Visalia - The City of Visalia is expected to select a consultant firm soon to help them prepare a master plan for the four creeks that course through town. The plan would look at replanting riparian vegetation and lay out a trail system to connect creeks and bike paths.
In the downtown area the plan calls for a “potential opening and enhancing the creek for public purposes to complement adjacent property uses.” The four creeks include the St. Johns, Mill Creek, Cameron Creek and Packwood Creek.
The city’s Waterway Advisory Committee will recommend one firm to the Visalia
City Council. City Parks staffer Don Stone says the move comes as
long range policy decision of the council to restore its waterways.
“We will have to go out and get grants but you stand a much better chance
with a plan in hand,” he says.
“We’ve talked about it for years. I’m glad the city is getting serious
about it,” says Visalia businessman Harry Pappas. “Restoring the creek
through downtown could take us to the next level,” says the KMPH TV station
owner who recently opened a Downtown storefront. Pappas says he would
consider being a financial contributor to the project - helping the Visalia
Parks and Recreation Foundation president Bruce McDermott. The Foundations
raises money to expand and beautify park land in town. The Foundation
is looking to be a conduit for people who want to “give back” to Visalia
with a “permanent legacy,” says McDermott - the city’s retired police chief.
“Visalia is laced with a variety of east/west flowing waterways,” notes the city request for proposals. Assets that can be restored, not just for beauty “but as important economic resource” it points out. The idea of an interconnecting bike and pedestrian trail system has been suggested for years. But this master plan could tie the town together.
Mayor Don Landers says that “for some reason Visalia chooses to hide the creek under ground instead of treating it like an amenity. I see a pathway lined with shops and restaurants in the future.”
Building a trail system along Mill Creek from the Ben Maddox area back
to Downtown proper is considered a likely demonstration project where the
revegetation, creek enhancement and resurfacing where it is currently under
ground - could occur. A pedestrian path along the waterway and the
potential for year round water could attract development along the creek
the way downtown San Luis Obispo has built its downtown along the creek.
A new effort this past year to plant hundreds of shade trees in Downtown
helped to stimulate interest in restoring our creeks. City council
member Jim Harbottle has suggested some sort of water feature east of downtown
and resurfacing of Mill Creek for the past few years.
Pushing interest in the idea is the city’s long term plan to grow downtown to the east toward the largely unused Ben Maddox area. The city has been in real estate negotiations with owners of much of the land in the old hobo jungle area for the past year. The hobo jungle area is where Mill Creek and Jennings Ditch connect just west of Ben Maddox and north of Center St. The general area has been mentioned as a possible site for the future City Hall. It is also a good place for a big recharge basin which could tap the city’s storm drain master plan fund to help acquire property that has such a dual use.
Helping to raise consciousness in Visalia over the natural streams plan in our environment has been the battle over the TID canal involving the City of Visalia as an opponent of the concreting plan. Politicians here in the past year heard loud and clear they didn’t want the canal lined and instead wanted the city to work to enhance waterways, tree planting and habitat restoration.
The RFP suggests the city wants to tie its existing bike path master plan to the new pedestrian trail system along the creeks. The consultant will begin to look at how the city could acquire enough set back land to build a trail system. The consultant would need to come up with costs for development of the plan.
Mill Creek was put underground through downtown before the turn of the century in part because it was used as a sort of dumping ground in the community for many years. In only a few segments the creek is allowed to be a creek through Downtown. One part of the waterway looks more like a weed and trash strewn ditch than any natural creek that settlers here found more than 150 years ago.
One problem in turning Mill Creek to a pathway has been school district reluctance to allow a public walkway through the campus at Redwood/Sierra.
The nonprofit Parks and Recreation Foundation headed by Bruce McDermott has the operation of Mill Creek “as a top priority,” says McDermott - a project the foundation is seeking sponsors for. The new foundation - in place for only a year - has expanded its board of directors to 22 and has collected more than $60,000 for various projects in the city.
While the City of Visalia can provide basic parkland, the Foundation aims to promote special parks like the new Disc Gold course at Seven Oaks Park (near Tulare Ave. and Edison) planting the Harrel Grove along St. Johns Parkway and working on parks along 198 - the entrance to the community.
A recent project is the landscaping of what would otherwise be an unsightly water basin along West 198 planting trees, buying furniture and landscaping several new parks. The Foundation’s Giving for Living program assures that gifts will directly improve Visalia’s parks and rec activities, says staffer Leslie Caviglia with donations “recognized with permanent plaques when appropriate.” The Foundation plans “cool water playgrounds” climbing walls, playgrounds and more sites for individual and team sports along with efforts like the restoration of Mill Creek in town. (Phone 798-8000 to get involved.)
Pappas says he hopes the opening of Mill Creek through town will be a chance for “people of all ages” to use the pathways including both bike and walking opportunities on a paved pathway. He says he hopes the landscaping won’t preclude some basic “non-native” planting of grass along the route. In addition he expects the city “will do a better job of making sure the route is not filed with debris and trash as it has been for years.” “This is a project that is close to my heart,” he says.
Besides Foundation and grant money, funds may be available for the long range project from the state Prop. 13 (water bond), Urban Stream Restoration Fund and the city’s own storm basin fund. Often the state fund can be used to obtain land while the new Parks and Recreation Foundation works on its part to landscape the land and provide amenities.
McDermott says the Foundation is talking to the County about making more of the land around the Mill Creek at Main and 198 into park land.
Once a consultant is hired to do the proposed master plan the work is expected
to take up to a year, says Stone.
One highly visible location where a ditch could be transformed into a full
blown creekside corridor might be Packwood Creek as it crosses Mooney Blvd
where plans for a huge shopping center are in the works. Here Packwood
Creek has been a ditch in the middle of a cotton field. But now the
high profile shopping center could take a cue from the new master plan policy
to restore Visalia’s original beauty.
Tulare County - The plain fact is that the state has not adopted a strategy to meet the power crunch in California even though the PUC has adopted at least a 40% increase for most users. Things remain unsettled over who will buy and sell power and for how much - critical questions that need to be answered before any new power plants come on line. Competing visions of how to deal with high power bills yet to be paid, utilities on the brink of bankruptcy and small power operators in the state who are off line because they haven’t been paid continue to create a chaotic atmosphere - not conducive to investment, say industry sources.
With that said local efforts to increase power generation is gaining steam from the farm to municipals and school uses with proposals pending for power plants in the Central Valley - large and small. Here’s an update.
That process includes striping the usable gases from cow manure in a digester that can also generate hot water and refrigeration for the dairy on site. In the meantime, the process removes the potential greenhouse gases and ammonia from the atmosphere - a source of environmental pollution that dairymen are increasingly being criticized for.
This independent source of electricity insures that if the state’s grid goes dark this “distributed generation” is more reliable than one big plant that could go off line.
Bieler says that since “Local officials have been increasingly concerned about the number and size of dairies locating in especially Tulare and Kings counties and the potential negative environmental affects those dairies pose. The Laguna/Microgy contract presents perhaps a more positive outlook on those dairies as electric power may be generated in a fashion that may be environmentally friendly and responsible.”
Boosting the idea is Larry Serpa, director of member relations and milk procurement for the big cooperative. Land O’Lakes. “By helping milk producers” LOL might purchase “greenpower” produced by the dairies too, he says.
Bieler says that “This is exactly the type of program that government, both local and state, should be supporting. In fact, Senator Costa’s office has sponsored a bill to promote this very type of program and has met with both Microgy and Laguna months ago in Laguna’s office in Riverdale, CA to learn more about what can be done by their offices to support these efforts.”
One dairyman excited about the project is Kings County supervisor Tony Oliveira who has one of the contracts with Microgy. While retail price of electricity may now be some 10 cents and expected to go higher, a farmer with his own microsystem might be expected to pay more like 8 cents. The PUC announced in the past few days that power rates were heading up 40%.
Bieler says Microgy has a plan to supply about 30 megawatts of “green power”
with utility companies in California, Arizona and Wisconsin. He says
that have some 20 operating plants and the expectation of doing a number
in California and the Central Valley. Microgy comes in and installs
the system as a turn key operation.
Other companies are looking to do similar projects in the Chino area.
With the state spending billions of dollars on emergency power for residents, it could be the entire state’s economy is at risk, a UCLA report suggested. One proposal would be to legalize a windfall profits tax on electrical generators who had made big bucks these past few months.
On the other hand, most observers want to stimulate the market for instate generation of electricity and not discourage new construction. A spokesman for Duke Energy who is working on a plant in Avenal said it might do just that. Another line of thinking is for the state itself to go into the power generation business along the line of a multiple power authority line in Los Angeles.
Then there is the problem of lack of payment to the small qualifying facilities that are owed an estimated $1.5 million by the two big utilities with no solution in sight. There are some 3000 megawatts of energy that could produce power for the state that is off line because of the financial impasse.
If Sacramento keeps fiddling May and 100 degree temperatures will ensure
things get worse before things get better.
Tulare County - Of the state of California’s 6 million farm animals - one sixth - about a million cattle and hogs are from Tulare County - arguably the county with most to lose if the dreaded virus spreading around the world, Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), strikes here.
That’s the word from County Ag Commissioner Lenord Craft who was in Sacramento last week huddling with state officials concerned about the possibility the disease, that ravages livestock but is harmless to humans, could visit the Central Valley.
Regulators and farmers alike are looking at ways to limit access to dairies by visitors, equipment, and shipments of all kind - any possible carriers of the contagious disease that now has spread throughout Europe and to a number of South American countries.
Tulare County Agricultural Commissioner Lenord Craft said his county is home to about 1 million head of cattle and is the leading swine production county in California. He is recommending that farmers and ranchers in his county move quickly to educate themselves about FMD and biosecurity precautions.
“I feel the technical knowledge to prevent the disease is resident in this
state,” Craft said. “That puts us ahead of where Great Britain was
when their situation developed. The responsibility for prevention still
lies with farmers, ranchers and citizens who travel to prevent an outbreak
here. Quarantine protections are not perfect.”
A UC Davis report on the disease from last year before the big world wide
epidemic hit called the possible introduction of the virus into California
“a real threat.”
We’re seeing what is happening in England and we are very concerned,” says
Steve Lyle spokesman for the California Division of Food and Agriculture.
As many as 30 million livestock in England may be destroyed to rid that
country of the disease. Many believe illegally imported meat may have
brought the plague to England.
It was 1929 when the U.S. last had a FMD outbreak. But a few years
before a larger FMD outbreak was spread from a Vallejo hog farmers who fed
contaminated garbage brought in by a ship to his pigs. Over 100,000
animals had to be destroyed over a four month period. The report suggests
the hit on the California livestock industry could be as high as $1.5 billion.
Quarantine, slaughter and complete disposal of the infected animals are
the only ways known to get rid of the virus - another of the world wide
plagues that include the ebola virus and mad cow disease that appear to
be upon us.
In England, now they don’t plan to vaccinate their livestock expecting that
slaughter will need to be carried out before the plague is beaten.
The disease is now found in Netherlands, France, Ireland and in the far
east in Taiwan and Mongolia along with South America.
Meat and dairy products from foreign countries may harbor the virus.
People can carry FMD virus on their clothing, shoes, even bags they carry.
In addition the virus can travel through the air.
If regulators are worried about accidental contact with infected animals,
there is real concern about animals or animal product smuggling, says the
CDFA and even the possibility of eco terrorism if someone wanted to devastate
the California livestock industry.
The sudden onset of symptoms includes severe weight loss among all cloven hoof animals.
There is local worry over the number of foreign visitors that come to Tulare County to see our ag operations and even to buy and sell farm equipment at places like the World Ag Expo that say visitors from all over the world even countries we now know had recent outbreaks of FMD. In recent days the U.S. warned about the importation and movement of used farm equipment just because of that issue, says Dennis Haines, Tulare County Ag Biologist. “We’re concerned that the outbreak of FMD in England and Europe has happened just after this year’s farm show. But if something were to break, an incident, it should have happened by now.”
The spread of the disease to South America has been a controversial subject in the past few weeks. In late February press reports suggested a major outbreak of FMD was taking place in Argentina with some 3000 to 5000 head infected. That number is now rising and the country is vaccinating much of its cattle. Despite the outbreak, the U.S. continues to allow Argentine beef into the country if it is boneless. The U.S. did not begin banning cattle from Argentina or Brazil where the disease is also a problem months before, says Joel Nelsen, head of the U.S. Citrus Science Council who says the Argentine government “lied” about the disease and can’t be trusted “to tell the truth.”
Nelsen says that while the USDA is now banning Argentine imports of animals, the fact the country hid their problem is troublesome.
Dennis Haines says countries have an incentive not to innoculate their
cattle because if you vaccinate the cattle the movement of the animal, beef
and dairy product is restricted. If it even happened here, and Haines
says it will one day with all the movement of animals and people around
the world these days, it would be “useless to vaccinate the animals” because
they you can’t test if animals have the antibody. Once you vaccinate
the animal it carries the antibody, he says. Indeed, like in England,
there would have to be a mass burning of carcasses, God forbid.
Concern that it is in South America makes it more likely that it could spread
up into Mexico where we get much more contact in the Central Valley than
we do from England. Thousands of undocumented workers come to the
farms of the valley every year perhaps walking mud caked on their shoes
carrying a virus like this, he worries.
“The danger to us is more from South America than Europe,” Red Bluff cow-calf
operator Linda Walker said. “If the disease were to make its way here
through Mexico, then California would probably be hard hit. As things
worsen, I see the state, each day, taking stronger measures to protect livestock.”
Hanford dairy farmer Joaquin Contente says his group, the California Dairy Campaign, is worried about imported casein coming from FMD countries that the U.S. is not banning now. “This dairy product is coming in large containers to our Central Valley dairy plants,” he says. The group has written Secretary Ann Veneman about this issue. The group opposes casein importation anyway since it competes with our domestic production. They say as much as 9 million lbs of milk equivalent of casein comes into the country - almost a third as much milk as is produced in California.
But it is the potential movement of thousands of cows into California which turns over this six million milk cows every three years anyway and remains one of the states were dairy herds are getting larger. “We see lots of movement of cattle in here because we work our cows pretty hard,” says Contente, pushing Bessy to produce far beyond her natural bend. “With BST and everything they wear out faster,” he admits. There is an apparent shortage of heifers driving the demand to import animals here.
Alfonso Torres, the USDA’s chief veterinary medical officer, said last week in a Washington, D.C., press conference that 80 percent to 90 percent of FMD outbreaks are due to animal movement, both legal and illegal. As a result, FMD control experts do not recommend that animals leaving a livestock facility be allowed to return. If this should occur, they urge isolation procedures that treat these animals as new additions.
Some dairymen are choosing not to buy new animals now and those who can grow their herd from within feel they are lucky to be in that position raising their own replacement animals.
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman held a press conference last week, emphasizing to the media: “I want to assure you that we are working vigorously to ensure we have all the programs in place to keep foot-and-mouth disease out of this country. The United States has been free from the disease since 1929, over 70 years. Our systems have worked well and we are confident they will continue to work very well.”
With the continuing spread of the disease in Europe, as well as in South America and Asia, farmers and ranchers are being advised to screen all foreign visitors in advance. CDFA recommends, “If possible, exclude foreign visitors from livestock facilities for at least five days after travelers’ arrival in the United States.”
CDFA recommends taking special precautions when visiting other farms, livestock markets or livestock fairs and shows. Change clothes after a visit, wash hands frequently and be careful not to contaminate the inside or outside of a vehicle. Do not allow vehicles to enter the farm or ranch. Remember that exhibiting animals is a biosecurity risk.
Given the ease of international travel of humans by plane, foot-and-mouth disease could travel to California from infected countries in less than 24 hours. Foot-and-mouth disease rarely affects humans, but people can easily transmit the virus.
Dennis Haines says that regulators are concerned about dogs coming into the U.S. for shows because those dogs could have been around infected animals.
Haines has overseen Tulare County’s battle against other economy threatening pests including the glassy-winged sharp shooter and olive fruit fly, both of which may now find permanent homes here. He says they plan again to spray this spring for the sharpshooter in the Porterville area to keep the population threshold low. In the case of the olive fruit fly, “the insect is no longer considered a target for the ag commissioner because it’s everywhere,” and now it’s up to the farmers to deal with it.
The California Farm Bureau contributed to this story
Tulare County - Tulare Irrigation District board will consider a compensation proposal April 10th that would end the district’s controversial plan to line 10 miles of canal with concrete. The potential board agreement comes after months of negotiations and two years of bitter battle with opponents over the project aimed at conserving water that travels from the Kaweah Delta area into the Tulare area.
Assistant manager Paul Hendrix says the TID board is scheduled to take action on the item after minor changes were approved this week by the Kaweah Delta board.
Before any agreement is final, however, two other cross party agreements must be signed that include a TID-City of Visalia contract and a Kaweah Delta-City of Visalia contract. Each face little controversy however.
“We are hopeful the agreement would be retroactive to March 1,” says Hendrix meaning it could cover irrigation water brought into the district for this season. The idea of the agreement is to encourage TID - the only federal contractor in the area - to bring in as much federal water as possible to help the water table replenish itself.
Interests east of Kaweah liked the idea that the earthen canal “leaked” water. Now there will be a mechanism to pay TID for their “lost” water that seeped into the ground in the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District and near local cities like Visalia and Farmersville.
The Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District (KDWCD) board agreed to pay TID $3.50 per acre feet of water they bring into the delta - as long as they do that in unlined, earthen canals. The agreement is for at least 10 years.
Hendrix says the district has brought in as much as 130,000 acre-feet of federal water into the area in wet years and in 2000 brought in 100,000 acre-feet. Hendrix says that “TID’s own allocation may only be about 30,000 acre-feet. It’s a dry year so there may not be very much water to but from others. So a total of 100,000 acre-feet for TID this year is not too likely and we would indeed be very lucky to acquire that much.” But at least TID now has an incentive to bring it in.
Complicating the issue was the fact that the lining of the TID canal would have meant Kaweah River water the irrigation district is entitled to would also have been transferred by concrete canal further decreasing the amount to water that would be recharged.
Land owners nearby and property owners along the canal vigorously opposed the project taking TID to court. They arguably won led by the efforts of the Visalia surgeon Dr. Tom Mitts would contributed six figures to the battle.
Property owners and conservationists fought the issue in part because of the loss of streamside habitat along the Kaweah and potential loss of hundreds of large mature oak trees along the canal that would have been axed. That galvanized opponents who at one point blocked bulldozers of a contractor hired by TID to begin the lining process.
Losing in court last fall the irrigation district faced complaints from
its own membership that it had squandered $4 million already on the project
leading up to a resumption of talks between the two sides after Christmas
2000.
A possible upside of the agreement could be additional supplies of water
coming into the Kaweah Delta area to be recharged in and around Visalia.
In an additional new movement to replant and restore the waterways in town
is underway (see other story).
Kaweah Delta Takes Hospice Under Wing
Visalia - As of April 1 Tulare County Hospice is a division of Kaweah Delta Healthcare District. That word comes from Hospice executive director Debbie Westfall. Hospice has struggled financially for years and in the past six months the nonprofit organization “approached Kaweah Delta,” says Westfall to see if they would consider taking them under their wing. “I don’t think Hospice will ever be a money making enterprise, but it should at least break even,” says CEO Tom Johnson. “Hospice thought that if they got Medicare funding things would work out better.” But that funding depends on Hospice working with patients for longer times. Johnson says many patients and their families get Hospice care only at the last and that early intervention can benefit everyone. “We can do a lot for the dying patient with pain medication and the comfort of living out their last days at home and working with care givers,” says Westfall.
Johnson says the mission of Hospice is to improve the lives of dying patients and their families, a mission that works well under the Kaweah Delta umbrella. That includes purchase of medications that has skyrocketed for Hospice in the past few years, says Westfall.
In 1995 Westfall says the per capita average spent daily by Hospice to comfort a dying patient was $9 per day. Today that number is around $28.
Hospice cares for many indigent patients who cannot pay and depends on community donations and its Foundation to help meet the costs.
“Our Foundation work will continue,” says Westfall, raising money for bereavement service for those who can’t afford it for example.
Tulare County Hospice has worked with some 220 patients and their families this past year. Interest by Kaweah Delta in focusing on improving the care for people who are dying is pointing toward a “team approach” to patient care, says Westfall who notes the support of KDDH board member Sue McAllister who is heading up a task force to improve “palliative care” here. Among the decisions the team makes with the family and the patient is how long to continue high tech intervention to fight off a disease or condition.
Many of the patients that come to Hospice are fighting cancer.
“This is good news for Hospice,” says Westfall, “it insures that a local hospice continues serving the community.”
Census Numbers Show Fast Growing Hispanic Population
Fastest growing cities in Tulare County were Farmersville - up 40% from 1990, Porterville - up 34%, Tulare - up 32% and Dinuba - also up 32%.
Visalia grew by 21% over the decade from 75,636 to 91,565. The 2000 census number was a disappointment to city officials who hoped they would top 100,000 residents and were surprised when the official census number came out more than 5000 people lower than state Department of Finance estimates.
The lower number will effect city finances since a number of funds are paid per capita. City manager Steve Salomon says the shortfall would, however, be minimal. Not reaching 100,000 takes the city off the radar screen for some projects however, retail interests for one.
This week chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Bill Maze agreed that the number for rural Tulare - more than 3000 lower than state estimates amounted to an “undercount” by the US Census. He pointed to the fast growth in the Cutler Orosi area over the past decade as an example. It isn’t clear what action the city or county will take to do something about it. “We should work together” on this issue agreed Maze and council at a meeting this week.
Statewide the census was almost half a million residents short of the State estimate meaning that California gets one less new congressional representative.
How did US and state estimates differ? City manager Steve Salomon says one factor is that the 1990 census used a 3.09 persons per household average, while a lower 2.84 per household figure is included in the year 2000 numbers. Smaller households could account for reduced growth despite the increase in the number of new houses in town. Visalia has some 33,000 residences.
While the County is over half Hispanic, Visalia’s Hispanic segment is only 35% up from 25% in the 1990 census. Household size among Hispanics tend to be larger. The towns that grew the fastest increased their Hispanic percentages like Farmersville that grew 40% and went from 58% Hispanic in 1990 to 72% now.
In addition, the growth of the retired senior population in Visalia with household size under 2 may be a factor. New senior villages are being built in town.
According to the UC related newsletter Migration News “the 2000 Census found that the number of Hispanics grew faster than expected in the 1990s, so that about 35 million residents identified themselves as Hispanic, and 35 million residents identified themselves as Black.
The higher-than-expected Hispanic count means that there may be far more unauthorized foreigners in the US than previously thought.
John F. Long, chief of the Census bureau’s population division, said that ‘Immigration - unmeasured immigration - is the thing we are looking at. The biggest candidate is...undocumented immigrants.’
The Census found 35 million Hispanics in April 2000, including 35 percent under age 35 (about 24 percent of non-Hispanics are under 35).
A high percentage of Hispanics have relatively little education: 57 percent of Hispanics were high school graduates compared with 88 percent of non-Hispanic whites.
About 28 percent of non-Hispanic Whites age 25 and over had a BA degree or more in 2000, compared to 11 percent of Hispanics. The 2000 CPS estimated that 12.8 million Hispanics were foreign-born, and that 25 percent of them had become naturalized US citizens by 2000. Among foreign-born Hispanics, 43 percent entered the United States in the 1990s, while 27 percent entered before 1980.
Hispanics generally are younger than non-Hispanic whites - 36 percent of Hispanics were under 18 years old and only five percent were 65 or older; for non-Hispanic Whites, the corresponding proportions were 24 percent and 14 percent. About 31 percent of Hispanic family households had five or more persons, compared with 12 percent of family households with non-Hispanic White householders.”
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