Calaveras Enterprise
By Claudette Langley
August 8, 2008
County residents filed into the Mike Flock gymnasium at Calaveras
High School Tuesday afternoon for the joint meeting of CCWD and the
Board of Supervisors. Enterprise photo by Claudette Langley
The document that will guide Calaveras County far into the future was
back before the Board of Supervisors Tuesday.
Larry Mintier, from the Sacramento-based Mintier & Associates,
presented the drafts of the general plan's vision statement and goals
and opportunities report. He said that the supervisors review and
comments on the documents would allow the process to advance to the next stage.
"We (Mintier & Associates) are trying to establish that we are on a
solid foundation," he said. "We need to know if we have gotten it
right so far."
Mintier posed four questions to both the supervisors and the county
residents who attended the session at Calaveras High School. The
answers to the questions he said would determine if his firm would
take the plan into Phase 4, which he stated was when a lot of
decisions would be made.
Mintier and his partner, Rik Keller, a project manager with the
company, posed the following four queries:
-Have we done a good job in drafting an overall vision for Calaveras
County for the next 25 to 30 years in the draft working vision
statement and guiding principles?
-Have we done a good job in listing, categorizing and describing the
most significant issues and opportunities and key questions for land
use over the next 25 to 30 years?
-Are there issues and/or opportunities that are missing or have not
been characterized correctly?
-Which of the issues and opportunities are going to be the most
important or demand the most attention as part of the general plan update?
The vision statement was crafted from a series of public meetings
where residents shared their wishes for the county. The 12-point
document creates a picture of a highly functioning community that
supports and retains its heritage while encouraging healthy economic growth.
The statement touches on everything from protection of the unique
Gold Rush character of the county to well-maintained highways and
streets to efficient and effective government services with measurable results.
In addition to the vision statement Mintier and Keller sought
feedback on the issues and opportunities report, which contains eight
topics. The topics as presented are community planning and open
space, economic development, infrastructure, transportation and
mobility, public health and safety, housing, county government and
social services.
To read the full draft of the report visit General Plan
County residents took turns either lauding or critically assessing
the statement and report and offering Mintier answers to his questions.
"We have one word-'yes'," Mickey Williamson, from Community Action
Project, said. "We fully support this and eagerly look forward to
working with the county on this document."
Al Segalla, president of the Calaveras County Taxpayers Association,
had a different take on the information. He went through each
statement in the vision document pointing out the threat each one
posed to the rights of private citizens and business owners.
"This involves the transfer of private land to government," he said
referring to the principle guiding open space, wildlife habitat, etc.
In addition speakers pointed out that the document is lacking in a
strong component addressing financial sustainability.
District 4 Supervisor Tom Tryon agreed that the document was light in
the area of property rights but said the process should continue.
Overall supervisors agreed that the documents were a good start and
wanted to see the county move to the next stage.
"I think this is an excellent working document and just needs a few
things added," said District 1 Supervisor Bill Claudino.
The general plan is expected to be brought before the Board of
Supervisors again before the end of the month, according to Planning
Director Bob Sellman.
Contact Claudette Langley at clangley@calaverasenterprise.com.
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