A handful of people, including politicians, county staff and business people, had an informal meeting Tuesday to talk about the status of western Merced County. </p><p>Topics that were discussed included the state of the economy, employment, and commercial and residential development.</p><p>Ray Walton of Aldina Real Estate and Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc. hosted the gathering at Ryan’s Place.</p><p>Bobby Lewis, Merced County’s development services director, said applications for dairy expansions are flowing into his department.</p><p>“It seems that the ag community is holding its own right now. Of course anything in retail, not so much. That’s the sad part,” Lewis said. “The cities are suffering a lot.”</p><p>He said the ag industry’s reliance on the world market keeps it somewhat buffered during a recession. Lewis said distribution centers are interested in coming to Merced County. He also said businesses are investigating the Santa Nella area for opportunities to set up solar farms. </p><p>“That could be something that could be good for the local economy with the creation of jobs,” Lewis said. </p><p>Lewis said the Central Valley could become a hub for green jobs because the region has the space for it.</p><p>“A lot of the grazing areas could be good for wind and solar energy creation,” he said. </p><p>Merced County Supervisor Jerry O’Banion said the reason the Santa Nella area is being considered by companies is because a power grid is located there. </p><p>Bill Nicholson, Merced County’s assistant development services director, said the problem is the difficulty in the technology allowing for long-term jobs.</p><p>“The thing is it (solar panels and wind turbines) won’t create a lot of jobs here unless you assemble them. Once you put them up they run by themselves. You have some maintenance guys but it’s not going to hire 100 people,” Nicholson said. </p><p>Lewis said the county, Livingston, Dos Palos and Gustine are applying for $3.8 million in stimulus money through the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Los Baños, Merced and Atwater are applying separately. Los Baños’ share of NSP funding is $2.4 million. The money will be loaned as gap funding, allowing citizens to buy foreclosed homes.</p><p>Michael Amabile, owner of España’s Restaurant and former mayor of Los Baños, gave a personal account as to the impact the recession had on his business in 2008.</p><p>“I’ve ran España’s for 32 years. Last year was my worst year ever,” Amabile said. “Last year was strange because of the (price of) fuel. We’ve gone through all those other little recessions and depressions, but it was the first time business went down and (fuel) prices went up.”</p><p>Amabile said he felt he couldn’t raise prices at the restaurant because it might cause a decrease in the number of customers. </p><p>Amabile said lower fuel costs have made 2009 much better financially for España’s. “I’m one of the lucky ones. I have a 27 percent increase on one of my departments this year,” he said. “Last year was an anomaly, hopefully, we’ll never see again.”</p><p>O’Banion said monetary takeaways from the state are the main issue confronting Merced County and each of its cities. He said local governments will know a lot more about their financial condition and how they will react to it once the state reveals how much money it will take. </p><p>Enterprise staff writer Corey Pride can be reached at 388-6563 or cpride@losbanosenterprise.com