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El Dorado raises gas budget, gets rolling on practice fields

Gregory Crofton

Responding to sky high gasoline and diesel prices, El Dorado County leaders approved $134,000 in additional funding to keep county vehicles running through June.

“We have to operate our fleet,” said El Dorado County Supervisor Dave Solaro. “But we’re looking at doing everything we can – cutting back on take-home vehicles and the possibility of purchasing more fuel-efficient vehicles.”

Approval on Tuesday of the additional funding raised the county’s fuel budget for the year to more than $800,000.



The Board of Supervisors also postponed a vote until May 4 that would give county planners the OK to solicit construction bids for the soccer and practice fields to be built off Al Tahoe Boulevard.

Design plans needed to be adjusted to include synthetic grass instead of sod for at least one of the three proposed fields, Solaro said. The postponement should not affect the construction schedule for the first field, on track to be completed by this fall.



A hearing to deal with $300,000 that a state audit says the cities of South Lake Tahoe and Placerville owe to El Dorado County because of a court error has been postponed again, this time until May 18.

County officials say they need the extra time to get clarification from the state controller’s office about the actual amount owed. Bob Toscano, assistant auditor-controller for the county, said a review of the audit by his office shows the cities only owe El Dorado County about $260,000.

“We may not get this resolved by the end of May,” Toscano said. “It could take several months.”

In other action, the Board of Supervisors agreed to:

n Approve purchase of two, four-wheel drive vehicles from South Shore Motors. The SUVs will cost nearly $46,000 and be used by the building department.

n Approve more than $47,000 from hotel/motel tax revenues to promote tourism-related activities.

n Recommend a resolution that rejects Gov. Schwarzenegger’s plan to shift $1.3 billion in property taxes from local governments to the state and supports the California State Association of Counties budget proposal.

n Recommend a resolution to approve restrictions on Emerald Bay Road for the Lake Tahoe Marathon, Oct. 9 from 6:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

– Gregory Crofton can be reached at (530) 542-8045 or by e-mail at gcrofton@tahoedailytribune.com


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