A great season
Ol’ Blue Eyes tribute
The Oak Ridge High School women’s varsity volleyball team learns the value of teamwork.
Imagination Theater celebrates Frank Sinatra.
Sports, A7
News, Etc. B1
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C a l i f o r n i a ’ s O l d e s t N e w s pa p e r – E s t. 18 51
th
Volume 170 • Issue 139 | 75¢
mtdemocrat.com
Friday, November 26, 2021
A giving community, a foundation that leads Andrew Vonderschmitt Staff writer A community foundation’s role is one of stewardship. Through careful management of donated resources, a foundation identifies needs within a community and allocates those resources accordingly. To date, a total of $3.2 million has come into the El Dorado Community Foundation’s Caldor Fund. Of that, $1.4 million has been distributed to El Dorado County residents impacted
by the devastating wildfire. The foundation has taken no administrative fees from the fund and does not plan to do so, according to its Executive Director Bill Roby. The El Dorado Community Foundation, established in 1991, is dedicated to serving those in need through the direct support of the community and organizations who passionately give for the benefit of all, according to the foundation’s website. When the Caldor Fire sparked Roby said he knew need would be coming — and
Organic waste programs coming Andrew Vonderschmitt Staff writer Pilot programs through El Dorado Disposal have rolled out in some areas of Placerville and El Dorado County to support new legislation that aims to reduce organic waste from commercial and residential trash disposal customers. Full implementation is expected within two years. Jeff England, district manager at El Dorado Disposal, spoke at the Nov. 9 Placerville City Council meeting, giving an update on the progress of Assembly Bill 1826 and Senate Bill 1382. AB 1826 is a California mandate targeting commercial food waste. The bill has a measured phase-in process to allow the private sector to build infrastructure to comply. In October 2014 the bill was signed into law with a target date of implementation starting in April 2016. Local jurisdictions would report progress to Cal Recycle on development of an organic waste program and in 2018 PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE
CalRecycle conducted a formal review. In 2019 businesses that generated 4 cubic yards or more of commercial solid waste were be required to arrange for organic waste services. Earlier this year the threshold for commercial customers to be compliant with the program was lowered from 4 cubic yards to 2 cubic yards of trash. This means that many small businesses will be required to comply, according to England. “Customers will be vetted and what we end up with is a list of businesses that are required to be compliant,” he said. Other businesses will be exempt based on the type of trash they generate with some obvious exemptions still needing to be verified. “C&H Auto Parts for example,” he said. “We can put them on the exempt list but we are expected by CalRecycle to go back and literally do a dumpster dive or have the driver take a picture of the inside of the bin to verify that there are no organics in there.” There are currently 147 customers on the weekly commercial food waste route and that number continues to grow, according to England. SB 1383, signed into law in September 2016, targets household food waste as a way to combat methane emissions in landfills. The bill has a target of a 75% reduction of organic waste disposal by 2025. Ross Reaksecker, site manager at El Dorado Disposal, reported on the implementation of SB 1383 in El Dorado n
coming soon. “The fire started on Sunday; the foundation met on that Monday,” said Roby. “As a foundation we understood very distinctly that when you’re able to put funding back into a community at the very start of a public emergency, especially when you have so many people being dislocated, you can avoid a lot of downstream problems.” Within six hours of forming the Caldor Fund donations came rolling in. “As soon as we opened that
“This is an investment. It’s an investment in who we are and what we are.” — Bill Roby, El Dorado Community Foundation executive director fund on that Tuesday, money poured in; it’s still coming in today. It’s just amazing how many people stepped up,” said Kathy Haven, El Dorado Community Foundation program coordinator. Lois Roberts, the foundation’s donor services coordinator, immediately looked to the foundation’s more than 275 funds, not
knowing what success the Caldor Fund would see. Instead he got a heartwarming surprise. “That first round of donors came from individuals really; it was just amazing,” she said, noting that the majority of those individual donations made in the first days of the n
See Foundation, page A6
Holiday tradition
The community got to work Saturday morning, Nov. 20, to decorate the Christmas trees that line Highway 50 through downtown Placerville. It’s a local tradition each holiday season since 1971, bringing out families, businesses and organizations to add that special sparkle to each conifer donated by El Dorado County’s Christmas tree growers. The Schram family of Placerville chose a theme for their tree — red, white and blue. Finnegan, 7, and Ronan, 5, from left, place American flags on branches.
Photos by Cecilia Clark
Diamond Springs-El Dorado Fire Protection District Capt. Spencer Morgan and family adorned their tree with firefighter helmets and festive ornaments. The trees will light up Friday night as the community kicks off the season with the Festival of Lights on Main Street, Placerville.
n SEE MORE PHOTOS ON PAGE A10
See Waste, page A9
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