City: Policy Threatens Race Track, Other Projects

Tulare -Tulare County officials want to discourage new development within a mile of a working dairy, a move city officials said could halt Tulare's growth and derail the proposed race track, meat packing and regional shopping center projects.

While county officials are quick to point out the proposed policy says “discourage” and not “prohibit,” Planning Director Mark Kielty said that does not make him feel any better about the matter.

Not hardly,”Kielty said. “Those kinds of things become not 'maybes' but 'shalls' right off the bat.”

He cited as an example a Tulare County Local Agency Formation Commission recommendation cities keep no more than 10 years worth of vacant land within their growth boundaries. “That became a hard and fast rule in no time,” he said.

If the same scenario played out with the proposed dairy policy, it would affect all cities, but the consequences to the city of Tulare would be particularly “disastrous,” Kielty said.

The Tulare Motor Sports Complex, proposed for 700 acres adjacent to the International Agri-Center, and the Tulare Beef Harvesting and Processing Plant project, planned for 90 acres adjacent to the city's wastewater treatment plant, are both expected to go before the City Council for consideration this year.

Those are not the only projects a one-mile rule could affect. The proposed Cartmill Crossings regional shopping center adjacent to Highway 99 and almost any new subdivision on the west, north or east side of town would be within a mile of an operating dairy, Kielty said.

'More Concerns'

The county Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission were to meet in a joint session earlier this week to discuss the county's proposed general plan, which Kielty said contains other policies of concern to cities.

One of those proposed policies calls for development to take place within incorporated areas, but offers “extensive exceptions” that would allow the county to step in and permit projects within a city's urban area or urban development growth boundaries, Kielty said.

One exception that would allow the county to permit development within city growth areas is for proposals deemed of “special significance” to Tulare County for any of three reasons, including financial benefits, and for “any other relevant factor considered on a case-by-case basis,” according to the proposed policy,
“If it's significant and it's regional, it needs services and the county doesn't provide services,” Kielty said. “It has very limited police and fire services …what you're going to have are city taxpayers paying for county development…”

Cities officials are concerned about this even though the proposed county policy states the county could not allow a project in a city's growth area unless it “finds that the public service impacts of the development are within the service capabilities of the county and affected special districts.”

Kielty said he expected to attend this week's Board of Supervisors/County Planning Commission session to listen and would put his concerns into writing before mid-March.

Staying Calm

When Kielty outlined his concerns to the City Council during a study session last week, council members were concerned but seemed optimistic the cities and county would work out the issues.

Mayor Craig Vejvoda said later the county needs to rethink the proposed one-mile dairy policy. “It locks us in and it doesn't seem right to me to do that.”

Having said that, he stressed the provision is not “an overriding concern with me,” because he thinks the cities and county are talking more with each other about issues than they have done in the past, which opens the door to resolving concerns like this.

Councilman Richard Ortega agreed, adding “there's room in there for the county and cities to talk back and forth.”

Vice Mayor Phil Vandegrift readily admits his concern about the proposed policies and said they are good examples of why the cities have formed a Council of Cities.

As president of the newly-formed council, Vandegrift said he expected to attend this week's joint meeting to explain what the Council of Cities is about and ask for a meeting with the county board and its staff.

“All we want them [county officials] to do is talk to us,” Vandegrift said.

Vandegrift, City Manager Darrel Pyle and other members of the Tulare City Council have talked about the need to recognize and understand the county's perspective and needs, as well as the cities', and try to come up with approaches to development impact fees, revenue sharing and other topics that benefit the county and all its cities.

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Seniors Not Ready for Rocking Chairs

By Dave Adalian

Tulare - If the people working in Tulare's shops and offices seem grayer around the edges than they once did, it's no illusion. In what has become standard baby-boomer style they're doing things differently as they reach what was once standard retirement age: they're not retiring. And neither are their parents.

“People over 50 are soon going to be the majority,” said Linda Herrera, project director for the AARP's Visalia office. “Many are reentering the workforce or never left.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 9 percent of Tulare County's population is now over the age of 65. Add to that the population between 45 and 64 and you're talking about more than a quarter of the county's total population, some 100,000 people, who are living longer, staying more youthful, especially in mind, even as their bodies age.

Those quick minds aren't ready for the rocking chair.

“Why sit around doing nothing,” said Shirley Baxley, 90, who works one day a week at the Visalia Livestock Market, a business formerly owned by her husband, Chuck Baxley, and now in the hands of her son Duane Baxley and his son Randy. “I've got nothing else to do. My son and grandson are here.”

Every Wednesday VLM holds its weekly auction, and while Baxley's son and grandson are in the next building calling for bids from the auctioneer's platform, you'll find her working in the front office, filing papers, recording sales in the VLM database and doing other clerical work as outside newly sold cattle rush through the corrals guided by cowboys on horseback.

“I like coming down,” Baxley said. “It's exciting.”

For real estate broker Obil Smith, 86, going to work as an independent appraiser is a way for him to keep busy and apply the knowledge he's gathered during the course of a lifetime after his retirement from Century 21 Jordan-Link & Company.

“I got out of Century 21 because I wanted to slow down,” he said. “But I want to do something.”

His real estate license makes him qualified to work as an appraiser for companies working on foreclosures or equity loans.

The job, Smith says, has become more difficult for him of late, but only because the housing market has slowed drastically. With fewer houses selling, it's become harder to find information on comparable sales prices.

“I can keep fairly busy. Every two or three days I get an email this company wants an appraisal,” he said. “It's getting a little harder because the comparables are fewer. You don't have as much data.”

Smith's broker's license, which has a five-year term, will run out in 2009. He hasn't decided yet whether he'll renew.

“Then I don't know what I'll do,” he said.

There are no such uncertainties for Ernie DiMatteo, 88, who is “semi-retired” from his job as a car salesman at Sturgeon and Beck. How long will he continue to work?
“As long as my health holds up,” he said. “I work at my leisure.”

DiMatteo came to Tulare as one of the last pilot cadets trained at Rankin Field during World War II. When the war ended, he returned to his home in the Midwest, but found he could no longer stand the weather.

“I threw everything in the trunk and came out here and stopped in Tulare,” he said.
DiMatteo had met R.K. Sturgeon, one of Sturgeon and Beck's original owners, during a cocktail party while he was stationed at Rankin. When he returned to the area in 1947, Sturgeon offered him a job in the parts department. After eight and a half years he switched to sales and continues to this day.

“I carry a cell phone so my loyal customers can call me when they're ready for a new car,” he said. “I can be down there in five minutes.”

After more than 60 years on the job, DiMatteo says it's the social aspect of the job keeping on the payroll.

“I enjoy meeting people and I make a lot of friends,” he said. “It's always a pleasure to see people happy with a car and after the sale.”

For many, however, the decision to keep working is a financial one, says the AARP's Herrera, and it's precisely this need the AARP is hoping to fill as it administers the Department of Labor's Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP).

“We're constantly recruiting,” Herrera said of the program, which is designed to put low- to moderate-income people over the age of 55 back to work.

With a maximum capacity of 150 participants at any given time, SCSEP provides funding for schooling, job training, salary sharing and paid sabbaticals trips, including a recent mission that sent Tulare County residents to New Orleans for two months to help in the aftermath of Katrina.

The program also provides participants, who are often placed with local government and non-profit agencies such as CALFIRE and the district attorney's office, with insurance and some benefits. Participants spend an average of six to nine months in SCSEP, meaning openings are frequently available. A similar but smaller state-funded program is operated by C-SET.

AARP also runs WorkSearch, an employment placement service for jobseekers 50 or older with no income cap. WorkSearch works mainly with private employers who welcome older applicants, such as Walgreen's and Borders Books. Information on both programs is available by calling 625-8088.

Herrera says she takes great pleasure in watching those who find work through the programs rediscover themselves.

“It's wonderful to see those people come in with their new confidence,” she said. “Things happen.”

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'Green' Library, Chambers Could Cost $14.5 million

Tulare - The total estimated cost to design, build, furnish and equip Tulare's new public library has grown to nearly $14.5 million with the addition of new City Council Chambers and a decision to seek certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

City Council votes were 3-2 last week to amend its contract with the architect, Taylor Teter Partnership to include the chamber and to seek Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold level certification.

The Council Chambers, discussed at the council's Jan. 29 goal-setting session, adds about 16,500-square-feet and nearly $3 million to the original $11.1 million total estimated cost and the certification effort would add another $377,736.

Councilman Carlton Jones joined long-time project opponent David Macedo in opposing the changes.

Jones said he changed his mind about building a new library because the city won't get state grant money to construct it as officials once expected.

“If that's gone, my support of spending local funds on this project—it can't be there,” Jones said, adding he would back the effort if the council majority decided to proceed.

Earlier, Macedo said even at 3 percent, the interest payment on bonds to finance the project would cost $420,000 a year.

“I'm not going to stay with this and put the citizens of Tulare in debt to serve maybe 100,000 people a year,” he said.

Earlier this month the city sold, at an average 5 percent interest, more than $33 million in bonds with $11.1 million earmarked for the library. The Tulare Library Foundation has pledged to raise an additional $1 million, which means the city still must find an additional $2.4 million to cover the cost.

City Manager Darrel Pyle said he and Finance Director Darlene Thompson expect to have a plan ready on how to pay the additional cost for the City Council's March 4 or March 18 meeting.

'Amazing Things'

Additional bond proceeds could become available for the library/council chambers if the Del Lago Park project bids come in below the estimate cost, Pyle said.

Another revenue source could involve the sale of the existing library property, he also said.

A developer has approached the city with a plan to build a three-story building on the property, which is adjacent to the Tulare Senior Center and could include housing for seniors as well as an adult day care and/or learning center, city administrative services director Margee Faller told a group of business people recently.

“There are actually some amazing things that could go on there,” Fallert said.
Council members discussed the 4.25 acres the city owns in the area, which also includes the Senior Center and Fire Station No. 2, in closed session Feb. 19.

“They gave us some parameters for those talks [with the developer],” Pyle said.

Mayor Craig Vejvoda, who prefers to call the library a “learning center,” said the project fits the council's mission statement: “to promote a community making Tulare the most desirable place to live, learn, play, work, worship and prosper.

“Learning and prosperity are linked at the hip,” Vejvoda said, adding the location of the project on the southwest corner of M Street and Cross Avenue “can be a catalyst for many wonderful things that can be in the downtown.”

He and others expect the library project will jump start development along the Pine Avenue corridor, where the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad trains once ran.

Going Green

During the City Council's annual goal-setting workshop in late January, questions were raised about the possibility of using the latest green building standards on the library project.

Architect Paul Halajian from Taylor-Teter told the council Friday that putting in the energy efficiency features that qualify for the LEED Gold certification would cost $278,372 in construction fees and an additional $99,364 in architectural and engineering costs.

Building to LEED standards will provide huge benefits in energy savings and creating a healthy environment within the library, Halajian said.

The council considered meeting the standard without spending the additional $50,000 to gain certification, which would deem the city a leader in green building.

“I think the city of Tulare should be a leader… I say we continue to be leaders,” Vejvoda said.

“LEED certification provides independent, third-party verification that a building project meets the highest green building and performance measures,” according to the U.S. Green Building Council's Web site.

“All certified projects receive a LEED plaque, which is the nationally recognized symbol demonstrating that a building is environmentally responsible, profitable and a healthy place to live and work.”

The building council cites environmental and financial benefits to earning the certification, reporting LEED-certified buildings: Lower operating costs and increase asset value; reduce waste sent o landfills; conserve energy and water; provide a healthier and safer environment for occupants and reap other benefits.

Next Step

The next steps in the library project are for the city to select a construction management firm and for the Library Foundation to map out a plan to raise the $1 million it has promised in community support.

Library Director Michael Stowell said he expects to have an agreement with a management firm ready for the council's second meeting in March.

“We're also going to be doing more work on the design and it will be another month or two before we have elevations,” Stowell said.

He expects the Library Foundation will convene soon for a brainstorming session.

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Tulare's Summer Loftis Miss Tulare County

By Rick Elkins

Tulare - Maybe it was destiny Summer Loftis would become the 2008 Miss Tulare County.

The 22-year-old Tulare native was crowned Saturday night and will now compete for the title of Miss California in June.

She is the daughter of Patrick and Tami Loftis of Tulare and a 2003 graduate of Tulare Union High School, where she was head cheerleader for two years and served in student government.

“It's been my dream to be Miss Tulare County,” Loftis said on Monday. In fact, she is named after one of the Golden State's most famous Miss California's – Summer Bartholomew.

“My mom was good friends with her, so I was born to do this,” said an obviously excited Loftis. Summer Bartholomew was Miss California in 1975 and went on to be crowned Miss USA that same year. She has appeared on many television shows and local commercials

This was the second try for the Loftis who comes from a family of Miss Tulare County contestants.

“Two years ago I was second runner up. My older sister, Tara, competed last year,” she said. And her mother was first runner up in the Miss Tulare County pageant in 1978. She has another sister, Jill, 18.

“I'm so excited. My family has been a huge supporter of the Miss Tulare County Pageant. It's been a great experience.”

Loftis graduated from Vanguard University, a private Christian college in Southern California in May of last year. While in the southland, she worked for both Disneyland and Walt Disney Entertainment, jobs she credits with helping to prepare her for the pageant.

Oxford Experience

She also credits her studying at Oxford University in England during the summer of 2006 with helping her to mature and become more independent. “It was an amazing experience for me. I grew up a lot,” she said of her time at the university, where she earned As and Bs.

She had been working as a child development specialist with children with autism in Orange County, but she will now devote all of her time to representing the county and preparing for the Miss California pageant in Fresno June 25-28.

As part of her vocation, she also volunteered with the Make-A-Wish foundation, speaking on behalf of the organization. Now, she will carry that over to her pageant work, making working with children with serious and life-threatening illnesses her pageant platform.

“It's something I have been passionate about and something I've been working with for several years. I am hoping to inspire children in such dramatic situations to dream what they want to be and that they can realize their dreams,” she said.'

For her talent, she performed a lyrical dance to country singer LeAnn Rimes' “I Need You.”

“I chose it because I love the lyrics of the song,” she said.

She said the maturity she has gained the past two years made the difference from being runner up two years ago to being Miss Tulare County this year.

“All my life experiences the past two years have helped and shaped me to compete for the position and to help me become the woman I am today,” she said.

She said her next goal is obviously winning the Miss California title. With the pageant in Fresno, she said her friends and family have no excuse not to “come and see me.”

Being born and raised in the Tulare-Tipton areas (she attended Tipton School until eighth grade), she is excited to represent the area.

“My dad is a pistachio farmer. I'm happy to represent Tulare County because I come from the heart of it.”

First runner up was Rachael Fanjul and second runner up was Jennifer LeMar, who was also voted Miss Congeniality. Loftis will receive a $3,000 scholarship and she tied with contestant Sara Risvold, 18, of Springville for the $100 Kugler Top Interview Award.

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Arambula Honors Rev. Larry Dodson

Tulare - Rev. Larry Dodson, pastor of New Life Community Church in Tulare, was one of 36 African-American leaders honored at Assemblyman Juan Arambula's fourth annual African-American Heritage Awards ceremony in Fresno Friday.

Dodson was one of five nominees for the Community Volunteer award, which Arambula presented to Dr. Edward Mosley. Local organizations and leaders throughout the Fresno Democrat's 31st Assembly District submitted nominations for the awards. Nominees received certificates recognizing their service.

“These exceptional individuals have gone above and beyond to give back to their communities and have defined what it means to be a leader not only in the African-American community, but to our Valley, Arambula said.

“I was very honored to be nominated,” Dodson said, reporting an over-flow crowd attended the ceremony in the assembly room at the Hugh M. Burns State Building.

The 57-year-old Dodson was raised in Tulare from the age of 10 and attended Lincoln and Cherry Middle schools before graduating from Tulare Union High School in 1968.He attended college for awhile but then went to work at the Shell Oil Refinery in Martinez.

In 1972 he moved back here and worked for the Tulare Advance-Register as a circulation advisor. He married his wife, Barbara, in 1973, and a few years later returned to college. He attended College of the Sequoias and then the University of California, Irvine, where he earned a degree in both sociology and criminal justice.

After working for the University of California for four years, he returned to the area to take a job with Visalia Youth Services, a children's mental health program. He later went to work as a counselor with the Central Valley Regional Center, retiring in 2000.

Dodson was ordained a Methodist pastor in 1985 and worked as an associate pastor with his step-father, the late Rev. Grady Holland at African-Methodist Episcopal churches in the area.

“Wherever he went, I went,” Dodson said. In 1996 he was appointed pastor of Brooks Chapel AME in Tulare and in 2004 he started New Life Community Church, which is part of the Reformed Church of America.

Dodson is a past president of the Tulare Association of Churches. He also served nine years on the Tulare County Juvenile Justice Commission, one term on the Palo Verde School board and was instrumental for many years in organizing a community observance of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. He is a chaplain for both the Tulare Police and Fire departments.

Dodson's latest community effort is in conjunction with New Life Ministries, a non-profit entity separate from the church, which is creating a Family Resource Center in Tulare that will help link local residents with the social services they need.

Dodson and his wife live in Tulare and have six grown children.

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