Alpine information online

It has been suggested that it would be helpful to have an article about where in Alpine County one can find various types of information.

First and foremost there is the county's official web site: www.alpinecountyca.gov. There is a veritable wealth of information here. There are quick links to all county departments as well as to other sources of information.

On the home page you will find a description of Alpine County and links to "County Code Available Online," "Volunteers Needed (Victim/Witness Assistance Program)," "Domestic Violence Services Available: Alpine Women's Center," and "A Land Owner's Guide to Stopping Weeds."

On the link to the board of supervisors you can find agendas, minutes and how to contact the board.

You will find links to the various county departments, a description of what that department does, what you can find there, and where the departments are located.

The administration link includes information on personnel, purchasing, and employment information including job openings, employment forms, and requests for proposals and qualifications.

Other departments include assessor, auditor/controller, building, buildings and grounds, clerk, district attorney, health and human services, library and archives, museum/historical complex, planning (where you can find agendas and minutes for the planning commission), public works, sheriff, superintendent of schools, superior court, treasurer-recorder-tax collector, and volunteer fire department.

The library has an enormous and varied amount of information and services including an on-line catalog, newspapers (Alpine and others), interlibrary loan services, books, magazines, audiobooks, videos and games, photocopier and fax services, computers with free high speed internet access, bookmobile, special programs, and books for sale. There is also a local history section, county board and committee agendas and minutes, maps (local and world), and copies of many county studies and reports.

The archives, which is in the library, has most county records from 1864 (when the county was formed) forward. Some county records (deeds, mining records, first books of supervisors' minutes, and naturalization papers) are in the treasurer's vault.

The museum/historical complex has an extensive collection of historic photos as well as subject files and genealogical information on some Alpine families. Staff is available on a year-round part-time basis to help with questions and research. The complex is open from Memorial Day through October (closed Tuesday and Wednesday) and includes a historic museum, the Old Webster School, the old log jail, a carriage shed, and the only working stamp mill on the east side of the Sierra.

The Public Works Department includes the road department, buildings and grounds, surveyor, engineer, airport, and recycling.

The superior court link includes probation and grand jury. There is also a link to the Alpine County Superior Court's own Web site: www.alpine.courts.ca.gov/

There are also other links which provide information about the county: Alpine Fire Safe Council, Watershed Group, Bear Valley, Kirkwood, Friends of Hope Valley, Grover Hot Springs State Park, Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, and both state and federal links.

One of the best places to find information about where to go and what to do in Alpine is the chamber of commerce located in Markleeville. It has a link on the county Web site, too.

And four other great sources of information about where to go and what to do are Carson River Resort, south of Markleeville on Highway 4/89; Markleeville General Store in Markleeville; Woodfords Station in Woodfords; and Sorensen's Resort in Hope Valley.