Corridor Group Files New Suit To Stop Westside Auto Mall
Referendum Filing Expected

Visalia - Having trouble keeping up with lawsuits? Get used to it. On November 14 the Greg Collins-led group, Save Our Corridor, filed a suit penned by Fresno environmental attorney Richard Harriman to stop the development of the westside auto mall.

The suit uses a surprise approach—that the city forgot to amend the West Visalia Specific Plan when it approved the project despite the fact a city notice said they planned to amend the specific plan. At issue is when the land changed from ag to service commercial the city needed to include amending the Specific Plan as well. The city doesn’t deny they did not amend that plan but that they didn’t need to.

One city council member to the Voice that planner Darlene Mata claims the parcel in question is outside the Westside Specific Plan boundary. Collins disagrees saying “my own copy of the plan shows this land inside the boundary and designated ag.”

The city EIR on the project gives a Notice of Preparation: saying that the “discretionary action” from the city is “required” for the (automall) project— “Amendment of the West Visalia Specific Plan”

Harriman argues in the suit that the failure by the city to take the proper action renders the rezoning completed in September on the auto mall site void.

Former mayor Greg Collins says while this is the same argument the city makes over the referendum petition (the issue of consistency) the real issue is that the city should allow the citizens to vote on this in a “binding election” not an advisory vote that would have no force in law.

Council members say they believe Collins arguments will be thrown out of court and that will end the battle. They claim the Manganos already have entitlement to the land under the new zoning making it impossible to have a meaningful vote of the people “even if we wanted to” because the city would be liable for the loss of land value.

Also, Collins says he will appeal a parcel map request at the next council meeting that divides the 72 acre auto mall into 12 parcels. The Planning Commission approved the map at its most recent meeting and Collins has 10 days to appeal.

Collins says the concern is that if this subdivided land reverts to its original ag use, it will be that much harder to farm. “They’ll end up with tractor sales out there.”

In addition, Collins plans to ask the council what it will cost for all the offsite improvements for the new westside mall and what portion will be paid for by the developer.

Also Collins says he is concerned some road plans at the property “may be growth inducing” since they can lead further west.

Asked about the Groppetti settlement this week, Collins says he felt “glad for Mr. Groppetti and his plan for a 21 acre auto district,” Collins says he had hoped to join up with the Groppetti lawsuit against the city (settled this week). But now he says “we’ll go it alone.”

Late this week Collins’ group promises a new filing to push the referendum issue now that the city has declined to certify the petition despite some 4200 signatures. The city claims the petition was filed too late.

Although the suit requires some time before the city can respond to it in court because they must prepare the administrative record —sources believe the city attorney—whether it is Mr. Dooley or Mr. Brown—will head into court soon to try to get the suits thrown out - the last hurdle before they can build this controversial auto mall.

City Attorney Dooley recused himself from a ruling on the referendum petition but kept his City Attorney hat on regarding other auto mall issues including the Groppetti settlement. This was despite the fact Dooley’s firm had a professional relationship with the Manganos.

Still, the issue a local judge must face - whether to deny 4200 locals a chance to vote on this?

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Back to Nature
Dry Creek Mine Expected To Close, Land Donated To Local Land Trust

Tulare County - Sequoia Riverlands Trust, Dry Creek cattle rancher John Dofflemyer and the owner of the controversial mine on Dry Creek—California Portland Cement are working on a deal touted as a ‘win-win’ all around. Basically it would close the mine, donate the land to the Sequoia Riverlands Trust and lift a major scar on the Dry Creek ecosystem that Dofflemyer has been laboring mightily to protect.

This week John Renninger, Senior VP with California Portland Cement, confirmed the company “is in active negotiations to donate the 150 acre site to Sequoia Riverlands Trust.” He says the mine it acquired in the past year from creditor Artesia Ready Mix “hasn’t been very productive for years” anyway and that the donation request by the Trust and Dofflemyer “seems like the right thing to do” for their corporation.

Donating the land would offer the company some tax benefits to go with what Dofflemyer suggests will be plenty of kudos coming from many long time Tulare County residents. “They can put a tree leaf on their web site,” he jokes.

The site has been mined since 1992 and after lengthy litigation from Dofflemyer and local environmental groups—allowed to expand in 2000. They were allowed to expand their operations and dig deeper into the Dry Creek channel digging a pit along the creekbed. The pit creates a lake and mounds of spoiled material up along the creek and extending hundreds of yards in several directions.

The operator, Artesia Ready Mix did expand and more trucks plied the Dry Creek road. But soon the county began getting complaints that the mitigation efforts promised by Artesia on the expansion were not being followed. At the same time the big legal challenge over who would control the mine site between Artesia and its creditor California Portland Cement was in the works. In the end California Portland ended up with the site.

He Speaks For the Trees

Meanwhile, cowboy poet John Dofflemyer who owns a sprawling ranch further to the north on Dry Creek as well as land right next to the mine, has been a vigilant watchdog on this project he has seen tear up the landscape of this beautiful valley.

John Dofflemyer says the biggest shock for him was in 1991 when the mining company cut down a sycamore grove to make room for the mining operation along the riverbank.

“Fish and Game did an analysis of sycamore groves worldwide and found there were only 17 such groves left on the planet over 10 acres. This valley had 211 acres of the creekside trees and they cut down 144 of those trees. I grew up on this landscape and by cutting down those trees they put a big hole in it.”

Dofflemyer fought an extended appeal of the expansion of the mine but lost in district court. The expansion of the mine by Artesia created conditions that included replacing some of the sycamores and other reclamation work. In 2002 Dofflemyer and others noticed that the work Artesia promised wasn’t being carried out. The company apparently had financial problems and was foreclosed on by California Portland Cement in June 2002.

The county put conditions during the last year that never have been met even as California Portland was weighing whether to reopen the place. Industry sources say the quality of the material never was that good.

“This is a good example of a bad project from the start,” says Dofflemyer noting that now with this agreement the land trust will be carrying out most of the reclamation plan the operator was supposed to do when they got the permit.

Still the closure of the mine and the chance to get this valley back has a good sound to it. “With Tulare County likely gaining a couple of hundred thousand people in the next few years, people will appreciate driving to one of the few river systems still intact in Tulare County,” says Dofflemyer.

Preserving Landscapes

Sequoia Riverlands Trust project director Johanna Lombard says the potential donation of the Dry Creek acreage “fits into our mission of working with local land owners to both preserve and restore key native landscapes— particularly watersheds,” like the Dry Creek valley. She says besides completing negotiations with California Portland the Trust is now “exploring the options” of how to restore this site— reclaim it back to its native state—a process she says could take years—even decades.

In the past the Trust has been able to get donations from both individuals and foundations for such efforts along with the partnership here with the Nature Conservancy.

“Our mission is to conserve the natural legacy of the southern Sierra Nevada and San Joaquin Valley.” She says the Trust focuses on river valleys particularly along the foothill range. The Trust owns or manages a number of key landscapes including the Kaweah Oaks Preserve, Herbert Wetland Preserve and Lewis Hill near Porterville. Often they work with land owners to set up tax advantages bases on conservation easements rather than outright ownership. “The motivation for the property owner can be intangible and even emotional—to ensure the ranch is preserved” and landscape remains intact even as growth creeps across every acre in the valley “and we have a Wal-Mart on every corner.”

Lombard says the restoration effort on Dry Creek “will be one where we want to involve the community” the process itself could be a showpiece for people interested in reversing ecosystem damage in the future.

Two important members of the land trust were out of town this week and unable to comment. They include chairman of the board Scott Spear. Also executive director Sopac McCarthy Mulholland was out of town on her honeymoon.

Water interests along the Kaweah are relieved that the huge pile of mining debris along the Dry Creek channel left by the former operator is being cleaned up. California Portland is already relocating that material. Civil engineer Dennis Keller reports that the Kaweah St. Johns River Association was ready to notify California Portland of their concern that the “spoil piles were encroaching onto the flood plain” and that in the event of high water that debris could clog up McKay’s Pt. flooding Visalia. Large amounts of silt could do the same thing, he worries. The Association also didn’t like the evaporative lake left from the mining operation that translates into lost water for the downstream users.

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Springville Chamber Takes a Stand

by Peyton Ellas

Springville - As Springville plans its future through Town Hall Meetings and participation in the County's General Plan update, the role of its Chamber of Commerce has been under discussion and, sometimes, direct assault.

An unincorporated town, Springville has no elected City Council to represent its citizens to the County Board of Supervisors and beyond. A former organization, the Springville Area Advisory Committee (S.A.A.C.), voiced concerns to County officials, but disbanded more than ten years ago. In its wake, many citizens, whether business owners or not, adopted the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors as their elected political voice. Members elect the Board, and in an unincorporated town, that is the closest model of a City Council to be found.

"Historically, the Chamber has played a role in governing Springville," says current Chamber of Commerce President Gary Adest. Although this is a role he does not necessarily feel is in the best interest of the town, he says he understands why this has been so. "In the absence of direct representation, it is not surprising that people look to the Chamber for leadership," he says.

During Adest's term, the Springville Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors has begun what he calls a "transformative" process, becoming involved in a much larger scope of issues than past Boards. These activities have included securing a Forest Service Grant to complete a Springville Community Action Plan, and participating in marketing plans with other towns such as Kernville. The Chamber of Commerce also maintains Springville's only official website. Recently, the Board issued a qualified statement of support for the relocation of Eagle Mountain Casino, currently one of the largest political issues in the area.

Donnette Silva Carter, C.E.O. of Porterville's Chamber of Commerce, calls this type of activity "business advocacy" and says that Porterville, an incorporated city, went through its own transformation process beginning about five years ago.

"It was then that the Board of Directors began developing an interest in doing business advocacy," she says. Three years ago, the Government Relations Committee was formed in order to research and take stances on a variety of regional and state issues. Although she says the actual time spent on this task is relatively small, it has been an important and well-received part of the Chamber's role to "improve the business environment in Porterville."

"We are involved in all activities that impact the economic vitality of Porterville," Silva Carter says, including in that description not only business advocacy, member referrals and promoting Porterville's businesses, but also quality of life issues such as education, community beautification, and air quality.

Silva Carter points out that many small communities such as Springville and Farmersville have Chambers of Commerce that traditionally focus on what she terms "hand-shaking and feel-goods," activities such as Christmas-tree lightings, food drives, and beautification projects. While the Porterville Chamber Board of Directors still does some of this, everything the Board now does also must be seen as having an impact, whether it's advocacy or educating business owners or improving the economic conditions of the city. As well, the Chamber Board of Directors issues policy stances on a variety of regional issues such as the widening of Highway 190 and the relocation of Eagle Mountain Casino.

The current Springville Chamber Board has, in the past two years, moved partly away from "handshakes and feel-goods" to issuing policy stances on regional issues. Regarding their qualified statement of support for the casino's move, Dagny Grant, Chairperson of the Springville Chamber's Economic Development Committee, states, "We had to take a stance. It was too big an issue to just continue to avoid."

Silva Carter agrees that a Chamber of Commerce has a responsibility to take positions on policy matters which will affect businesses in their areas.

"You should take a position if it impacts the basic reasons why your organization exists," she states. "Sometimes the Chamber will not get involved or will take a 'no position' stance, but that is usually only for something that is pretty obviously far from the Chamber of Commerce's interest," such as social or religious issues.

So, while the Springville Chamber of Commerce may not be taking on a role far different than fully staffed, city-based, larger Chambers, nevertheless friction among the area's business owners and residents, demonstrated by the formation of a new and separate Springville Business Alliance, resignations, and angry letters to the editors in the town's local papers has been growing.

The reason may be in the make-up of the membership itself. A small community such as Springville often reaches out to encompass a much larger percentage of "at large" members-- that is residents who do not own businesses or are associated with the business community. While Silva Carter says Porterville's Chamber has "perhaps eight percent" of this type of member, categorized as "Civic-Minded Individuals," even these few, representing approximately 50 members, are overwhelmingly past business owners or leaders who have retired and wish to maintain contact with the business community, such as the former City Manager and former Regional Manager for Southern California Edison.

In contrast, the Springville Chamber may have a much higher percentage of "Individual Memberships" made up of residents with no ties to businesses and whose interests are largely in the “quality of life” areas.

"It is a possibility that the Chamber may not be overwhelmingly business members," Dagny Grant acknowledges. The current Board has seemingly encouraged this large and perhaps very diverse membership.

"I would like to have 2900 households join the Chamber," states Adest, citing the number of households in the Tule Watershed area, far beyond the normally recognized boundaries of Springville, and well beyond the number of business owners in the area.

Adest avoids a narrow definition of commerce by stating his definition as including "both an interchange of goods and services and of ideas and information." Of course 2900 dues-paying members gives the Chamber of Commerce a much better ability to meet any goals it sets.

However, this "dual membership tract", wherein membership is equally encouraged from both businesses and individuals, comes with a price. Individuals with no ties to business do not necessarily share the goals of those that do. Often in the areas of growth, sewage and water usage fees, traffic, conservation, and dollars spent on promoting business development, they may be opposed.

Although Porterville's Chamber may focus on quality of life issues, Carter Silva points out that these issues are all seen as being part of the overall goal of "improving economic vitality in Porterville." The focus remains on the needs of the business community.

Thus, having a higher percentage of "at-large" members may be making it more difficult for the Springville Board of Directors to maintain its focus on business. The members of the newly formed Springville-Sequoia-Success Lake Business Alliance felt this was so. Meanwhile, several disgruntled Chamber members recently resigned after the Board's statement regarding the casino move, a position these members, who oppose the casino move, say should have been debated at a membership meeting. Both Adest and Grant, in previous statements, have maintained the Board did not act improperly in issuing the statement without a membership vote. Porterville's Chamber, in fact, would have used the same procedure, according to Silva Carter.

“The Directors usually seek opinions beforehand informally," Silva Carter states, but the actual decisions are done by the Board of Directors alone. "The Board of Directors is elected to represent the best interests of the membership," she says. "Sometimes we have an open forum, but then the Board of Directors makes the decision."

While some in the community may wish the Chamber of Commerce to continue as a representative for the whole community, both Grant and Adest are adamant that this is not the role for the Chamber of Commerce, even as they encourage an expanding membership.

"It is very important that the Chamber not be seen as representing the whole community," states Grant. "I think the present Chamber Board of Directors does not represent the community. We are trying hard to separate our job as representing the members of the chamber, which is different than representing the community at large."

Adest also says the role of the Springville Chamber of Commerce should no longer be as a de facto Town Council.

"The Chamber is just one of many voices in the Community," he says, adding that he "supports whole-heartedly" the idea of reviving some sort of town council or advisory committee, an idea which held large support from the participants of a recent Town Hall meeting, which was sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce.

"The Town Council should be completely separate from the Chamber," Adest says. In that way, he explains, the Chamber of Commerce can "go back to the immediate marketing needs of businesses."

In the meantime, many in the community will still consider the Chamber of Commerce as its voice in government, even over the protestations of its current Board of Directors. As they continue to attempt to transform the Chamber of Commerce into one more closely resembling those found in incorporated areas and at the state level, Adest admits the process may be "difficult and at times tense," but he maintains that the Chamber of Commerce must begin to take a role in the larger regional issues or Springville residents and businesses alike may see changes they are ill-prepared to accept.

"We all know what's going to happen if we don't play a role," he states, believing this transformation process, when completed, will lead to a more prosperous community while maintaining the quality of life residents value. Something Silva Carter agrees is the goal of every successful Chamber of Commerce.

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County Spent Big To Litigate Mold Issue
Costs To Repair Problem In Millions Despite Suit Settlement

Visalia - Judge Elisabeth Krant started noticing health problems she claims were related to mold in the west wing of the county courthouse in the fall of 1998. She says she tried to tell county officials there was a problem, but for months on end they did nothing, she claims.

Ceiling tiles above her bench in courtroom Number 10 were wet and softball size pieces of mold that turned out to be a toxic type— Strachybotris—was later found. She says she was so sick she had to miss work for a one year period. Krant was later moved out of the courthouse and assigned to the Tulare bench.

In April 2000 she brought suit against the county as well as several construction-related firms who worked on the west wing for causing her injury that included hair loss, stomach pain, and breathing difficulties.

Local residents were shocked to see her rash filled, swollen face in a morgue-like picture in the newspaper after the lawsuit was filed. Her suit filed against the county was in excess of $1 million. She was followed by more than 150 courthouse employees that sued the county as well claiming the workplace as unsafe.

Now four years later in a series of ironies, Krant settled with the county for what appears to be a modest amount - $40,000 - just as her case was set to go to trial.

The hearing judge on the mold settlement couldn’t meet in some of the rooms of the west wing courtroom because they were closed for mold remediation (two remain to be remediated as we go to press).

This is the sixth time the county has cleaned up mold problems in the courthouse revealing the most toxic type, Strachybotris spores, even as the county’s safety officer sounds the all clear. This is at least the third time to clean Judge Krant’s former courtroom.

Although Krant received just $40,000, her attorney, Alex Robertson, says she will gain somewhere around $500,000 in total from settlement with other construction defendants that Krant claims were responsible for the heating and ventilation system failure and wet conditions that caused the mold.

Robertson says the settlement calls for both Krant and the county to bear their own legal expenses. In each case those charges are likely to far exceed the settlement monies.

The county’s attorney Michael Woods of McCormick Barstow in Fresno, says the settlement is good news for the county on a couple of scores. First it is cheaper for the county to settle rather than go through two more trials. Robertson claimed that was a reason why they settled as well since the judge would have to step down from the bench to go through two trials in coming months.

Woods says Robertson revealed their proposed legal costs back in April when they filed claim for $715,000 with the county - a claim that was later dropped. But Robertson says that cost was not accurate and that Krant’s legal expenses were “several magnitudes less” than the county’s.

Woods says the county’s legal expenses on all the mold cases could total $1.7 million, but that included the dismissal of all cases brought by the other employees, he says. County spokesman Eric Coyne posts the figure on the Krant case at somewhat over $800,000. “We had to call lots of expert witnesses,” says Woods. Woods says he still believes that if the case went to trial the county would have prevailed and that’s why Krant settled. “I don’t think she could have proven that the mold caused her illness,” he says.

“All Elisabeth wanted was for the county to fix the mold problem,” says her attorney Alex Robertson. “They are never going to do that until they change the HVAC system and we are pleased they are finally going to do that at a cost of several million dollars,” says Robertson.

“It sounds like a lot of money, but at least it will be better than litigation or spot clean up that just keeps coming back.”

Robertson says the problem came in a system sold to the county in the 1990s to save energy installing an ice tank in the basement of the courthouse that chills water that circulates throughout the county buildings HVAC systems. But the insulation of the pipes was not beefed up, he says and the pipes sweat from condensation and leaking water that feed the mold problem.

Leaking windows on the courthouse’s west wing came in for some of the blame too.

Robertson estimates that between litigation costs, 4 years worth of clean up and workman compensation expenses and the repair bill to finally overhaul the county’s heating and air conditioning system, the tab is likely to exceed $7 million.

Depending on how much of the repair bill to the county courthouse now underway you can attribute to “the mold problem” we do know the replacement of all the leaky windows on the west side of the courthouse carries a bill of $727,000 - the repair of the roof over the courthouse cost $900,000 and the new “energy performance” system put in place to stop the leaky HVAC system there will cost $2.4 million. Deb West, Resources Management Agency assistant director for support services, says that while the later system will fix the dripping pipes problem, it will have a larger benefit for the county in every day power savings replacing many of the 50 year old systems in the courthouse. The costs include the big thermal storage tank in back of the sheriff’s office. The energy saving light system included has nothing to do with the mold problem however. The county estimates that mold testing and clean up costs since 2000 have been around $200,000.

If the county can find some satisfaction that the mold case with a judge in their own courthouse is finally settled and the dollar amount seems modest, it hasn’t been the county’s finest hour not getting to the root of a problem sooner - a fungus that just didn’t want to go away.

The county released a statement on the settlement November 13 with the Board of Supervisors chairman Jim Maples saying he was happy the case did not go to trial and the claim is resolved. “We have always maintained, and took many steps to ensure the courthouse is safe,” Chairman Maples said. “The county remains committed to maintaining a safe work environment for its employees and the public.”

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New Ethanol Plant Proposed For Goshen

Goshen - Tulare County’s rural landscape may be dotted with several biofuel refineries in the future the way Kern County’s economy spouts oil. The difference will be that both the input and end product will be a renewable resource grown from crops from surrounding fields and providing a steady source of income based on the need for biofuels for our transportation system.

The third proposed ethanol production plant in the county has been proposed by Western Milling along Highway 99. The plant’s partnership that includes the Kruse family and Phoenix Bioindustries co-developer Rick Eastman plans to produce 25 million gallons of fuel grade ethanol annually. Co-owner Kevin Kruse says the project is valued at $10 million to be sited next to the existing feed mill along the Union Pacific line.

“We hope to be in operation a year from now,” says Kruse.

Besides production of the biofuel made from corn, the facility will yield 325,000 tons of wet distillers grain that is cattle feed and 94,500 tons of CO2 a year used in the food business.

The new plant will process 325,000 tons of corn a year brought in on the existing Western Milling rail spur.

The company expects to install a cogen power system fueled by either natural gas or biofuels according to a statement filed with the county. The company is seeking a special use permit to begin construction, says Kruse. However, the county has yet to decide if the use will require a planning commission hearing, says a county official.

The ethanol plant is the third proposed for Tulare County with the other two being Tipton based Calgren and Visalia area plant Pacific Ethanol proposed for a site near the city’s waste water treatment plant.

All the proposed plants have in common sites along the Union Pacific railroad with room for at least 100 rail cars on a spur. Calgren is also proposing a plant in the Hanford industrial park.

“We think there is enough demand for ethanol in California - 900 million gallons,” says Kruse for a number of local fuel plants to survive.

All gasoline in California is now blended with ethanol instead of MTBE as an oxygenate.

Kruse estimates the plant will generate 11 additional trucks a day hauling product out.

Ethanol plants have bloomed in the Midwest but are only now on the drawing board in increasing numbers in the Golden State.

Pacific Ethanol partner Neil Koehler says the coming of the new Energy Bill likely to be passed in coming weeks will give a big boost to ethanol, mandating a doubling of ethanol use, extending tax credits for its production and special tax breaks for small producers like these new proposed California operations. He also says new governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appears to be excited about ethanol possibilities in California and may boost state use of the fuel. Pacific Ethanol partner Bill Jones is an advisor to the new governor. Koehler says biodiesel as well gets new tax credits in the Energy Bill.

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Plastics-To-Fuel Plant Moves Closer

Hanford - The developer of an innovative plant that will convert plastic to clean burning fuel predicts they are months away from breaking ground near Hanford. The $6.8 million facility, Plastic Energy LLC, will be sited at the Kings Waste Management yard on Hanford-Armona Rd. and could be operational a year from now.

Co-developer George Larson of Sacramento explains that all plastic is a petroleum product and the technology used in the enclosed facility will amount to “retro refining” the plastic back to liquid fuel - mostly very clean diesel fuel.

“We don’t burn the plastic but we use heat to convert it,” says Larson. The plant will be fueled by its own petroleum product in a cogeneration process providing all the heat and electricity needed to run the plant and the Kings Waste Management material recovery facility. “We will sell some of the electricity we don’t need” in addition, says Larson.

Larson has been in the waste management business for decades and for the past ten years has been a consultant to waste management firms. He is also the former chairman of the California Integrated Waste Management Board. “We’ve been working on this idea for the past 3 years,” he says.

Mike Adams, director of Kings Waste and Recycling Authority, says the firm plans to lease acreage at their 50 acre yard on Hanford-Armona Rd.

Larson says when this opportunity came along he thought of his client in Kings County as a likely place for the first such plant in the state to be sited. Rural areas have tax advantages as well, says Larson.

The Kings agency has a material recovery facility at the yard where tons of plastic is already delivered from Kings County solid waste collections. Much of the plastic material collected by consumers for recycling “ends up in the landfill anyway,” says Adams, since most of the plastic can’t be recycled - items like grocery bags and styrofoam and children’s toys fill up our landfills. “We are a plastic nation,” says Adams, but only 7 to 9% of the plastic is recycled. “They need about 8 pounds of plastic to make one gallon of clean burning diesel fuel,” says Adams, who notes the fuel is cleaner than diesel now used in California and cleaner than the 2005 US standard.

Larson says the fuel is much cleaner than “clean diesel” currently sold in the state and will provide a benefit to Valley air for the farmers, truckers, businesses and garbage trucks who use the fuel.

Plastic Energy LLC has worked with county agencies and schools to sign a letter of interest to buy the fuel assuming the price will be the cheaper than what they pay today, says Adams.

The plant will be the first production plant in the US, says Adams although there is a Polish and South Korean plant using the same process successfully.

The company is finalizing financing, says Adams, that will allow them to begin construction. “They are out scouring the state for contracts to take plastic.”

Larson predicts the plan when fully operational will take in 100 tons of waste plastic a day. One ton of plastic yields some 300 gallons of fuel. That would mean the facility can pump out about 30,000 gallons of fuel a day - somewhat less since not all is diesel (some is gas another distillates), but enough he figures to keep nearly 500 busy garbage trucks in the central valley fueled up every day. He says Plastic Energy LLC is in talks with both large suppliers and users of plastic and end customers for use of the fuel. “We’re talking to Waste Management, Inc. who run the Kettleman City landfill - where most of the plastic ends up now - to both divert their plastic and use the fuel.

Local agencies, schools and waste management districts are under pressure to clean up their emissions and this use will go a long way in that direction. “We think this will be a model lots of people will want to come visit and kick the tires,” says Larson.

A major customer in Kings County could be JG Boswell who use a large volume of plastic films and need over a million gallons of diesel fuel a year. Farmers who use this fuel can get pollution credits from the Air Board, he suggests.

Larson says those he now have to pay to dispose of the plastic will save the cost of hauling it to the dump and the tipping fee they have to pay to dump it.

The volume of waste plastic that doesn’t get recycled is huge statewide with Larson suggesting that of the 35,000 tons of waste statewide delivered to landfills every day, about 11% is plastic. So about 3800 tons of plastic is disposed each day. “We will use just 1/38 of that” at the Kings plant, says Larson, noting he and his partner are working on several other plants to be located around the state.

The new plant is close to finalizing its financing that includes a $2 million loan from the California Integrated Waste Management Board and a $250,000 loan from Kings EDC for job development. The plant is expected to employ from 10 to 20 people.

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Kaweah Delta’s Office Complex To Break Ground

Visalia - Kaweah Delta’s $9.4 million Support Service building will break ground in January, the first major step in the expansion of the downtown campus as approved by voters earlier this month. “We should be underway in early January in a year long construction project,” says CEO Lindsay Mann.

The new five story building will be sited just west of the hospital proper between West and Willis on Mineral King will go out to bid soon with construction managed by Westland Development.

Mann says the building will relocate a number of non medical divisions scattered around the area into one location helping to clear the way for construction of the new 6 story tower on Acequia.

The divisions to be housed in the new support building include: human resources, medical records, information services, employee health, the compliance department, case management and the hospital’s foundation among others.

Already nearby the city and hospital have cooperated to add about 50 new parking places with the removal of a number of older KD offices and buildings as well as new street parking.

Also underway is coming weeks is a small expansion of the KD emergency room that will add two new ER beds and 7 “fast track” stations for people facing less severe injuries. “This is not the long term expansion” approved by voters, says Mann, but a way to increase immediate capacity at the overburdened emergency department. This work should be completed in the next two months, he says.

Expansion of the hospital - made certain by approval of voters in the November 4th election will help push the major expansion forward, says Mann. “There is no doubt the community needs this,” says Mann noting that “today we’re facing 450 patients in the hospital and we’re just at the beginning of the winter season” when respiratory illness spikes.

Mann says in December the hospital will file its northern expansion construction plans with the state agency responsible for approving them OSPD in a review expected to last 12 months. Then there will be a two year construction cycle, he says to add over 100 beds to the hospital.

In the meantime, the city and the hospital continue to work on plans to build the new Acequia parking garage expected to break ground next spring and be built a year later. The garage should ease parking woes near the hospital even before the North Tower is built. The hospital is contributing $2 million to the cost of the garage funds from the Measure M bond approved by voters.

Medical Offices?

As a result of the bond passage, there is renewed interest by physicians, property owners and developers in medical office space near the hospital. “We are encouraging this,” says Lindsay Mann “making it convenient for both physicians and consumers” to be near te expanded hospital campus.

Plans to widen and improve some streets in and out of the medical campus even as other streets are closed should give the hospital a true campus feel to it. Plans include a widening of Conyer from Mineral King north to help improve traffic flow - make Acequia a two way street in front of the new North Tower and building the bridge at Sante Fe and 198 to help move traffic east to the medical campus.

The coming expansion of the hospital has prompted interest in a number of locations for a potential high rise medical office building including one being considered by property owner and insurance exec Stan Simpson at Floral and Main. “We have 22,000 sq. ft. with 83 people at Buckman Mitchell Insurance as of now and we plan to grow. That’s why we are looking to go up,” says Simpson, along with the prospect of leasing medical space. Simpson says he has been having an active discussion with some players on building a new office at a number of possible locations. One problem - where to put his firm if he builds where he is? An advantage of building in this block is the likelihood the building could abut the new West Acequia parking garage that will open within two years.

Currently the city is looking to buy the medical office complex at Acequia and Floral owned by the Barbis family - a move that will mean physicians in that building will need a new home if they want to be near the hospital. The city is reopening the block just west of city hall for possible medical use to some of those docs. The site north of Mill Creek could be developed even as the Chamber builds their new headquarters south of the creek.

Besides these locations, developer Bill Wittlatch says he is working on plans for possible high rise where the old Shell station was at Noble and Locust and the property Rich Neff has been approached by some interested in his Locust and Acequia location near the post office. That may require another parking deck for the lot across from the post office, he speculates - that would be good news for possible patrons.

Of course the biggest prize could be the city hall block itself that could be an ideal site for either the hospital expansion or private medical complex in coming years once the city moves its civic center to Burke and Oak st. five to ten years from now.

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What's New

Fresh from a 7% sales increase due to their new expansion, Tulare's Horizon Outlet is working on plans to expand another 30,000 to 50,000 sq. ft., say reliable sources. The plan was first hatched back when the new Galaxy movie theater broke ground as a Horizon VP told Chamber activist Bob Reynolds they would like to expand. Reynolds says it's his impression that the company has lined up some more tenants to do the perhaps 4 acre expansion. For the first time that would take the outlet further to the northwest onto William Martins property. Martin says he has been contacted by an appraiser but that there aren't discussions on any sale as of yet. Horizon would probably add another 10 tenants to the offerings at the popular center. Most popular in the latest expansion has been the new Nike store, says spokesperson Gina Slechta. She says last weekend saw 3700 more cars visited the center than the same weekend a year ago - probably 8000 to 10,000 more people. Sources say Horizon is still looking to land Liz Claiborne to one vacant spot at the existing center - a store that would be a blockbuster draw for the outlet.

Urban forester Brian Kempf of Visalia is busy planting more street trees (next to the curb) down Main St. east of Santa Fe clear to Ben Maddox, part of a plan to make east Visalia an attractive place to invest in. Kempf who has been planting trees now for the past two years, now has much of the western part of the downtown planted and predicts that within two years all of eastern downtown will be planted as well. Kempf's work is supported with grant funds through the city - often grants Kempf has hustled himself.

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