Visalia
Still Waiting At The Station
High Speed Rail Authority Will
Wait Until Jan. 10 To Decide
Visalia - Visalia pulled out all the stops in the past few weeks lobbying the High Speed Rail Authority board and anyone else who would listen, to approve an alignment of the proposed 220 mph rail line that had a station near Visalia. The Authority board met in Los Angeles December 15 to take up where the line will run between Bakersfield and Fresno.
But surprisingly, the board didn’t have a quorum to come to a conclusion on an issue Visalia says is vital to our future. Visalia officials did make a presentation to the board members present asking that instead of supporting the Authority staff position designating the alignment to be on the BNSF route without a station between Bakersfield and Fresno, they designate a more general corridor with details to be ironed out later.
The general corridor could be somewhere on or between the two proposed routes from Hwy 99 west to where Amtrak trains now run.
“Of course I’m disappointed the Authority could not decide today, but on the plus side, it gives us more time to build a consensus for our position,” says mayor Bob Link who testified at the hearing.
Visalia planner Mike Olmos says the Authority board has designated a general corridor without a specific alignment along other parts to the 700 mile route “and all we are asking for is the same consideration.”
Previously, Tulare County and Visalia had pushed for a Union Pacific route along 99 with a station stop somewhere near the Visalia airport. The choice was the UP vs the BNSF. Bowing to political realities this week - the push now is to design a hybrid route between the two.
But its got to have a station stop.
Mayor Bob Link says the rail board at its previous meeting in November appeared to favor the Santa Fe rail route (BNSF) that runs through Corcoran and Hanford that would veer west of Hanford before heading back to downtown Fresno. Board staff had argued that this route would be cheaper to build (it’s out in the boonies) and perhaps faster - in part because it wouldn’t stop between Bakersfield and Fresno.
Staff of the Authority argued that a station stop near Visalia would not get enough ridership to be justified. In any case, there was pressure from the small towns of Selma, Fowler and Kingsburg as well as Fresno County who don’t want a parade of trains racing through their towns daily.
That’s when the Visalia rail stop team went to work meeting with city officials from Kingsburg and Selma and obtaining a letter that suggests they might go along with a route that headed west of their towns but pointing out that time is needed to design the route.
This week Visalia’s chief planner, Mike Olmos, got a somewhat favorable response from the Fresno County Board of Supervisors also supporting Visalia’s wish for more time to design a route that would allow a stop in Tulare County although the letter suggests that if the Authority board pushed for an either/or position - it would go along with the BNSF route.
In the meantime, Visalia council members met last week with board members of the Authority to seek support for a plan that would define a more general corridor where the train would run that would include a rail stop as near Visalia as possible.
Olmos says designing a more general corridor at this time is all the board needs to do since the detail planning of the alignment won’t be needed for a few years - until voters approve a bond for one thing, to get this project built.
If they pick the BNSF route, “they lock in the process Visalia may be permanently isolated from the rest of the California economy in the future” - something that happened last century when the Southern Pacific rail line bypassed Visalia as well.
Visalia boosters are acting like their long range future depends on access to what could be the transportation system of the century. But how will local passengers get on board?
Olmos says there is a chance for some “hybrid” route that might travel for a while on the BNSF and then head closer to Visalia somewhere near 198. But “we have to be sensitive about ag land,” says Olmos, wanting to work with both the city of Hanford - who doesn’t want trains coming through their town either - and the Farm Bureau. “Time will give us a chance to make this work out for everyone,” Olmos argued.
In making the case for a rail stop - Visalia got support also from Congressman Devin Nunes, Bill Maze, Jim Costa and Roy Ashburn.
On the ridership issue Visalia has argued that by the time the line is built, the population of the region could near 1 million. The east side of the valley along highway 99 is where the population is that needs to be served. Add to that the desire to connect visitors to Sequoia National Park - 1.2 million a year right now - through High Speed Rail and spare the air in the valley from still more vehicles.
“The problem is trying to convince people who live in southern or northern California about our needs here,” admits Olmos. The valley has only one representative, Fran Florez on the board. Florez has supported Visalia’s plight along with the chair of the board who was presiding this week over his last meeting in that appointed position. That’s one reason why Visalia pushed for an alternate resolution this week.
Tulare County - Tulare County is looking to switch its 220 heavy work vehicles to a cleaner diesel fuel that could cut PM10 emissions by 20 to 46% and smoke by 70%.
Sooty diesel fuel is one of the biggest problems in the central valley categorized by the Air Resource Board as the number one toxic contaminate in the state.
Mandates to clean up diesel emissions have hit farmers and truckers hard requiring them to make big capital investment to buy cleaner engines or switch altogether from diesel technology. Recently power utilities offered price concessions to valley farmers to switch their stationary engines to electricity to help clean the air but forces them to pile up debt doing it.
While it may take many years to convert over a million diesel vehicles, 16,000 stationary engines and 50,000 portable engines in the state - all those engines could run lots cleaner by burning alternative diesel fuel tomorrow.
Cash strapped Tulare County can’t afford to convert its fleet of dump trucks, flat beds or earthmovers. But it can afford a new tank at its work yard full of cleaner burning diesel fuel.
Right now the fuel is about 11 cents a gallon more than standard number 2 diesel, says fleet manager Dan Hurt, who says he is just beginning using a new ethanol added diesel fuel - O2 Diesel on 12 vehicles stationed at the yard on Lovers Lane.
If things work out, the yard will adopt the new fuel supplied by Silva Oil of Fresno for all its diesel vehicles after this test period. “So far so good,” says Hurt.
Silva Oil representative Richard Bias says his firm supplies O2 diesel to other jurisdictions, like Fresno County, and private firms like PG&E and FedX who are trying the fuel out as well. Bias says his company is also selling a biodiesel blend 20% with regular diesel in a fuel called B-20. This fuel, too, cuts harmful emissions including a 30% cut in hydrocarbons and a 22% reduction in PM, he says. With an additional additive B-20 also reduces emissions of Nox from standard diesel.
The latest with biodiesels is a new federal law that lowers the cost of biodiesel to customers, the same price as standard diesel after January 1, 2005, says Bias.
These are just two fuels the California Air Resource Board is currently testing to verify its use as an alternative diesel fuel that can be used as a strategy to meet the state’s pollution mitigation program. The state offers various fuel incentives if you are verified.
Another fuel with high marks that can help cut emissions ultra-low diesel (11 ppm sulfur) with an added particulate filter that can cut PM by 80%. This is the type of emission control equipment that will be required to be placed on vehicles beginning in 2006.
Tulare County’s largest fleet of passenger vehicles, 850 strong, is also being cleaned up, says passenger fleet manager Mark Christian. The county is trying to convert its standard gasoline fleet into hybrid at a rapid pace with 15 Toyota purchases and 36 Honda hybrids so far with about 12 expected in this new year. Christian says obtaining the vehicles has been a challenge because of their popularity.
Another alternative at the county is to replace older diesel vehicles with CNG vehicles says the county’s James Blair assistant director of transportation. CNG is the technology that has been adopted by the city of Visalia and the school district as the way to meet air quality regulations with two new CNG fueling stations going into Visalia soon. Dinuba, too, has adopted CNG technology as a cleaner alternative than diesel and is dedicating a fueling station in the next few weeks. Blair says the county is applying for $2.7 million in air quality grants to help replace county vehicles.
Blair says while it is the practice to move to clean up the county’s overall fleet, there is no actual board policy. He expects that to change soon with a policy being presented to the Board of Supervisors.
Lemon Cove farmer Jim Little says he uses biodiesel delivered from Silva Oil on his farm to heat the house, fuel the tractors and power two Mercedes cars. “I started using it nine months ago and I wouldn’t use anything else,” says Little. He says the renewable fuel cleans his engines and “you can put your nose right down on the tailpipe and there is no exhaust.” Biodiesel is made typically from soybean oil or cooking oil. Little says her recommends the fuel to his farmer friends.
Housing Boom Slowing Down?
Tulare County - There are mixed reports this month that there may be a softening of demand for housing in the Visalia housing market although others will tell you demand remains very strong.
“We’re still backlogged,” on new home sales, says Visalia home builder and developer Andy Mangano. “What I see in the existing home sales market is that if it is priced right, homes are selling in as little as two weeks.”
But there are other views out there. It’s definitely slowing down, says Visalia real estate broker Brad Maaske. “Our phones aren’t ringing like they were just 60 days ago,” says Maaske, who has a real estate radio program on KMJ.
Maaske says investors and buyers are choking on the prices of California real estate even though interest rates continue to be surprisingly low - 5.75% on a 30 year fixed rate - heading lower this week.
Reports have surfaced of 30% increases in housing prices in the central valley in the past year matching the rates of increase in the Los Angeles area and even higher in other parts of the country.
Maaske says he feels particularly bad for the entry level buyer in Visalia who is having to pay $210,000 for a home that is costing the builder just $135,000. “What happens if prices fall and the buyer sees the home they bought years before selling for $160,000?”
“Do they walk away?”
The average price of new homes built in Visalia/Porterville/Tulare metro region has grown from just $100,000 in 2000 to $150,000 this year - Visalia itself is higher.
Statewide the inventory of homes for sale has increased to a four month supply compared to a two month supply a year ago, says the president of the California Association of Realtors.
But not in Visalia. Figures supplied by the Tulare County Association of Realtors show that in the month of November the average days on the market in the MLS area was 32 days compared to 41 days in November of 2003. For the entire year of 2004 the number is 56 days vs 58 days in 2003.
What Visalia has going for it, says Andy Mangano, is that “it is still one of the most affordable places in California with a high quality of life.” Mangano says demand is outstripping supply but that soon “there will be more supply coming on” including several new large builders to the area.
In Visalia a top 25 national builder Westwood Homes has a new project in NW Visalia at County Center north of Houston as well as Lindsay. Another new major builder is Reyen and Bardis buying land here. In Bakersfield big home builder Pulte Homes has announced it was starting to build. Up in Fresno KB Homes has returned to the marketplace and could come again to Visalia. “They’re looking,” says Visalia building official Dennis Lehman.
McMillin Homes regional manager Joe Leal says while they are seeing slowdowns in other parts of California, the central valley continues to be stable. “I think we are watching some softening in prices as the interest rates have gone up some,” he says.
Visalia’s chief building official Dennis Lehman doesn’t expect any slowdown. “We’ve polled the home builders in Visalia and the consensus is that we will see in excess of 1500 new housing units built in Visalia in 2005. Lehman says 2004 will be a record year and expects to see permits issued for 1250 units both single family and multi family here this year.
Overall, Visalia is expected to issue permits for all construction at $293 million, he predicts, compared to $251 million in 2003. Helping to boost the value this year has been over 90 commercial projects. Lehman says the scale of housing projects in town has been eye-popping with one project being developed right now with 370 lots.
McMillan’s Leal says his company is looking at ways to deliver an entry level home for perhaps $30,000 less than today’s market in the future with some changes like comp roof instead of tile and 8 ft plates instead of 9 ft and other cost savings. Leal says the company is concerned about the declining number of people that can afford a new home - now just 19% in California according to the California Association of Realtors. CAR estimates just 26% of central valley residents can afford a new home here - down form 35% a year ago.
Despite some caution Leal says McMillan is building new projects at 23 locations in the valley including some new subdivisions in both Bakersfield and Fresno. New projects in Visalia include Rancho Santa Fe on Caldwell and three others in town. The company has a new master plan in Hanford at 12th and Lacey as well a new project at Del Lago in Tulare.
But broker Maaske warns that sellers can’t continue to ask high prices for their existing home if they expect them to sell in a timely way. He says people will be able to watch if the market slows particularly by the volume of discounts new home builders are willing to offer to get you to sign up for a new home.
What has fueled the central valley market, says Maaske and others, is investors selling their coastal homes for big numbers and taking that windfall to the central valley where they can get a nicer house for half or even a third of the money and bank the rest. Retirees make up part of that boom.
Mangano says he expects to see several new home products aimed at retirees and empty nesters, including a project Mangano Homes is building as well as Centex in Visalia. The townhouses are built on smaller footprints clustered together with high degrees of landscaping.
$1 Million For Design Of New Tulare Interchange
Tulare - The city of Tulare has received $1 million in federal funding that will go to design a new interchange for the AgriCenter area. The funds - part of an omnibus spending bill passed by Congress a few weeks ago, was announced as $1 million for the Ave. 200/K St. project underway but that city has the ability to steer the funding to the long range project of building a new interchange at Commercial Blvd. about a mile south of the Paige offramp near AgTAC.
“The money is intended for design work for the new interchange at Commercial Blvd.,” says city manager Kevin Northcraft. “We’re meeting this week with our citizen advisory group to go over designs and then we’ll take it on to city council.”
In the next few weeks a preliminary siting plan done by the engineering firm Omni Means of Visalia will be presented to the city council showing two alternatives of how the new interchange might lay out. Already land owner Manuel Faria has offered to donate the land for the interchange to the project.
Representing Mr. Faria, former city manager Lynn Dredge says the $1 million funding “will go a long way” to getting the project fully designed and ready for the next step - the search for permanent funding.
Tulare mayor Richard Ortega said the monies will “we may be able to get the state and federal funding for this project sooner than we expected.” Ortega noted that the new interchange “will take a lot of pressure off Paige Ave. where traffic can get very congested.” He says the benefits will include access off the freeway to the east, not just for the Agri Center area but “the new COS campus” and to the west he expects Commercial Ave. to extend “into the new industrial area across K St. that we are starting to design.” Ortega notes traffic problems happen all year long not just when the Agri Center has events. “We are experiencing some real traffic problems on Paige.”
“CalTrans is on board with the project as well,” says Dredge, now that the city council has made it clear it wants a new interchange located in south Tulare to connect the farm show on the east and industrial area on the west side of 99.
Dredge says preliminary numbers show that the new interchange might cost as little as $15 million or as much as $28 million, depending on the lead time. “We’d be blessed if it gets built in 7 or 8 years,” says Dredge.
In the meantime, CalTrans is continuing to design the $11 million Ave. 200 extension to connect to K St. CalTrans found the old bridge/offramp needed to come down due to weakness. This new project will probably be built in some 2 years resulting in the demolition of several properties on the west side of the freeway including the motel, restaurant and gas station and part of the mobile home.
It has been the lack of access into K St. since the K St. bridge closed that prompted stepped up efforts to design an interim project as well as this long range project.
Dredge says the news from Washington may heat up efforts by Tulare to attract a major highway commercial project between Paige and the new offramp on the east side of the freeway. That could include a major lodging facility and restaurant in talks with some Los Angeles developers. Because the freeway interchange is long term, Dredge says he believes CalTrans would support construction of simple offramps to both sides of the property to service needs for development there until a full interchange is built.
Ruiz Expansion Pushes Dinuba To Add To Industrial Park
Food Company To Add 400 Jobs
Dinuba - Ruiz Foods recent formal groundbreaking of its new food processing plant has launched a plan to expand the city’s industrial park, says city manager Ed Todd. “We’ve got just about 50 acres left” in the current industrial park devoted to non retail uses, says Todd, setting in motion a plan to be discussed by city council in coming weeks to add another 350 acres to the inventory to make room for the next wave of companies.
Ruiz Foods has begun construction of a 2 story 340,000 sq. ft. plant essentially doubling its current size. The plant will receive ingredients for its frozen Mexican food specialities on the second floor and process them through the plant to the freezer below, taking employment to some 2100 at the Dinuba facility. The company has a small plant in Tulare as well. The new Dinuba addition is expected to be open this summer.
With only 50 acres left for industrial development, Todd says the city will now master plan another 350 acres south of the current industrial park setting up an assessment district and putting infrastructure to serve the new park. The redevelopment agency owns about 120 acres of the new park land and they hope the private owners of the remainder will cooperate as companies look for new industrial space to build on in Dinuba. Ruiz is both the manufacturer and distributor from Dinuba - Best Buy electronics has a big distribution facility in the park as well.
Walmart Next?
Now that Dinuba has a good relationship with Walmart, having sold a site on Ave. 416 adjacent the current industrial park to Walmart for their new store, Todd says the city is also talking to the big company about a possible distribution center in town.
“Walmart’s are building only super stores anymore,” says Todd, referring to the planned expansion of Walmart into the grocery business. The company’s current distribution center in Porterville does distribute groceries. But now the company is rolling out supercenters in Porterville, Dinuba, Hanford, Selma, Lemoore and possibly in Tulare and Visalia as well. “It will be about 3 years until they need a new distribution facility in the central valley,” says Todd, hoping that Dinuba might fill the bill.
In the case of Dinuba, the company originally told the city they had no plan to build a large 220,000 sq ft supercenter store in town but later changed their minds. Todd says that the retail store construction is underway with the pad poured and footings going up soon. The store could be built as soon as April and open for business early this summer.
Visalia Council Will Pick New Member From List Of 19
Visalia - Visalia city council decided this week to close applications to replace Phil Cox on the city council as of January since Cox will be taking his place on the Board of Supervisors. Council decided this week to accept two more names to add to the list of applicants who seek to be appointed to the seat for the next 11 months until a new election is set.
Two council members had held out hope that more past council members would apply for the spot based on the idea they would not run for reelection next November. Former council member Don Sharp has decided he would welcome the appointment and would not run.
But other members of the council say they don't want to require candidates not run.
Council is likely to seek an appointee with some experience in the planning process.
Council will meet in work session on January 4th to go over the list of individuals and how likely candidates will be interviewed. Current or former city planning commissioners on the list include Victor Perez, Jim Armstrong, Walter Deissler and Sam Logan. Other candidates are: Mickey Aikins, Todd Barton, Carol Bott, Fred Boyles, Byron Darrington, Danni Franklin, Paul Garza, Chuck Glenn, Dan Jocobe, Alan Powers, George Shelton, Tom Sherry and Amy Shuklian.
Council will likely appoint a new member January 18 bringing the council up to five members. Mr. Cox will take his seat January 4th at the Board of Supervisors.
Visalia - The Allen Group is master planning 117 acres near Plaza and Goshen that had been set aside as wetlands until recently. The Allen Group received approval from the US Fish and Wildlife Service to develop the land that had been the seasonal home of tiny critters called fairy shrimp. Spokesman Larry Montgomery says the company purchased habitat for the endangered species elsewhere to make up for the taking of this key industrial land.
The site is the location of the company's Midstate 99 project already developed with just under 500,000 sq ft of space.
Montgomery says the development will be master planned with streets, sewer and water and in the development of what could be well over 1.6 million sq ft of new industrial space for Visalia.
Montgomery says one key piece - about 30 acres - will be developed to accommodate rail access with a spur line coming off the Goshen mainline heading back north. "We could add about 500,000 sq ft of rail served property there, he says. Access to the land formerly called the Jacuzzi property, will be off Ferguson as well as Rd. 76.
In other new at Midstate, Montgomery says the company is anticipating filling the second "spec" building off Ferguson and could start on a third building in line there. The third building would be a large 230,000 sq ft building to be taken by one local company that wants to expand. Once this is complete, the next building will be in the new area to the south, he says.
Besides the Allen Group, the Hayes family still has 140 acres of industrial land along Plaza north to Riggin.
Visalia - Chamberlain Baseball Academy is offering its Holiday clinic again this year featuring a number of Big League pros as your kids personal coach. This year's event will be held at Dick Doepker Field at Golden West High School, December 27 and 28 for kids 7 to 14 years old.
On hand this year will be pro stars Aaron Hill of the Toronto Blue Jays, Shane Costa of the Kansas City Royals, Adam Pettyjohn of the Oakland A's, Matt Rico and Steve Cox from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and Matt Morgan of the Arizona Diamond Backs. Call 636-BALL to sign up.
Visalia - Visalia city officials were pleasantly surprised to see two bids come in from potential buyers of burl wood from the city's big 900 acre walnut farm out on Caldwell and 99. Visalia plans to cut down about 250 acres of the walnut orchard and in a second bid asked what buyers might pay for the valuable burl wood from any of the trees in the 900 acre grove.
Bids came back in November showing one buyer offering $820,000 and $810,000 for a second bidder. A third bidder offered about $250,000 for the highly prized wood used in decorative wood designs including car dashes, in-laid boxes, gun stocks, and furniture. Visalia officials were happy at the windfall "found money."
But, after the bids were opened the top bidder declined to follow through, says city public works official Jim Ross. The next highest bidder then told the city before they would pay up on their bid, they wanted to re-examine the grove.
Ross says after paying a visit to the city owned grove the potential buyer reported that "several dozen" of the more valuable burl woods had been vandalized, cutting into the wood, and the company said they needed to adjust their bid down - to just $410,000 - half the price offered in the competitive bidding process.
The city had paid for security on the grove once the bidding started, but apparently that didn't stop the vandals. Ross says the city checked with other buyers in the industry to determine if the damage described could mean cutting the price in half might be justified.
Ross says the city is satisfied that a lower negotiated price could be justified. Ross couldn't say why so-called bid bonds from the bidders hadn't been required so that they could not drop out so easily once they made an offer.
For whatever reason, the valuable wood isn't bringing in nearly what Visalia had expected. $400,000 could pay a yearly cost of at least 4 police officers. Sources say there are very few buyers for the speciality wood and a sudden glut in the market can dramatically change market values.
While burl thefts are more common in northern California, says Ross, walnut growers have been advised to watch their groves for signs of the thieves who might dig at the base of the tree to remove the burl wood. In November the county's ag crime unit warned Tulare County farmers that burl thieves were around.
The developer/owner of the Sequoia Plaza shopping center anchored by Costco, is talking to the city about a driveway over Packwood Creek to connect the center to Cameron Ave. and the new Packwood shopping center. The driveway would access each center in front of the old Home Base and near Lowes helping Mooney circulation.
Bakersfield Shell refinery will stay open at least until March. The government will allow the company higher emissions this year - an extra 7 tons of nitrogen oxides to be emitted by the end of this year - a level Shell had promised to meet but only by closing the plant last October. After October Shell announced it would reduce its per year tonnage of Nox in 2005 but they are doing that by closing the end of the first quarter of 2005 - not by spending money on technology. The company has said they would close the refinery based in part on the lack of oil in the area, even though the company admitted the plant was profitable. But it appears a settlement agreement by the company forcing them to clean up emissions at the Bakersfield facility was a major part of the equation. Selling the plant means they don't have to do the investment. The latest is that Shell is working with a New York investment firm Kelso and Co. who may buy the plant continuing its operation. The plant produces about 2% of the state's gasoline and 6% of the diesel fuel. Shell says only that they are working with a short list of bidders for the refinery. California officials are worried about the fuel supply in a very tight market.
Kaweah Delta has applied for a planning grant to study a future heliport at the downtown campus, says hospital administrator Lindsay Mann. He says that a heliport would likely be built on some future building at a cost of roughly $1 million. The hospital's concern would be to try to find a partner, he says, to operate the facility likely a hospital company that would take on the ongoing operations. Siting is key, says Mann, since you want the location to be near the ER at the hospital with as few steps as possible. The pad could send and receive critical care patients decreasing waiting time until treatment is rendered. Mann says there are no assurances the project will pencil out.
Tulare is developing a homeless shelter similar to Visalia Rescue Mission. A new non profit organization has been set up, says city manager Kevin Northcraft and the group is searching for property to site the overnight shelter on South K St.
Visalia economic development specialist Traci Myers says several large companies and some smaller ones - totaling 2 million sf of space and 1500 jobs are considering Visalia for a plant. One client - a state lead - has Visalia as its top choice, she says. Some news could come after the new year.
Developer Andy Mangano has completed an environmental assessment of the downtown Visalia Razzari dealership building owned by Roy Sumida and expects to buy the block long building next month. He says he plans a likely combination of some office uses and retail. The Razzari dealership will have to find a new location - something the company is working on, says general manager - Larry Reemsten.
Mangano says he was surprised to hear that opponents of the auto mall on Plaza dropped the ball by not filing their appeal on their lawsuit meaning their case is apparently dead. Mangano says now that the legal battle is over, he hopes Visalians can get behind the project. "All the bad publicity has obviously hurt the project." Only one dealership - Frank Surroz - has committed to the project. Surroz is in for building permit approval at City Hall.
The Visalia city council heard a plan to study the possible purchase of several shuttle buses - 30 to 36 passenger capacity - to take visitors to Sequoia Park as part of a plan to boost tourism connected to the park from Visalia. Figures show visitors spend almost $100 million annually visiting Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks to study by its $1.2 million visitors. But all those visitors bring pollution up the hill with some 81 days last year in the park exceeding smog standards and visibility in a park about a quarter of the average at other national parks. The city received a grant to plan a shuttle with the Park Service, but the park has bandleader on funding so the city has moved forward on a possible plan to connect to the park by spring 2006.
The Tulare planning commission is expected to certify the EIR for the new Kaweah River Rock project this week. If that happens, it's on to the county Board of Supervisors for final approval of the project near Woodlake.
No news is good news for proponents of the big Knight Trucking now nearing the end of the construction of a new terminal on 99 in town. Opponents of the project filed suit against the project but the paperwork appears to be just sitting there, say sources, and there has been no effort to halt construction on the facility.
City of Corcoran will embark on building a new $13 million pressure filtration plant in town to lower arsenic levels in drinking water in town. The new federal standard for arsenic will be lower in January of 2006 to 10 parts per billion from the current 50 ppb. City wells are in the teens, says Ron Hoggard, city manager. The plant will be operational by the deadline. "We really had no choice" but to move forward on the facility, he says. Council fears lawsuits if no action is taken. Hanford, Lemoore and other communities have the same problem with high arsenic levels.
The above stories are the property of The Valley Voice Newspaper and may not be reprinted without explicit permission in writing from the publisher.
December 15, 2004
