The Sacramento Bee from Sacramento, California • 15

MetmSuoerior California SECTION The Sacramento Bee Friday May 18 1979 Sacramento Supervisors Kill Odd-Even Plan stations those that sold an average of 60500 gallons a month last year would have to stay open on either Saturdays or Sundays thus assuring more service stations open on weekends Drabic and County Executive Brian Richter acknowledged that one of the state rules for odd-even counties that of requiring dealers to sell gasoline only to those drivers with a half tank or less would be difficult to enforce They also said that enforcement would require a high degree of cooperation from the dealers However the board was assured by several of the dealers that they would not cooperate in the enforcement of that rule Dan Chase president of the Sacramento area Chevron Dealers Alliance asserted not about to Chase said that his board of directors opposed the odd-even plan because there really is not an emergency situation there is no need for further government regulations and that consumers had been most cooperative during the shortage Chase maintained that the prospect of additional gasoline for the county through the state set-aside supply was "political He also asserted that conditions would greatly improve next month and that Standard Oil had informed Chevron dealers in the county that they would get increased supplies in June up to possibly 100 percent of the amount that they sold last June He said that this month the allocation had been 80 percent of that of last May Chase also argued that stations now can limit purchases in order to distribute their supplies to more customers Under the odd-even rules the only limitation would be that custom ers could buy no more than 20 galons When Sheedy asked why so few stations were now open on weekends Chase said it was his choice "to take care of the working people Mondays through Forecasting more supplies iiext month Chase said he thought there would be an early settlement of the Regional Transit strike which would help reduce the gasoline demand CRT said Thursday night that buses wctiU begin running on Saturday while negotiations with drivers continue Chairwoman Sandy Smoley sqid that allocations to odd-even countieti was set forth only in a memo from si governor to the oil companies and wais not included in the rules of his proclamation Therefore she said that allocation system Could be readily changed at any time Supervisor Ilia Collin objected mainly to what she described as thq odd-even rules Supervisor Toby Johnson said that as of Thursday morning he was ready! to support the odd-even plan but had! been persuaded otherwise by the deal-1 er spokesmen not ready to go" 1 he said proposal of the state has 1 too many loose ends and needs further Mrs Smoley said she resented "that the governor has said that this is a local option program and then has hammered us on the That reference she indicated applied to the fact that the governor now was promising more gasoline to the odd-even counties Supervisor Fred Wade took aim at stringent air pollution controls noting that the drivers of this state use more gasoline than those in other states tnd yet must drive less efficient cars By ED DOLAN Bee Staff Writer There will be no odd-even gasoline allocation system in Sacramento County the Board of Supervisors decided Thursday night Supervisors rejected the odd-even program which has been implemented in Los Angeles and Bay area counties after overwhelming opposition to the plan was voiced by gasoline dealers and their associations Supervisor Ted Sheedy was alone in his plea that the county declare a state of emergency and get the gasoline plan started Sunday However there was no other support for the idea Not from the board and not from speakers in the audience No consumer addressed the supervisors on the subject All of the testimony came from service station operators and their organizations They pleaded the cause of free enterprise and that government not be allowed to further interfere in their industry County General Services Director John Drabic had told the board that entering the odd-even program "would not worsen conditions in Sacramento County and may have the potential of providing some The main point made by Drabic was that the county possibly would obtain more gasoline under the program of allocating so-called state set-aside gasoline to those counties participating in the odd-even plan The set-aside fuel is reserved in the state for emergencies and then released about the middle of each month This gasoline was estimated to be about 30 million gallons statewide during the month of May Drabic also pointed out that under the odd-even system high volume Pleas For Rejected By DOUG DEMPSTER Bee Staff Writer In a meeting marked more by confusion than consistency SMUD directors Thursday turned down requests to support a proposed US Nuclear Regulatory Commission hearing on the safety of Rancho Seco But the vote fit the usual pro-nuclear anti-nuclear board split In fact it was almost the reverse of it And the board by a 3-2 vote agreed to ask the district office to drop charges against the "Rancho Seco protesters who scaled a plant gate during a March 31 demonstration Some hours later the pro-nuclear majority rescinded that vote As a culmination of the meeting SMUD officials announced that just as they were ready to finish work on the main generator Thursday preparatory to re-starting the plant a problem was discovered that will take 10 to 14 days to fix Laminations on the stator the stationary part of the generator have fused together and must be repaired The trouble occurred before the plant was shut by the commission on April 28 to install minor hardware institute operating changes and improve operator training after the Three Mile Island accident a month earlier However the stator problem discovered until Thursday afternoon Thursday morning chief engineer John Mattimoe told the board the work required by the commission Hearing On Sec By SMUD's Board Looking inta the of Cal water tower is the tower will shine with a fresh coat of orange and one thing Painting it is something else but Don and blue paint It will be the first time the tower has been Bob Tenns of Tenco Tower Co are up to the task Soon painted since Cal Expo firstopened in 1968 Davis Girds For Court Fight To Bar Proposed Coal Plant tary plane hit the 600-foot-tall The Davis City Council Thursday from agricultural uses would be completed tonight or early Saturday and would be ready for the federal agency to give the go-ahead fora re-start Officials indicated the new problem probably will delay start-up of the plant a little beyond the June 1 target set by SMUD Last Tuesday three environmental groups petitioned the commission to conduct a hearing in Sacramento covering these points: The under which the shutdown was ordered after several days of indecision the adequacy of the modifications to prevent a repetition of the accident at Three Mile Island and the question of whether there are design difficulties in plants built by Babcock Wilcox That firm constructed both the Rancho Seco and Three Mile Island reactors The groups added that if there are problems with the plants the commission should explain why they be corrected now After more than three hours of audience and board discussion and parliamentary wrangling only board members Paul Carr and Don McClain voted for the hearing Directors William Baird Rick Castro and Gary Hursh voted against it That was a switch for all but Baird Previously Castro and Hursh constituting the anti-nuclear faction unsuccessfully had urged a special hearing The other board members who are supporters of nuclear energy opposed it Hursh explained afterward he objected to a successful amendment by superior fashion McClatchy said When the sale of KOVR is completed McClatchy Newspapers will seek to expand its participation in other areas of the communication industry McClatchy said In March 1977 McClatchy Newspapers and Multimedia Inc began proceedings to exchange KOVR for WFBC Channel 4 in Greenville SC but a year later plans for the exchange were terminated Multimedia a publicly owned company is headquartered in South Carolina and operates several radio and television stations and several newspapers Parties said the agreement was ended for the of both KOVR has served the northern San Joaquin and southern Sacramento valleys since 1954 It was acquired by McClatchy in 1964 and operates from studios in Stockton and Sacramento It has been an ABC affiliate for more than 20 years In 1969 an antitrust suit filed in US District Court against McClatchy Newspapers sought to force McClatchy to divest itself of KOVR The suit was filed on behalf of McKeon Construction Co headed by developer George McKeon The suit contended the acquistion of KOVR by McClatchy tended to create a monopoly advantage for McClatchy Newspapers The suit was dismissed in 1971 Carr that requires that Rancho Seco be back on line before SMUD could send the hearing request to the commission He said he hoped the agency would hold a hearing anyway Castro said he voted the way he did of to Chairman Baird After a lunch break Castro had second thoughts and tried to gain permission of other board members to switch his vote but that was denied Baird then called fora new vote But the subject was dropped without further action The flip-flop over the protesters also was confusing Initially Baird joined See SMUD Page B2 $6 Million Likely For Sacramento By PAM SLATER Bee Staff Writer Declaring Sacramento probably will receive more than $6 million in state bailout funds this year city officials are looking at seven ways to spend the money In a report scheduled to be delivered Monday to the city Budget and Finance Committee Finance Director Jack Crist says probability of short-term additional bailout of $64 million is There are proposals currently under consideration by the Legislature to provide local governments with financial relief to help replace property tax revenues lost through the passage of Proposition 13 Among those reviewed by Crist was a bill authored by Senator Albert Rodda D-Sacramento which he said would provide a one-year continuation of state relief Sacramento received $6 million last year indicate this proposal is the most likely to pass this year The city would receive approminately $64 million under this he notes A second legislative measure still in the discussion stage would give the city $53 million 10 percent less than last year if it is adopted instead of the Rodda bill The preliminary $1341 million budget currently under examination by the finance committee was prepared on the assumption that the city would not receive any state help No detailed proposals for the funds will be included until the allocations are "actually by the state and employee salary and benefit negotiations are complete Crist says However several examples of possible staff recommendations on how to spend the money were included in his report They are: Implementation of the first phase of a police department emergency telephone system which would 4 See $6 MILLION Page B2 KOVR Channel 1 3 For Sale 'Community Interest' Cited Another 18 months of public hearings will be held before a final decision is made Stevens said the Dixon and Woodland city councils and other local governmental agencies will be invited to join any legal action brought by the Davis council The Dixon council has already voted to oppose the Collinsville site and is expected to take a position on the Fairfield site next week has said it needs the power plant to provide electricity for more than 1 million persons in the Bay area and has proposed that the coal-fired facility be located in one of five Northern California areas smokestack Travis Air Force Base officials earlier said the smokestack would be an obstacle both for planes approaching Travis and civil aircraft approaching Buchanan Field in Concord Charles Thisscl a attorney told the Sacramento conference the company does not approve of the site recommended by the state because it does not feel safe with percent of our electrical generating capacity underneath one of those huge planes" Bill DuBois natural resources director for the California Farm Bureau opposed the site because of the amount of cooling water it would take Engineers Support SF Office began looking for an a ttorney to battle the state and Pacific Gas and Electric Co over a proposed Coal-fired power plant in Solano County And a Solano County supervisor said Thursday the site proposed by the staff of the state Energy Commission is too close to Travis Air Force Base Davis Councilman Jim Stevens said have to tie it up so long in the courts that it be He said the unanimous decision Wednesday night to hire outside legal help we are ready for something like a 10-year are presently not able to meet our air quality standards which I feel are reasonable and be able to do so in the future if the state puts more air pollution inti) our valley where circulation is very said MayorTom Tomasi The council last week voted unanimously to oppose a aoal-powered plant anywhere in Northern California but will go to court only if the Energy Commission approves the staff-recommended site for the $2 billion 1600-megawatt plart near Travis and Fairfield Tomasi said Another site near Collins ville on the Sacramento River has been under consideration Richard Brann a Solio County supervisor told an informal Sacramento conference on the pla nt that the state energy unit seems more concerned about keeping the plant away from the Collinsville site near Delta marshlands than about protecting people who could be killed if a mili-! I Television station KOVR Channel 13 Stockton-Sacramento is for sale McClatchy Newspapers owner of the station announced Thursday A recent agreement to sell station KMJ Channel 24 in Fresno led the management of McClatchy Newspapers to the conclusion it also should sell Channel 13 CK McClatchy president of the company said "Although not prohibited by present rules various recent court decisions and rulings by the Federal Communications Commission have made it clear there is increasingly strong government opposition to the ownership of television stations by newspapers in the same McClatchy said "This is what led to our decision that it would be in the best interests of the community and our employees and McClatchy Newspapers to seek an orderly transfer of ownership company has no present arrangement with anyone concerning the sale of KOVR However since the matter is of major importance to the community we wanted to tell' the public and our employees what we are contemplating and McClatchy said A primary consideration in evaluating any potential purchaser will be the integrity competence and ability to serve the public in a The study recommended transferring 33 employees or one-third of the San Francisco staff to the Sacramento office for design and construction work on water resource projects The recommendation if adopted would add more than $650000 to the Sacramento economy in payroll and administrative allocations A decision is expected in September The Sacramento district is one of the largest with more than 800 employees and an annual budget of approximately $150 million The Sacramento district is responsible for military and civil engineering tasks the majority of which involve federal water resource project An Army Corps of Engineers study has recommended keeping the district offices in San Francisco open but has suggested transferring a substantial share of its work to the Sacramento district The South Pacific Division had been instructed to study the feasibility of closing the San Francisco office because of a declining work load caused by fewer projects planned in its area The district is responsible only for the area west of the coastal range The study however showed a continuing need for the San Francisco district in water resource planning dredging permit and emergency operations I.