired by early Spring, hopefully in March. This repair is completely covered by he trucking company.

Porker Flat left turn lane: This project will start some time this summer and is expected to be completed by early summer 2012.

New Proposed O’Byrne’s Ferry Bridge:  This is still in the works. At present, the county has ten million, but still needs another 45 million to complete this project. The project would mean a lot of jobs for the community. Put a lot of people to work.

A piece of trivia:  Calaveras County is totally responsible for the O’Byrne’s Ferry Bridge. There are two bridges that split between Calaveras County and Tuolumne County. Tuolumne took one of the bridges and Calaveras took the other. Calaveras wound up with the O’Byrne’s Ferry Bridge. Mr. Garcia’s remark was “we got the better deal”. `