Yuba rejects offer
on Goldfields road

MARYSVILLE (3/5/03) -- Yuba County rejected Wednesday an alternative offered by Western Aggregates Inc. to restoring a public road through the Yuba goldfields as directed by a state appeals court.

Rather than construct a new road all the way from Hammonton-Smartsville Road to a the Yuba River, the surface mining company suggested creating three permanent scenic parks on 100 acres stretching along two miles of river front.

As art of the deal the road access would be limited to recreational uses.

Western Aggregates has been fighting with civic groups for years over access to the vast goldfields over a disputed roadway, which Western contends was no longer a public thoroughfare.

Public access would also interfere with its proprietary interests in the goldfields, Western Aggregates has argued.

After lengthy proceedings Yuba County Superior Court Judge David Wasilenko ruled the road was public, but Western appealed. Last year a state appeals court affirmed the ruling and ordered that the goldfields be surveyed and a replacement road installed.

The particular route was to be resolved by the county and Western, with Wasilenko having final say.

Meeting separately in two tandem closed-door sessions -- attorneys for the sides on one floor of the courthouse and the board of supervisors on another -- reviewed the offer without reaching an agreement.

The company's offer would remain in the table until rescinded in writing, said David Bromfield, attorney for Western.

Meanwhile, Bromfield told Wasilenko, the company was "alarmed" at the $90,000 cost cap allowed by the court for the land and road survey.

That was two, possibly three times greater than Western Aggregates considered a reasonable for the work.

The appeals court deemed the survey to be a cost of suit and since the county prevailed in the issue, Western must bear the expense.

Bromfield asked the court to order the engineering company performing the survey to report how far along the job was, how much more time it might require and how much the final bill will be.
Wasilenko ordered the report to be presented to the court and all the parties by March 25. He also ordered all the attorneys back to court April 10 to review where the project stood.