High Schools/COS Study Joint-Use School Farm
Tulare - Representatives and board members of both Tulare Joint Union High School District and College of the Sequoias will meet May 9th to study the idea of a joint use school farm to be located at the new COS campus in Tulare.
High school district superintendent Gerald Benton called the meeting “preliminary.”
“We want to explore how and if a joint use facility could benefit both programs.” COS president Don Goodyear says the move of the current COS farm in Visalia is already underway to the new Tulare site on East Bardsley. Goodyear notes that both the Visalia COS school farm and current Tulare high school farm are “being impacted by urban growth” with encroachment of homes and that the key advantage of a new facility for both would be “we could share the costs.” Already the college uses about 100 acres of its 500 acre parcel it owns east of Mooney for dairy cattle. COS has been building corrals, pens, a house and a farm shop building preparing for the relocation of much of the COS farm to the site later this year.
The new COS campus would be located near the new Tulare high school. Co-locating the school farm near the new high school campus would be convenient for those new ag students while students from Tulare Union and Tulare Western would have to get on the bus to ride to the new facility, something they do now, says Gerald Benton.
“We have a large and active ag education program in Tulare’s high schools,” says Benton, with an enrollment between 800-900 students. “Our program is recognized both statewide and nationally,” he proudly notes.
Benton believes some of the facilities might be used jointly while classroom space might be used separately.
Benton says their current school farm located on West Bardsley would become surplus allowing them to sell or reuse some 70 acres surrounded by three sides by city uses.
The main benefit Benton sees is for the educational curriculum that would allow an ag student to seamlessly move from high school to advanced training programs in college. The benefit “would be to the taxpayers” that want and need government to “work together” to save public monies.
COS ag official Larry Dutto says he is excited about the idea in part because he wants to see a strong ag education program continue at COS/Tulare where there are lots of demands on the use of the land there. COS has announced it plans to sell off about 100 acres likely to a home developer reducing the acreage for a school farm and new community college campus to 400 acres. A strong student body of 500 COS ag students and 900 Tulare high school students would insure plans for an advanced school farm will be protected.
Dutto notes there are differences in the programs in that high school kids work to show one animal at the fair spending all their time concentrating on that one animal in one pen. The college focuses on caring for a herd of cows, pigs, sheep and grouping of horses. Dutto expects all the herd animals to be in Tulare later this year except the horses. “We have to build a covered arena for the horses” before they can be moved from Visalia. Dutto says if there is a preliminary agreement to do a joint use facility, some students could be tending animals at the new farm later this year.
Not everybody is excited about the idea.
Frank Marinelli, Tulare Union High School Ag Farm director said “I can see them selling a portion of the COS farm, but they really have some great facilities, like the horticulture facility that they should keep.”
On bringing a COS facility to Tulare, Marinelli says “That would be fantastic for our students at this end of the valley.” But on merging COS farm and Tulare High School District farms from an educator’s point of view: “I’m opposed to that,” said Marinelli. Currently the school district’s farm is centrally located between the two high schools. Another location could make it more difficult for students to be bused across town for classes.
Dutto notes that the idea of a joint use facility goes back several years to the proposal to build a joint use dairy facility to be located at the UC Veterinary school on Highway 99. That plan has languished as the University of California has sought financial help from the big oil company, Chevron to fund the cost of building both a research and instructional dairy with a total of 1000 cows.
Dr. Jim Cullor of the UC Veterinary Center has spearheaded the effort to work with Chevron to obtain funding having met with Chevron representatives about 6 weeks ago. “They told us it will be a couple of weeks to get back to us.” He says there will come a time when the university as well as Tulare high and COS will have to rethink the plan for the dairy at the UC site. College and high school officials say they aren’t holding their breath although it would be welcome if Chevron should feel moved to donate some $25 million for the project. The company just announced record profits in the billions in the latest quarter.
But COS’s Dutto notes it’s likely if the UC/COS/THS joint venture doesn’t work out that those same players could build an instructional and research dairy at the new COS campus in Tulare “for a fraction of the cost.” That’s because any project associated with the university must pay prevailing wages along with higher cost for everything they do. Dutto says the idea of an instructional dairy with 1000 cows was brought up a number of years ago dairymen estimate the cost at $2700 per cow or $2.7 million. Now they are trying to raise $25 million to do the project from Chevron.
If a plan surfaced to build the research and instructional dairy at a non UC site is likely the local dairy industry would step up and help build it - so goes the hope.
COS’s Don Goodyear says he expects that passage of a statewide bond later this November could mean $48 million to build classrooms and buildings on the new Tulare center but that the sale of the 100 acres will be needed to pay for infrastructure the state doesn’t fund there. The college is planning to sell another 10 acres at the Visalia school farm once the animals are relocated to Tulare late this year. Already there are new Mangano homes being built just south of the current farm at Linwood and Whitendale. The classroom space left at the Visalia COS farm won’t be relocated until new classroom space can be built in Tulare. That would be the last of the COS farm in Visalia - about 4 acres that would be the principle piece of what was a big horse pasture not so long ago on the edge of town.
of City Sewer Capacity
Tulare - The Tulare Board of Public Utilities are expected to approve a plan to nearly double the city’s sewer capacity to 12 million gallons a day from its current 6.7 mgd level. The added capacity would allow the city to continue to seek large industrial users as well as meet the needs of existing industry, says public works director Lew Nelson. The city has received three bids to do the design engineering on the project that will be considered May 18 – each about a million dollars apart on the project. The city expects to pay $3 to 4 million for this part of the project and $30 – 40 million to build the new plant. The plant should be operational in two years.
Nelson says in order to meet state guidelines the city must now seek extra land to lease or buy that can be used to dispose of treated wastewater.
The city seeks added treatment capacity to comply with the existing cease and desist order from the state and will allow economic expansion in the city. Just this past week Kraft asked to increase their volume of discharge by 500,000 gallons a day later this year with the relocation of the Visalia operation to Tulare Kraft will now use 1.4 mgd.
By Robin Kaufman
Tulare - The City of Tulare has been negotiating with the Union Pacific Railroad through eminent domain procedures for four parcels along J St. for many months.
“It has always been our desire to negotiate with land owners and meet them half way, and that includes Union Pacific,” said Howard Edson at the April 26 Tulare Redevelopment Agency meeting.
Edson is the development services director for the City of Tulare.
For the redevelopment agency, meeting “half way” meant the start of eminent domain proceedings, assessing right-of-way properties and giving the railroad “an appraisal we deemed fair,” said Edson.
Negotiations with the railroad came to a stand still when, instead of making a counteroffer for the properties, Union Pacific asked the agency how much more it would pay. That's the point where Edson drew the line.
According to Herman Fitzgerald, counsel for the redevelopment agency, the railroad has refused to set prices for the parcels until the two parties meet in mediation. Fitzgerald anticipates mediation to occur within a month, but the railroad has not yet agreed to a date.
Redevelopment agency board members have expressed an interest in attending the mediation meetings with the railroad.
In mediation, Edson anticipates that the redevelopment agency can ask the railroad to enter into a master agreement that covers how properties should be valued, and which properties the railroad would like to sell in the J St. corridor.
It seems that exactly what properties Union Pacific would like to sell is also at issue due to the internal bickering between the real estate and operations branches of the railroad.
Edson said, it appears Union Pacific's real estate department is ready to sell anything that is not in operation and their operations department doesn’t want to sell.
Edson has not seen anything in writing regarding the railroad operations department's stance but, “We've been hearing that the issue is high speed rail,” said Edson.
Settlement conferences between the city and the railroad could happen as early as late August or early September.
Edson is familiar with the railroad's tactics, however. “I wouldn't be surprised to see the railroad try to move the settlement date,” he said.
At present, trial dates are set for September 11, 18, 25, and Oct 2 in Visalia Superior Court.
“I just don't see these lawyers trying these cases,” said Fitzgerald at the most recent redevelopment agency meeting.
Slow For The
Cone Zone
K St. Construction Project Set To Begin
Tulare - California Highway Patrol officers plan to increase their visibility in the South K St. area as a $3.1 million construction project to extend the commercial thoroughfare kicks off.
D. Alan McCuen, acting district director of the California Department of Transportation, District 6, led the ground breaking ceremony for the project, which was held on April 20.
“Please help us protect these workers and drive slow through the cone zone,” said McCuen.
Construction plans include extending K St. seven-tenths of a mile to connect with Ave. 200 as well as creating a new four-lane intersection at K St. and Ave. 200. The project also involves the extension of the off ramps at Ave. 200, additional landscaping and construction of an ivy-covered sound wall to avert graffiti and noise.
The condemned K St. off ramp from Hwy. 99 will be removed as well.
“With the bridge's irregularities and deterioration, it had to be condemned,” said Tulare Mayor Rich Ortega.
“There's going to be a lot of work,” said California Highway Patrolman Mike Walker, who advised motorists to be patient.
But patience was not the approach local officials took when the K St. ramp closure caused traffic congestion and access problems. In August of 2003, former Tulare City Manager Lynn Dredge speculated that CalTrans could find funding to fix the problem if it was treated as an emergency situation. Initially the project was to take six years to complete. “But the City Council decided that was unacceptable,” said Ortega.
With the cooperation of city, state and federal officials the time span to complete the project has been cut in half.
Congressman Devin Nunes brought additional funds to this project.
At the K St. extension groundbreaking ceremony, Nunes recalled the many times he and his family had used the aging K St. off ramp.
“My great grandfather actually drove off the off ramp! I'm not sure how it happened, but that's the story,” said Nunes during the groundbreaking ceremony.
“Perhaps if we would have had it [the K St. extension], maybe your grandfather wouldn't have gone off the bridge!” said Ortega.
According to the CalTrans Web site, www.slowfortheconezone.com, the most common reasons for crashes, injuries and fatalities in work zones are speeding and inattentive driving.
“We'll be asking you to slow down and pay attention to what's going on,” said Walker.
CalTrans hopes to complete the project by late summer or fall 2006.
“Hopefully this gets done in three months,” said Nunes.
Sturgeon And Beck: Where Everyone Is Family
By Kim Clemons
Tulare - This year marks the eighth decade that Sturgeon and Beck has been a part of Tulare. The business, run by four generations of the same family, has made itself a community staple by treating the customer like family and offering superior after-sale service.
Ken Sturgeon and “Ike” Beck started the company in 1926 with the Hupmobile agency.
“Being family owned has helped to set us a part,” said Harold Beck, son of Ike, who began working for his dad and Ken in 1946.
“I started working in parts then moved into sales and on to management,” noted Harold. Both Harold and his brother, Don, ran the dealership together until it was passed to their sons, Bruce and Donn, in 1992.
Now those two are passing that same tradition of great service and selection on to their sons, Brent, who works in service and Brandon, who works in sales.
“The whole family is involved in the business,” said Bruce, adding that it's more than likely when a customer deals with the dealership, they will be talking to a member of the Beck family.
“There is always at least one of us watching over things and taking care of the customers,” added Brandon. “We are readily available.”
“My grandfather had three elements of success; treat the customer like family, give your best price, and the best guaranteed after-sale service,” said Bruce.
Harold, Bruce and Donn are also proud of the fact that they have very low employee turnover. Bruce said that it was not uncommon for them to have employees retiring after 40 years.
Two such hard-working loyal employees that Harold singled out are Manuel Enos and Ernie DiMatteo.
Enos began working for Sturgeon and Beck right out of high school. “He continued to work for us until he retired as service manager,” said Harold. “You don't find very many people that will work their whole life in one place.”
DiMatteo, now 87, started working at Sturgeon and Beck after serving in the Air Force during World War II. “He is semi-retired and has continued to work for us as a salesperson for 56 years now,” stated Bruce.
Sturgeon and Beck has also been a long-standing sponsor of many youth and community events. Every year the name “Sturgeon and Beck” can be seen on the back of soccer, baseball and softball shirts around Tulare.
Ken Sturgeon passed away in 1992, however his name still remains.
“When Donn and I bought into the company we decided not to change the name,” noted Bruce. “The Sturgeon and Beck name was an icon. We didn't want to change something that has been working for us.”
Mefford Field Hanger Eyed For Vet’s Aviation Museum
Tulare - With the adoption of the airport master plan by council this month, more proposals are surfacing for use of some 24 acres of land at the airport deemed “surplus” by the city to airport use. That includes the WW2 era’s Mefford Field hanger - landmark or eyesore depending on one’s point of view, along Highway 99.
In anticipation of the availability of the property, the city has suggested they would entertain ideas to use the land in some sort of economically beneficial way. Several proposals have come to light.
The latest idea came last week at the Aviation Commission meeting when chamber director Bob Reynolds spearheaded the idea of using the hanger for a Veteran sponsored aviation museum to become a sort of destination for travelers along Highway 99. Reynolds says the idea is preliminary and that the local veterans group that has sponsored the two warbirds next to the hanger has yet to buy into that idea.
The field has plenty of aviation history to celebrate. Ted Rankin as president of the Hollywood Motion Picture Pilots Association signed a War Department contract to open a school to train US Army pilots at the beginning of WW2. The field was one of 62 civilian owned flying schools in the country that taught 1.4 million wartime pilots to fly.
The Amvets local erected the B-17 next to the old hanger and also the F-4C Phantom and Vietnam Memorial at the site.
Reynolds says the idea of the museum would be to draw other historical planes to the hanger and restore the building. He says helping to fund the museum would be the co-location of a private RV park for over night use with perhaps 150 hookups on some 12 acres of the surplus property. He is counting on the veterans to help raise the money for the idea. Tulare Museum director Ellen Gorlick has indicated she would help with the idea. Some of the collection of Manuel Toledo’s military memorabilia could potentially come to the site. The Amvets local is named for the local war hero.
Amvets member Walt Story told the Voice “we’re excited about the idea” but it is too early to see how it all might work.
But city council member Phil Vandergrift says while this idea has merit there are plenty of questions to be answered first. They include the support of the veterans organization as well as the pluses and minuses of several of the offers to use the property. “Everybody is going to get a chance to make an offer for the surplus property,” notes Vandergrift, “Everybody deserves a fair hearing.”
Vandergrift says he worked with veterans several years ago on the idea of using the old hanger for a museum as well, but it fell through. “We don’t need another negative cash flow idea. We have plenty of those already.” He worries the Amvets don’t have the fund raising horsepower they once had when they sponsored bingo. “The Palace took care of that.”
Besides the museum/RV park idea, local businessman Cary Stanley has proposed a hotel and convenience store combination for some of the same acreage. Also Ron Overacker Jr. wants to build a helicopter flying school next door to the Tulare airport. His proposal was on the aviation commission agenda last week when Reynolds offered this new proposal.
The above stories are the property of The Valley Voice Newspaper and may not be reprinted without explicit permission in writing from the publisher.
May 3, 2006
