City Prepares for $39 Million Bond Sale

Tulare - City officials expect to sell up to $39 million in bonds the week of Jan. 7 and use the proceeds to build a new public library, expand Del Lago Park and start preliminary work on the three railroad grade separations at the Union Pacific tracks.

The Tulare City Council—sitting also as the Tulare Public Finance Authority—approved sale of the bonds in a 4-0 vote Dec. 18. Councilman David Macedo was absent.

The new library is expected to cost an estimated $11 million, while the Del Lago Park extension, which will include construction of a lake, is expected to cost about $9 million.

“We are not at a point yet where these numbers are firm,” City Manager Darrel Pyle said, explaining city officials will continue to refine cost estimates up to the time of sale.

With the proceeds, the city would also pay-off the estimated $5.5 million in debt remaining from the sale of the lease revenue bonds issued in 1997 to finance City Hall, Pyle said.

The move would save the city about $363,777 in interest and allow it to secure the new bond issue with some of same city assets used in the 1997 bond.

In addition, the sale could provide an estimated:

• $6 million for engineering design work, environmental processing and right-of way negotiations for grade separations at Cartmill, Bardsley and Paige avenues and the Union Pacific tracks.

• $1.1 million for a 2,700-foot-long storm drain trunk line downtown that would run along Pine Avenue and the Tulare Santa Fe Trail.

• $2 million toward the engineering costs and construction of a $6.2 million industrial sewer extension in South Tulare, which would serve future industrial projects on both sides of Highway 99 south to almost Avenue 200.

With bond insurance, the city expects the 2008 bonds will get a Triple-A rating and the interest will be no higher than 5.5 percent, Pyle said.

While the sale is expected to take place the first full week of January, the closing probably won't occur until Jan. 24, said Ken Chilton, president and chief executive officer of Chilton & Associates.

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Greg Merrill Tulare's Officer of the Year

Tulare - Officer Greg Merrill has been with the Tulare Police Department for only a short time, but long enough for his fellow officers to develop an appreciation for his talents and contributions.

They are so impressed that they have selected him as the Tulare Police Benefit Association's Officer of the Year. The announcement was made at the annual Policeman's Ball.

“He's pretty much taken on any special assignment thrown at him,” association President Tim Ramirez said.

Capt. Wes Hensley, who heads up the Police Department's patrol division, agreed.

“Greg is just one of those guys…a go-to guy,” Hensley said. “We've used him in special details. We've brought him in to help us do background investigations because we're constantly recruiting [new officers].”

Merrill, 32, joined the Tulare department one year and seven months ago, after doing a six-year stint with the Tulare County Sheriff's Office, where he had worked in the detentions and patrol division before becoming a detective.

“I investigated everything but violent crimes,” he said.

Merrill was one of the Tulare police officers who worked on a recent one-month special detail to reduce crime in certain areas of West Tulare.

“It was a good outcome,” Merrill said, adding that both statistics and comments from the public indicated it was effective. “The group that I worked with was exceptional.”

Merrill is very personable, Ramirez said. “He has a sense of warmth about him. I've never seen him talk down to anybody. I've never seen him demean anybody.”

He's also a very intelligent officer whom criminals cannot take advantage of, he added.

Born and raised in Lindsay, Merrill graduated from Lindsay High School in 1994 and then attended Santa Barbara City College, where he received an associate of arts degree. He entered the police academy at College of the Sequoias in 1999 and joined the Sheriff's Office after he graduated.

Merrill said he enjoys his work.

“There's something new and exciting every single day,” he said. “Everybody I've met through this business is just a fringe benefit. They're good people you can count on.”

Merrill lives in Tulare with his wife, Natalie, and their 3-year-old daughter, Ava.

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'Under the Radar' Paul Daley is Man of the Year

Tulare - The Man of the Year selection committee had to check its records twice before naming Tulare builder Paul Daley Tulare's Man of the Year.

“We couldn't believe he hadn't already been honored,” said Scot Hillman, adding that's probably because Daley is “a behind the scenes or under the radar kind of guy.”

Daley, Woman of the Year Cathy Mederos, Large Business of the Year Sturgeon and Beck and Small Business of the Year Lange's Plumbing Supply will be honored at the Tulare Chamber of Commerce's annual  awards banquet 6:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25, at the Heritage Complex.

Hillman said Daley does an outstanding job at whatever he takes on and is a “cheerful volunteer” as he coordinates many building projects for the community.

The restrooms under construction in Topham Park for the new skate park has Rotary's name but “Paul's fingerprints” on them, he said

When the  Man of the Year selection committee—which included five former men of the year—arrived at the Rotary Club's regular Friday meeting bearing balloons and an announcement, the Tulare builder said he had no idea what they were up to.

He told Willard Epps, the 2006 Man of the Year, that he didn't think he had done enough to be the recipient, Daley said. “I'm honored to accept it.”

The 63-year-old Daley was born in San Francisco in 1944 and moved later with his adoptive parents to Tulare County, between Strathmore and Lindsay. He graduated from Lindsay High School with about 70 other students in 1962 and then attended the University of California, Berkeley, for one year.

He called the Berkeley experience “culture shock,” given the tiny size of his high school and the enormous UC student population. The next year he attended College of the Sequoias and then worked at a Strathmore packing house and at a short-term job in the mountains, cataloguing redwood trees.

He later returned to Berkeley, but after a semester decided he didn't like college and in 1966 joined the Navy, where he had hoped to enter flight school, but instead went to submarine school in New London, Conn. He then was assigned to a nuclear attack submarine based at Pearl Harbor.

Within a month of his discharge in 1970, his parents had sold their orange grove and moved to Tulare, where he joined them. He worked for about a year with realtor Don Jensen before he joined his father, Vinton Daley, and Danny Martinho is building homes.

“We built several houses on dairies and we even built a dairy or two,” Daley said.

When he and his father decided they wanted to do subdivisions, they began Daley Enterprises. His father died in 1975. The company builds moderately priced housing in both Tulare and Kings Counties.

Daley has coordinated a number of community projects, including the nursing quarters at SCICON (The Clemmie Gill School of Science and Conservation), where sixth-grade students from throughout the county spend a week. He also oversaw construction of the city's freeway entrance signs and, through Rotary, spearheaded construction of arbors at both SCICON and the city's Elk Bayou Soccer Park.

Tulare's new Man of the Year refuses to take sole credit for these and other projects. In each case, he said, his company coordinated the project s after getting other companies to also donate or discount supplies and to work.

“We're the tip of the iceberg or we make stone soup,” he said. “We do part of it, but the majority is done by our trade contractors. They are very generous people. I don't want to leave the impression we do it ourselves.”

Daley's commitment to Rotary has been outstanding, Hillman said, reporting that when Daley was president, the club was named the most outstanding in the district, which includes 50 clubs.

Again Daley refused to take sole credit.

“What happened that year is I followed Scot Hillman,” he said. “I tried to follow him and tried to follow what the district governor wanted. I took good notes [at a district meeting for presidents-elect] and tried to do everything on the list.

“To me it was easy. The real key…is the people who step forward to help you out” and he had lots of help from many members, he said.

In addition to the offices he has held with the Rotary Club, Daley served as the 2000 president of the Tulare Chamber of Commerce and the 1995 and 2005 president of the Building Industry Association of Tulare and Kings Counties, which is now known as the Home Builders Association.

Daley Enterprises was named the chamber's Small Business of the Year in 2002 and the BIA's Builder of the Year in 1996 and 2001. The BIA also recognized him as its member of the year in 1992 and 2006 and its Volunteer of the Year in 2003 and 2004.

Daley and his wife, Vickie, have two grown sons, Ryan Daley and Scott Daley, who is vice president of Daley Enterprises. The Daleys also have three grandchildren, Ryan Jr. 11, Alexis, 5, and Hunter, 2.

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Tulare - IHOP, Tulare's newest restaurant, is expected to open two days after Christmas, A corporate official said. The restaurant is located on Prosperity Avenue, east of Highway 99.

Jennifer Pendergrass, corporate communication manager for IHOP Restaurants, said the building's design is one of the newest in the chain. Called the Icon Design, the 5,000-square-foot eatery will seat 190 people. It will employ 60 to 90 full- and part-time workers, she said.

Although Pendergrass did not have the exact hours of the Tulare store, standard hours are 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week.

Tulare's restaurant joins 1,328 other IHOP restaurants in the U.S., plus one in Mexico, one in the Virgin Islands and several in Canada. Just last year, IHOP bought out the Applebee's chain.

The Tulare franchise is owned by a Southern California man who has several other franchises there, Pendergrass said.

Besides its famous pancakes for breakfast, IHOP serves lunch and dinner. The IHOP Web site indicates its many restaurants serve more than 700 million pancakes a year.

IHOP is the latest of several new restaurants to open in Tulare in the past couple of years. It joins Cool Hand Luke's, Farmer Boys, Chili's, Jim Boy's Tacos, Healthy Japan and the Cuban Sandwich Shop, all on Prosperity Ave.

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Mortgage Company Buys Goble-Miller Building

Tulare - Dave Safina Jr. had a surprise announcement for his employees at Tulare County Mortgage Services' Christmas party.

The business, which employees 10 people, will be moving from its Tulare Avenue office into the former Goble-Miller Funeral Chapel in the spring or early summer.

“Escrow should close within the next 60 days,” Safina said.

He is excited about the move, which will give the business about 7,000-square-feet of operating space, including a finished basement, as opposed to the 2,000 square feet it has at its current 143 East Tulare Ave. location.

The move will also provide more parking.

“We've been looking for something with parking downtown,” Safina said. “That one came with a big, big parking lot and it's right downtown in the financial district.”

Safina also is a fan of older buildings and had done a historical remodel of his current building near the corner of Tulare and K Street.

The Goble-Miller building was constructed in 1927.

“The building is well made,” Safina said. “I'm just going to add some temporary walls inside. I love it just the way it is. They have stained glass inside, coved ceilings and a fireplace … It's going to be really nice.”

Goble History

Goble-Miller closed this year after Service Corporation International purchased the Alderwoods Group and the Federal Trade Commission order the merged companies to divest themselves of funeral homes in areas where the merger would result in SCI's control of a market share majority.

The Goble-Miller building was constructed by Frank Goble, grandson of Dr. Peter Goble, one of Tulare's earliest settlers, who came here in 1874. Frank Goble's father was John Albert Goble, who was president of Bank of Tulare, the city's first bank.

Frank Goble served an undertaking apprenticeship with his uncle in Ohio before returning to Tulare, where he joined Tom Caruthers in his undertaking business, according to Tulare historian Derryl Dumermuth. Tulare Masonic Lodge records indicate Caruthers founded the business in 1888.

Frank Goble became sole owner of the business in 1913. His sons, Bill and Jack Goble, later operated the business together until Bill Goble sold his share in 1951 to his brother, who operated the business until his death.

The business became Goble-Miller after it was sold to the owners of Miller Memorial Chapels in Visalia.

Safina is looking for old photographs—he said the Tulare Historical Museum does not have any—of the outside of the business, because he wants to acknowledge the funeral chapel's history in a display inside his business.

“We're going to do it up right,” he said, asking that anyone with photographs or memorabilia contact him.

There is “quite a treasure trove of information” inside the building that he plans to sift through in hopes of uncovering historical items, he said.

Safina is looking for a buyer for Tulare County Mortgage Services' existing building.

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Carrasco's Mission Oak Team Ready for 'Great Ride’

Tulare - Principal Isidro Carrasco has put together an enthusiastic team to help him prepare for the August opening of

Tulare Joint Union High school trustees have approved Carrasco's request to appoint: Tammy Aldaco as Mission Oak's assistant principal for counseling; Barbara Orisio as assistant principal for curriculum and Bob Oliver as athletic director.

“I'm so excited; it sounds like a great ride,” said Oliver, a 40-year veteran of the district who is currently head of the Physical Education Department at Tulare Union High School.

“When the year began, I was asked to budget the physical education part of the new school…and I just got the bug,” he said, explaining why he applied for the job. “I just got energized with this and said to myself, 'I could be part of something really big here.' Being old school like I am, I just want to be a mentor to new coaches.”

Oliver was in the third graduating class at Tulare Western and knows about the opportunities connected with going to a new school.

'Cried all Night'

“When I heard I was going to Tulare Western, I cried all night long; but once I got there, it was a small, close-knit school and I liked it,” he said.

His appointment to the new school means he will have worked at all three of the district's comprehensive high schools. After graduating from Tulare Western in 1964, he went on to College of the Sequoias and then California State University, Sacramento, playing football at every level. He returned to Tulare Western in 1 968, where he coached and taught Freshmen Guidance classes. In 1970 he moved to Tulare Union, where he has coached “almost everything” over the past 37 years, he said.

Aldaco has spent 14 years in the school district, teaching business for a year at Tech Prep, before going to Tulare Union, where she taught business classes and served as head of the Business Department before becoming dean of students six years ago.

“I know it's going to be an exciting experience,” she said, adding she is looking forward to working with Carrasco and welcoming the school's first students.

Aldaco, who was born and raised in Tulare and whose maiden name is Garcia, is a 1985 graduate of Tulare Union. She is also a California State University, Fresno, graduate.

Second Career

Orisio, currently in her first year as dean of students at Tulare Western, has been with the Tulare district since 1999. She went into education after spending seven years as an accountant with the city of Tulare and a short time with the city of Hanford.

Her first job with the district was teaching math at Tulare Western. She later began teaching web design and business classes as well and took on a number of other tasks, including coaching the varsity tennis team.

“I've experience a lot of the campus activities,” Orisio said.

Her reason for applying for the assistant principal's job: “I think to have the opportunity to start a new school with students and teachers and start developing the culture and vision of the school is very challenging and I thought it would be a rewarding process.”

A native of Southern California, Orisio was raised in Alpaugh, where she graduated from Alpaugh High School in 1983 and then graduated from California State University, Fresno.

Carrasco said Orisio has the title of assistant principal for curriculum because he wants to split both the disciplinary duties and the teacher evaluation tasks between himself and her.

“I think the majority of us will wear different hats at different times,” he said.

He expects the next seven months to “fly by very fast” and, while his team members will continue in their current positions, they will also be helping getting ready for Mission Oak's opening.

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