The City Council will discuss Tuesday a new version of a permitting program that became part of the recent debate over the Nestlé’s company’s move to Sacramento. The city shuttered its Facilities Permit Program Oct. 27 to investigate whether the program breaks laws. City Attorney Eileen Teichert declared recently that the FPP was being used illegally because the city was not directing builders to obtain formal building permits before starting construction work, according to David Kwong, the city’s acting planning division director. The previous version of the FPP offered businesses -- those that worked with the city on an ongoing basis -- a way to receive quick approval for tenant improv

  Save Our Water Sacramento filed an administrative appeal involving the Nestlé water-bottling plant on Monday.   Davis attorney Don Mooney has agreed to take the case if the issue goes to court. Mooney represented McCloud residents in their six-year fight against a Nestlé Waters North America water-bottling plant near Mt. Shasta. The company abandoned plans for the plant in September. Save Our Water Sacramento is appealing the city's designation of the Swiss company's $14 million construction project as ministerial, rather than discretionary, in an effort to win an environmental assessment of the plant. The group e-filed an appeal with the city clerk's office and sent a paper copy thr

Who is to Blame? Nestlé was recruited by the Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade Organization and the Economic Development Department, one of a series of bad projects they have brought here that include the municipal waste burning incinerator and the natural gas storage facility beneath homes in South Sacramento. The EDD worked with SACTO in secrecy to convince Nestlé to choose Sacramento over Roseville or Stockton. Since the project has been announced Johnson has been Nestlé's only public supporter. He glowingly informed us of Nestlé's arrival in the SACTO press release in July and solemnly apologized to them at the council meeting for being forced to temporarily obey the law. He also is

On Oct. 26, after preparing all day and night, Save Our Water went to bed feeling ready for whatever might happen at City Hall the following evening. We were so wrong. We expected to speak at the City Council meeting in favor of an urgency ordinance that would have required a conditional use permit for beverage bottling plants in Sacramento. The new law would have made bottlers go through a public planning process and environmental review prior to project approval. But while we were at City Hall that afternoon we discovered the city attorney now considered Nestlé vested. The proposed ordinance would be removed from the agenda and referred to the Law and Legislation Committee, though appa

In a precursor to any potential legal action, a grassroots organization expects to take its next step in the fight against the Nestlé water-bottling plant by filing an administrative appeal with the city of Sacramento this week. A Swiss public TV crew is coming to Sacramento Thursday to interview members of the group, Save Our Water Sacramento, which will re-screen the bottled-water documentary "Tapped" at 7 p.m. Thursday at Crest Theatre, 1013 K St. Afterwards, group leaders will discuss plans to appeal the city's designation of the Swiss company's $14-million construction project as ministerial, rather than discretionary. A discretionary designation of a project that could possibly har

Sacramento rock-n-roll band, The Q Balls, will play a benefit show on Saturday, November 14th from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Torch Club, 904 15th Street, Sacramento. The event is Free with donations taken at the door. Proceeds will go to Pops in the Park and in turn be used for East Sac and River Park parks. In 2009, Pops in the Park funds were used to leverage funds raised by the community to help restore swim pool hours cut through the City's budget at Bertha Henschel Park, Glenn Hall Park and McKinley Park. The Q Balls manager Sol Siler said: "The Q Balls are really looking forward to the November 14th gig at the Torch. All members save one were born and raised in the East Sacrament

Michelle Smira, a Republican strategist and consultant to mayor Kevin Johnson, resigned from her position on October 22. Below is her letter of resignation: Dear Mayor Johnson, It has been a pleasure and an honor to serve as a volunteer in your office, the Office of the Mayor. The opportunity to serve as your liaison to various organizations and to meet with constituents on your behalf has been very rewarding. Thank you for this opportunity. I believe strongly that the people of Sacramento voted overwhelmingly for you to represent us as Mayor because we wanted change. What has become apparent is that we desperately need change. I will be stepping away as a volunteer in your official offic

Nestlé has a green light in Sacramento, according to the city attorney’s office. The Nestlé company’s work to set up a water bottling plant in Sacramento is allowed under the city’s existing laws, City Attorney Eileen Teichert’s office said Tuesday. It was clear at Tuesday’s City Council meeting that the City Council and city staff are on-board with the Nestlé company’s plans to bottle and sell tens of millions of gallons of Sacramento’s water. The city had placed a stop-work order on Friday at the plant on Nestlé intends to use for its operations. The city said it wanted to verify whether Nestlé had broken any of the city’s permitting and building laws. In turn, Nestle had said the cit

Mayor Kevin Johnson said the city’s order to halt construction work at the plant Nestlé plans to use for a water-bottling operation is bad for business in Sacramento. Johnson has praised the jobs that Nestlé will bring to Sacramento, while Councilman Kevin McCarty opposes the plant's plan to bottle and sell water from the American River. Councilwoman Lauren Hammond has also raised concerns about Nestlé's plans. The city’s Community Development Department placed a stop-work order on Friday on two phases of construction at 8670 Younger Creek Drive, the plant’s site. The city is checking to see whether Nestlé broke any of the city’s permitting and building laws. Nestlé said it has not viola

By Linda Cutler, Chair, Sacramento Metro Chamber Board of Directors The discussion about the new Nestle Waters bottling facility is actually about Sacramento’s commitment to job creation and the process and rules by which businesses come to our city. The Sacramento City Council will consider, Tuesday, Oct. 27, a measure related to this plant that will have a serious and far-reaching impact on the jobs and business climate in Sacramento. We have a set of rules that govern how companies coming to our community must conduct business. These rules come in the form of zoning, building permits, utility fees, water use and the like. These are rules that are determined through a very open and pu

 A $14 million retrofit of a proposed Nestlé water-bottling plant has ground to a halt after the city of Sacramento issued a stop-work order while investigating whether the work began before the company had legal authorization from the city. Late Friday afternoon, the city's Community Development Department issued a stop-work order for Phases II and III shortly before an interim or "urgency" ordinance request was added to the City Council's agenda for Tuesday night. The council is being asked to consider amending the city's zoning code to immediately require special permits for beverage bottling plants. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. On Monday, City Councilman Kevin McCarty and officials f

By Kevin McCarty, Sacramento City Council, District 6 With California in its third year of drought, the City of Sacramento’s water conservation strategy includes busting people who flood sidewalks. Since June, we’ve been telling residents they can water landscaping on only three specific days per week and there is to be no watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Last year, the City Council decided to ban bottled water at its meetings. We did so in recognition that plastic water bottles are littering the world and the precious water they once contained is often wasted. That’s why I was surprised to learn that the Nestle Waters North America Co. is moving forward with plans for a water bottl

Discussion over a Nestlé water-bottling plant appears to be growing in Sacramento, as the Swiss multinational prepares a facility for operation and new hires begin work. The Sacramento City Council, which was not involved in the decision to approve the plant, will discuss the issue publicly for the first time after a request two weeks ago by council members Kevin McCarty and Lauren Hammond. They asked the council to consider an emergency ordinance requiring a special permit before Nestlé Waters North America begins bottling city tap water and spring water at a plant in South Sacramento. Such a permit could "trigger" an environmental analysis of this and future facilities, McCarty said We

Mayor Kevin Johnson spoke favorably about the Nestlé company’s planned water-bottling plant and addressed other local issues at his weekly meeting with reporters on Tuesday. Nestlé water bottling plant Johnson praised Nestlé’s plan to set up a plant to bottle and sell water from the American River, saying the plant will create jobs.   “I knew that this would bring about 40 to 60 jobs in our community and that’s a good thing,” he said. Johnson also said he wished he could have been more involved in the process of bringing the plant to Sacramento, but noted that the city manager’s office has jurisdiction on the issue. But Councilmembers Kevin McCarty and Lauren Hammond disagree. They sai

A group of residents trying to stop Nestlé from opening a water-bottling plant in Sacramento plans to join forces with other Northern Californians fighting the same battle elsewhere. Meanwhile, California Attorney General Jerry Brown will consider whether to request a copy of the plan for a division of Nestlé, the world's largest food company, to bottle and sell spring water and an unlimited amount of city tap water taken from the American River every year. NestléWaters North America plans to open a plant here after losing a six-year fight to bottle glacier-fed spring water near Mount Shasta. Brown threatened to sue the company over an inadequate environmental review for its plan to bott

Two Sacramento city councilmembers are raising concerns and voicing skepticism about the Nestle company’s plan to set up a plant to bottle and sell water from the American River. Councilmembers Kevin McCarty and Lauren Hammond are advocating for the City Council to get involved in the city’s negotiations with Nestle, which so far have been managed by city staffers. Nestle Waters North America’s plan to set up shop in Sacramento early next year is drawing attention. A group of citizens created "Save Our Water Sacramento" to oppose Nestle’s plans. The group is calling for the City Council to set a moratorium on beverage bottling plants in Sacramento. The company noted in a statement that

Sacramento residents are taking first steps into the water justice movement in an effort to stop Swiss company Nestle from bottling and selling city tap water. About 60 people and one dog packed a tiny Quaker church in a Midtown office suite Monday night to discuss growing concerns over Nestle's plans to open a water-bottling plant in Sacramento and to bottle an estimated 82 million gallons of water from the American River every year. One of the group's biggest worries is that Nestle's use of the water would not be regulated or limited in any way. While city employee and Nestle's public relations team estimates are tens of millions of gallons apart, the actual amount of water Nestle may