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Giant Step Forward For East Main
Santa Barbara-Style Mixed Use Complex Planned
Visalia - Five years ago Giant Automotive left the 600 block of East Main Street, part of a multi-dealership relocation of the town’s new car sales area over to Ben Maddox. Owned by the Petty family for over 50 years, the relocation left four parcels spread over three blocks vacant, some literally boarded up. Now after four years of planning, Jack Petty says he sees a bright future for East Visalia. “We’re ready to proceed with our plans,” says Petty who is working with Westland Development to build and lease an ambitious Santa Barbara-style mixed use office complex spanning most of the block.
“It’s modeled after courtyard buildings in downtown Santa Barbara," says Petty of the Visalia plan, which is expected to house several retailers and restaurants on the ground floor along with a bank and as many as three other floors of office tenants.
"We're talking to users who would take two office floors," Petty says. The project will be at least 90,000 square feet, or if they add a fourth floor, 120,000 square feet, making it one of the larger office buildings in town.
Petty says the project is valued at about $20 million and will take about a year to construct once all plans are complete. "It could be open two years from now."
"We'll be taking the project through the formal city approval process," says developer Craig Mangano, noting the project requires a conditional use permit. Mangano says there is "lots of interest, although it is preliminary." The Mangano brothers have developed a number of combination retail and office complexes around town.
To accommodate parking for the big project, Petty plans to pave the large parcel he owns just south of Acequia, which could accommodate over 250 cars. Diagonal parking on Liberty to make room for another 39 cars and 17 more on Acequia parking diagonally on Main Street would add another 31 new stalls using the same design. Petty also owns a parcel north of Main that could be used for parking as well.
If the plan succeeds, Petty says he has ideas to do more urban infill type projects over several blocks between Santa Fe and Burke, just a few blocks from where the city plans the new Civic Center.
The project is the third major office complex to be proposed in recent months in the area, coming after the city announced plans to develop East Visalia B what used to be the low rent district part of the Downtown B into the city's new hot spot. Much of East Visalia had been the historic car sales and service/commercial part of the community. Now those uses have been drawn to other parts of town, leaving about a square mile of under-utilized land to accommodate more intensive, typically multi-story uses. Those uses are expected to include thousands of new town homes, office buildings, restaurants and retail along with new government buildings.
One project proposed is at Santa Fe and Murray, where developer Harvey May has plans for several multi-story office buildings --one which is expected to break ground later this year. The other, further along, is the renovation of the old Razarri Ford dealership building on Garden and Main. That project is being carried out by Andy Mangano. Mangano plans to build a pedestrian plaza along Garden to extend from the current Rita B. Plaza as part of the project. Family HealthCare Network is a major tenant at the Mangano office complex. If he could bring it off, Mangano would like to do much more Downtown as well.
Petty's plan to include a large inner courtyard isn't something you have seen in Visalia much, but it could protect folks who want to dine outdoors from the elements, at least to some degree. Petty says he has interest from several well-known independent restaurants who would locate in Visalia.
Adding restaurants to the location would continue the lively tradition of fine dining in Downtown Visalia that seems to grow stronger each year. Restaurants bring both locals and visitors to Downtown to build demand for the arts and entertainment venues that have been popping up here. In addition, the restaurants draw more offices because employees like to be part of the same atmosphere.
"Our goal is to draw more private investment" to add to the major investment moving forward by the hospital and the city, says assistant city manager Mike Olmos.
Significantly, the Petty/Westland project is the first major private project on Main Street east of Santa Fe.
Election Victory Overshadowed by Controversy
By George Lurie
Tulare County - The attorney for embattled auditor-controller/treasurer-tax collector-elect Rita Woodard said this week that his client had no intention of giving up the $110,869-a-year county job she won by a nearly two-to-one margin in the June 6 election.
Although Woodard has yet to speak publicly about the post-election controversy that erupted after it was discovered that her baccalaureate degree in accounting did not come from an accredited college, Woodard's Hanford-based lawyer, Jan Kahn, said this week: “The voters voted her in overwhelmingly. There is absolutely zero chance that she will resign. Why would she resign when she's qualified?”
Woodard's opponent in the race, Ron Medlock, who has been the county's chief auditor/appraiser since 1989 and is a certified public accountant, has challenged Woodard's victory. On September 1, Superior Court Judge Lloyd Hicks must decide if Woodard's 61-percent-to-38-percent victory over Medlock was valid. The September 1 hearing was originally scheduled for Aug. 11 but had to be postponed because of scheduling conflicts between attorneys.
Originally hired by Tulare County as an Accountant II in 1988, Woodard has worked her way up to the #2 job in the department and has been the chief deputy treasurer-tax collector since January 2006. Woodard also has worked in the Kings County treasurer's office for 12 years and as senior accountant for the city of Lemoore for two years prior to coming to Tulare County in 1988.
Woodard's opponent in the election is another veteran county employee who has strived to maintain his professionalism even as he and his supporters press for a court ruling on Woodard's qualifications to be elected to the county's top financial job.
“This is such a super sensitive issue,” said Medlock this week. “Yes, I have contested the election but being a county employee and working with all of these people, I would prefer not to comment much beyond that right now.”
Medlock supporter and fellow CPA, Robert J. Fatica, has joined Medlock's challenge of Woodard's election.
“I have never met Ms. Woodard and have nothing against her personally,” said Fatica. “I simply believe that I have undisputed documentation to prove that she was not legally qualified to run for office. I am not questioning whether she is qualified intellectually.”
The auditor-controller/treasurer-tax collector position is brand new. The post was created on January 1 of this year by the board of supervisors as a streamlining and cost-saving measure. The current office holder, Jerry Messinger, was appointed to the post by the board of supervisors. Messenger, the former auditor-controller and Woodard's current boss, told supervisors last year that he had no intention of running for the newly created post before he was appointed.
Chief Deputy County Counsel Ron Rezac said the situation is more or less unprecedented. According to county counsel's interpretation of state election law, and specifically Government Code 25304, if Judge Hicks decides to invalidate Woodard's election victory, it will be up to the board of supervisors to appoint a “qualified” individual to serve out Woodard's vacated term of office. But a reading of another section of California election law seems to call that interpretation into question.
California Election Code Section 16703 states: “If in any election contest it appears that another person than the defendant has the highest number of legal votes, the court shall declare that person elected.”
If Judge Hicks ultimately decides that Woodard did not have the proper qualifications as a candidate, he could rule that Ron Medlock is legally elected to the position.
Woodard's attorney is convinced his client's victory will not be invalidated and she will take office on schedule next January.
“We just have to go through this hearing and when we're through, I know that Rita will be sworn into office,” said Kahn.
But others around the county, especially those who supported Medlock, are wondering if Woodard's victory would have been so dramatic or happened at all if the recent information about her disputed credentials had surfaced prior to Election Day.
County officials, including members of the board of supervisors, were informed of the potential issues with Woodard's qualifications a week before the June 6 election. The Tulare County Grand Jury also was told about Woodard's disputed credentials prior to the election.
“They were aware of the problem on May 31,” said Fatica, who appeared before the Grand Jury on that day. “The first time I had any hard evidence of this situation was May 25. When I went before the Grand Jury, I simply wanted Ms. Woodard to prove that she was legally qualified to run.”
“Obviously, we need to review how this happened and look at changing some things,” said Supervisor Connie Conway. “This is the first time something like this has happened and it's all new to us. Right now,” Conway added, “it's in the court's hands. We just have to wait and see what happens.”
Candidates for public office in Tulare County are required to “self-certify,” under penalty of perjury, that the information included in their resumes and applications for office is accurate.
On the question of whether the self-certification process is flawed, Conway said: “It's never been a question before.”
Another troubling aspect of the case: Earlier this year on the county's Web site, biographical information about Rita Woodard stated that she was a certified public accountant, which she is not. How the notation became part of the county's Web page is still a mystery, said Eric Coyne, a county spokesman.
The inaccurate information was removed from the county's Web site about a week after it appeared and the county's technology vendor is still trying to trace the origins of the false CPA notation, said Coyne, who added that Woodard has also contact the search engine Google to request that the CPA reference be completely purged from her biographical entries.
While the rumor mill continues to churn regarding questions of who knew
what and when, state and county law clearly spells out what qualifications
candidates for the county's top financial post must have. In order to
be elected auditor, a candidate must meet one of four criteria:
· Hold a valid CPA's license;
· Have earned an accounting degree from an accredited college and, within
the past five years, held a senior fiscal management post for at least
three years;
· Possess a certificate from the Institute of Internal Auditors with at
least 16 college units in accounting, auditing or finance;
· Have three continuous years of experience as a county auditor, or as
chief deputy county auditor.
Woodard's attorney Kahn said this week that his client “clearly meets” the fourth criteria.
“In court before Judge Hicks, we're going to use all of her years of experience in both Kings and Tulare counties,” Kahn said.
Woodard received her accounting degree from the now-defunct University of Beverly Hills, a correspondence-based institution that operated from the late-1970s to the mid-1980s but was never accredited by either the Western Association of Schools and Colleges or the state Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education.
County officials were clearly caught off guard by the qualifications controversy but appear eager to make any appropriate adjustments to prevent the situation from happening again.
“The most important thing about elections,” said county spokesman Coyne, “is that people have faith in the process.”
By Robin Kaufman
Tulare County - A federal law that went into effect July 1 has local health care providers still wondering how it will affect their patients receiving Medi-Cal to pay for medical services.
“At this point, it's just too soon to tell how this will affect us,” said Lucie Garcia, director of communications at Porterville's Sierra View District Hospital.
Part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which was enacted on February 8, 2006, requires individuals claiming U.S. citizenship to provide satisfactory documentary evidence of citizenship when applying for Medicaid or renewing eligibility.
“It affects in a very onerous way, Medicaid recipients across the nation,” said Harry Foster, president and CEO of Family HealthCare Network (FHCN).
About 49 million U.S.-born citizens and two million naturalized citizens who are covered by Medicaid would be required to submit these documents or forfeit their health insurance coverage. New Medicaid applicants also would have to meet this requirement.
“This whole law is going to create a nightmare for people,” said Foster.
A December 2005 report by the Congressional Research Service shows the San Joaquin Valley had nearly 23 percent of the population enrolled in Medi-Cal from 2001 to 2003. The statewide percentage of the population enrolled in Medi-Cal during that same time period was 14.4 percent while the percentage of the population enrolled in Medi-Cal in the combined Visalia, Tulare and Porterville area was 34 percent.
“People have not anticipated all of the consequences of this bill,” said Foster.
“It's certainly going to hurt [health care] providers. They won't have a source of payment,” said Kathleen Stoll, director of health policy for Families USA, a patient advocacy group out of Washington D.C.
Currently, 55 percent of FHCN's patients receive Medi-Cal. Foster predicts that proportion will drop to a much lower number. “The drop will go over to self-pay, sliding-scale patients,” said Foster.
At Kaweah Delta Health Care District (KDHCD) the overall concern is that the hospital will no longer have a way to bill for those patients who are turned away. Because they don't have proof of citizenship, many of those same patients will show up in the hospital's emergency rooms anyway, increasing the amount the hospital has to shoulder in the way of care delivered without compensation, according to Lindsay Mann, CEO at KDHCD.
“If patients are left uninsured, they may not be likely to pay the bill,” said Stoll.
“Our patients will be taken care of for as long as we can do it. The question is: How long can we do it?” said Foster.
For health care providers, the financial impact will be felt most on the in-patient side of care, according to Meade Hallock, director of continuing care at Tulare District Hospital (TDH).
Starting July 1, TDH began to ask for original documentation to prove citizenship as part of the normal insurance verification process.
“We're not turning anyone away for treatment but we are asking for verification of citizenship,” said Hallock.
For Medicaid eligibility, the law requires that citizen verification be established through documents such as an original birth certificate. Copies will not suffice as evidence under the act.
“A lot of people just don't have that sitting around,” said Rick Elkins, spokesman for TDH.
A January survey conducted by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that about 8 percent of U.S.-born adults age 18 or older who have incomes below $25,000 report they do not have a U.S. passport or U.S. birth certificate in their possession.
Subsequently, an estimate based on the survey predicts that 1.7 million U.S. born adults who are covered by Medicaid could lose their insurance coverage or experience delays as they try to obtain the appropriate documentation.
The survey also identified certain populations at risk of losing Medicaid coverage. Though 5.7 percent of adults indicated they lacked such documentation, the percentage was higher for senior citizens 65 or older at 7 percent.
Also lacking original documentation to prove citizenship were 9 percent of African American adults, 9 percent of adults without a high school diploma and 9 percent of adults living in rural areas, according to the survey.
Compliance with the federal law is a requirement for the state of California to receive federal matching funds for state-run Medi-Cal programs. States not in compliance with the new mandate run the risk of losing those federal dollars.
“California is not alone. There are a number of states concerned about how they are going to implement this requirement,” said Stoll.
With the federal Department of Health and Human Services waiting until June 9, 2006, to post any guidelines for establishing U.S. citizenship and identity, some states have created their own implementation dates instead of sticking to the July 1 deadline.
“From the state perspective it creates state bureaucracy and increases state costs,” said Stoll. This leads her to ask, “Whose deficit is being reduced?”
At the federal level, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published interim final regulations on July 12, 2006 and is requesting commentary from the public on expanding exemptions from providing citizenship documentation, according to Mann.
Populations who possibly could be exempted from showing proof could include those who are severely mentally disabled, severely physically disabled, homeless or those who have been covered under Medicaid for five years or more.
Children under foster care and children who were born under a Medicaid program are also being considered for exemptions at the federal level.
“We want to protect those that are most fragile and in need of support,” said Mann.
While the federal exemptions remain in flux, the California Department of Health Services recently posted on its Web site a draft of a letter to be sent to all county welfare directors providing instructions on obtaining citizenship documentation from Medi-Cal recipients.
The most recent draft posted August 3 states: “As required by federal law, counties are directed to implement the evidence of citizenship and identity requirements immediately.”
The sixteen-page document outlines the five-tier hierarchy of what is acceptable evidence for proving U.S. citizenship and asks that counties give Medi-Cal applicants and beneficiaries a “reasonable opportunity” to provide the required documentation for citizenship and identity.
In handling the original documents required for this act, the letter to county directors advises: “We encourage counties to implement special procedures or set up a special documents processing unit, if necessary, to ensure that original documents are reviewed, copied and returned in a timely manner.”
“Imagine the number of people lining up to show proof. How is that going to happen?” said Foster.
By law, patients cannot be turned away from a hospital emergency room for emergency services. Non-citizens are still eligible for emergency services covered under Medi-Cal.
“If I'm an undocumented farmworker, this does not apply to me at all. I doubt that these folks will understand that. We'll do our best to reassure them to continue to use our medical services,” said Foster.
Mearles Closes – Restaurant Owners Evicted
Visalia - A notice on the window at landmark drive-in Mearles states that the restaurant is closed due to an eviction. The notice, dated August 15 and signed by a Superior Court judge, is to restaurant owner Melissa Ward from property owner Ralph Kazarian of Fresno.
The news caps several years of struggle for what is arguably one of the most famous landmarks in Visalia and one of its best known eateries.
Ward does not own the property and the Fresno owner had, by one account, been renting the property on a month-to-month basis. According to one supporter, whose daughter worked at the restaurant until a few days ago, Kazarian ws owed $8,000.
“We’re ready to go to raise the money to keep it open,” said one unsolicited supporter who stopped Tuesday at the restaurant , meeting up with another Mearles’ fan, Wanda Thomas. The two, previous to the meeting, did not know each other.
“We’ll do bake sales or whatever it takes,” said Thomas.
Ora Bryant says the restaurant “just can’t close, my husband and I want to know what it will take to save it.”
Melissa Ward was not available for comment.
Contacted at his Visalia home, former owner and restaurant namesake Mearle Heitzman said he was saddened by the news. “I know Melissa made a good go of it,” said Heitzman, who retired from the restaurant business 11 years ago.
Heitzman started the restaurant in 1950 and became the owner in 1960.
“Melissa Ward was my loyal employee for 30 years,” said Heitzman. “If I were 50 years younger, I’d go back and run it again,” said Heitzman.
Mearles supporters have been gathering at the restaurant, peering in the darkened windows and pointing to the eviction sign recently posted, which announces to unbelieving customers that pull up in the empty parking lot that the place is closed.
“Where am I going to get my milk shake,” said one despondent Mearles fan.
In an article last fall, Ward told the Voice that she had recently brought in a silent partner to help her weather some tough times, which included a grease fire that closed the place for almost five months in 2004 and a reported increase in rent. Add to that: the growing number of restaurants in town appears to have hurt the traffic at Mearles in recent years.
Mearles is facing another problem now that the doors are locked by the sheriff: How to save all the food in the cold storage?
Visalia Acquiring Rest of Railroad Right-Of-Way
Visalia - After working with railroad company owners for 12 years, the City of Visalia is acquiring the last large chunks of about five miles of former railroad right-of-way that runs along Santa Fe through the City of Visalia. Altogether the city acquired over 33 acres of land – a 28 foot to 100 foot wide swath of land from Ave. 272 south of Caldwell to the St. John’s River in the north.
City attorney Alex Peltzer says the contract to buy the property was ten years old, adding negotiations over price was not the issue in the protracted deal. Instead, the issue was title to the land that allowed some reversion rights that called ownership in to question.
The city paid $1,052,816 for the vacant land that will record this week to American Trails Association and the Tulare Valley Railroad, who own the old Santa Fe line from Caldwell to Corcoran – a total of 66 miles. They acquired a number of former ATSF lines in 1992 looking to sell the right-of-way and iron tracks.
The city will use the land to widen Santa Fe into a four-lane thoroughfare from north to south in Visalia. The road is expected to become a major alternative route from the Downtown area instead of just to Mooney Blvd. in the future.
“It goes right through the heart of town,” says Peltzer, “right through the area we are looking to restore” in Downtown.
With construction of the bridge over 198 on Santa Fe the old railroad corridor is getting new investment, particularly in the Downtown area with the move of the city east. The widened right-of-way will allow the city to build a bike path on certain portions of the route as well.
Santa Fe that dead-ends currently at Houston will now be punched through a mile to the north to the St. John’s Parkway, improving access to the Visalia Northside. The city has a 100 foot strip through this part of the route where a dedicated bike path likely will be planned. At Houston the city is planning a roundabout to connect Santa Fe and the other streets nearby.
With completion of the deal, Tulare Valley Railroad will own just one major adjacent piece of land along Santa Fe at Douglas.
Why did the deal take so long? Peltzer said, “Every step in this purchase took a long time” noting that railroad doesn’t hold traditional deeds to land the way individuals do. Descriptions of land holdings are done by mile post, for example, that don’t translate well to current land location descriptions. In addition the city continues to seek more land over the years. The city acquired the Santa Fe bridge some years ago from the company in order to plan the new cross freeway bridge expected to be built in the next few years. Having to deal with a busy company out of state is seen as another reason.
Tulare, too, has been arm wrestling with Tulare Valley Railroad to acquire a number of adjacent parcels to the right-of-way through that town. The city wants the land to be sold off for development of residential and mixed-use projects to help infill their Downtown. But Tulare Valley Railroad, based in Salt Lake, has lots of deals pending all over the West and is slow to respond to inquiries.
Because both Tulare and Visalia now own former Tulare Valley Railroad land and seek to use some of it for walking and bike paths, there is some talk the two may be linked if right-of-way between the towns can be preserved. Tulare uses their right-of-way for the Santa Fe Trail pedestrian and bike path through their city and north of the town as well. It would be about another six miles to connect to the Visalia right-of-way.
Ceremonial Citron Grown Exclusively in Lindcove
By Robin Kaufman
Lindcove - In the beginning, the Kirkpatrick farm grew two varieties of etrog citron.
“For the first fifteen years, we didn't know what we were doing,” said farmer Greg Kirkpatrick.
Now they grow five varieties.
The Kirkpatrick family's Lindcove Ranch is the only United States orchard to grow the kosher etrog citron used in the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
The holiday is a harvest festival that commemorates the forty years the Jews spent wandering in the desert. For Sukkot, the etrog is not used for consumption but rather it is used symbolically in blessing rites during the holiday.
What makes the etrog citron so special is that its lineage can be traced back to ancient times. “These trees date back to the Garden of Eden,” said Kirkpatrick, who also happens to be a Visalia city councilman and is currently the Vice-Mayor.
The Kirkpatricks have been farming citrons for a quarter of a century. “Farming has taken on a spiritual nature for me,” said Kirkpatrick.
The picking season for Kirkpatrick's citron begins in July or August and continues up to a week or two before the holiday of Succot.
“This year the holiday is pretty late and that's great,” said Kirkpatrick. “It's always a race to the finish.”
But the care Kirkpatrick gives to each individual fruit is not done in haste. Each citron is wrapped in a protective covering to protect it from the leaves and thorns of the tree itself.
“Even small scars outside of the fruit disqualifies it from being kosher,” said Kirkpatrick.
The citron is also a symbol of fertility and a citron that retains its pitom, or flower, is valued by those seeking to have the blessing of a new child.
“I've been reading a lot these days about the early Christian church and how it all began. Consequently it's nice to have those ties back to Jerusalem [through the citrons,]” said Kirkpatrick.
As Kirkpatrick speaks of the fruit in his hand, his reverent words are inspired: “The law commands that you take a perfect piece of fruit. It's a symbol of beauty and perfection, and hence it should be.”
The best pieces are hidden low and toward the inside of the tree, often requiring Kirkpatrick to crouch beneath the boughs to do the pruning. “This is why I'm wearing these knee pads,” said Kirkpatrick. “Every day we come out and it's like an Easter egg hunt.”
The boughs are tied to a three tiered trellis so the fruit has room to grow to perfection. It is Kirkpatrick's severe judgment that decides whether a growing citron will become a kosher etrog citron.
“We never get enough of the really good fruit every year,” said Kirkpatrick.
Thorns and sometimes entire branches are cut to make way for the most promising etrogim (Etrogim is the plural of etrog). Even the slightest blemish the size of a flea causes Kirkpatrick to cast it aside.
“We probably end up throwing away 80 to 90 percent of the fruit,” said Kirkpatrick.
The shape of the fruit is also a determining factor in its value. “The whole idea is to have a columnar piece of fruit,” said Kirkpatrick.
In his perusal of the orchard, he finds a citron with a severe indentation on one end. “Eve's bite” he calls it, and it joins the others that have been tossed to the ground.
Above the trellises there is protective shading for the trees. The trees are sensitive to frost and disease but according to Kirkpatrick, the biggest threat to the crop is a heat wave.
“What basically happens is the trees shut down,” said Kirkpatrick.
At this point in the season, the citrons are still green and those picked now will be sent into cold storage to develop into a deep yellow.
That is not the extent of the care Kirkpatrick gives this fruit. “We wash each fruit individually so they don't bump into or scratch each other,” said Kirkpatrick.
The etrogim must also be graded in value and Kirkpatrick does so by examining each one under a lighted magnifying glass like a jeweler would.
“They each have their own set of qualities and characteristics that certain buyers prefer,” said Kirkpatrick.
Of the 2.5 acres of citron trees he farms, he hopes for about two or three thousand etrogim each year. “It [the number] varies so much from year to year. The trees are just so temperamental,” said Kirkpatrick.
When asked about the price he gets on average for one etrog, Kirkpatrick was evasive. “I really don't want to say, but it's a lot,” said Kirkpatrick.
Etrog Citrons imported from Mediterranean countries sometimes sell in the $10 to $15 range. An exquisite etrog could go for over $70.
“It's nice to able to provide these blessings,” said Kirkpatrick.
What's New
A superheated July continues to reverberate as the state climatologist reports the hottest temp statewide in July was 125 degrees recorded at Fountain Springs in southern Tulare County. The month was one of the hottest on record for the state and for LA the hottest since they started keeping record in 1877. Extreme heat seemed to generate extreme precipitation in the Sierra including 2.10 inches that fell at Hockett Meadow – above the South Fork in Three Rivers – July 20. The heat caused over $20 million in damage to the dairy industry in Tulare County. It may have wilted the valley cotton crop as well. NOAA said on their website that the US had its second hottest heat wave in history and noted much of the county is suffering from drought conditions. They said that global warming will make heat waves “become more likely and progressively more intense over the course of decades.”
Crime is up in Visalia during the first half of the year the police department reports. Property crimes were up from 1676 in 2005 to 1971 during the same six month period this year. Vehicle thefts were up as well with 684 incidents vs of 598 during the same six month period last year. Crime against persons jumped for the same period from 472 to 564. So far this year the police report 4 homicides compared to 3 for the same period in 2005. Last year the city reported a total of 10 homicides.
Great buyers market for homes in Visalia but not so hot for sellers. Inventory has reached over 1900 single family homes on the MLS – up from 1801 July 1. There were just 437 homes for sale in the Visalia/Tulare MLS in July 2005. “It’s getting worse,” says long time realtor Sherry Tietjens with sellers having to lower their expectations significantly from just the first part of this year. “A home that might have sold for $315,000 last year in on the market for $250,000 today with no offers,” says realtor Brad Maaske. “We’ve got nine and a half months of inventory” in existing homes in Visalia, he says. Sales here were off about 30% in July compared to last year, something that is happening all over California.
Foreclosures are up statewide in California during the second quarter according to Data Quick. With home prices declining in some places foreclosure activity was the highest in 14 years. Statewide foreclosures were up 67% from the same time in 2005. Tulare County was up 46% with 250 notices of default compared to 177 during the second quarter of 2005. Fresno County was up 55% and Kern 69%.
Indeed new home building is slowing in Visalia, says assistant city manager Mike Olmos compared to last year about this time. “We don’t have much in new residential projects but the slack has been taken up by commercial and office projects around town,” he says pointing to the latest permit figures through July that shows an eye popping $327 million in the value of all permits so far this year – more than the value for an entire year for every year but 2005 when the city did just under $400 million. Visalia will probably do in excess of $500 million this year. In July 2005 the city permitted 49 new commercial projects for $67 million.
The High Speed Rail Authority is funding a study this fall that includes a closer look at the rail alignment proposed between Bakersfield and Fresno. “The biggest thing we want is for them to look at a station stop on this route,” says Visalia city administrator Carol Cairns. The governor approved a $14 million budget this fiscal year that includes funding for the alternative alignment for the route that could switch from the Santa Fe alignment to the Highway 99 alignment north of Bakersfield. Alternately the city wants them to look at keeping the Santa Fe alignment but swinging east from Corcoran to run south along the Tulare/Kings county line at 198 to head north to Fresno. City expects new ridership numbers to bolster the need for a station stop because this area is growing so fast. If the study is persuasive the Authority could adopt the new route and station stop to become part of the state plan. That plan will go to voters in 2008.
The Wagon Wheel restaurant is coming back to life late this month with a Japanese twist. The landmark restaurant on Willis in Downtown Visalia has been purchased by Eddie and Oyuntumur Rippee. “We expect to open by August 25th,” says husband Eddie who says his wife has the restaurant experience. “Think of it as a Japanese steakhouse,” he says. The restaurant has been purchased by a group of Downtown businessmen including Mike Fistolera. But Rippee says he has purchased the eatery from the group now. The place has been shuttered for many months. The restaurant phone number is 732-4529.
Plans to develop Earlimart by adding hundreds of new homes and businesses are moving forward with the property owners spending money on new water and sewer systems this summer, says civil engineer Dennis Keller. The developers are awaiting approval of the county general plan update before they break ground, but they are already spending money.
Visalia will get a Hampton Inn next year says owner Anil Chagan who says the 82 unit, three story hotel will be between Days Inn and Super 9 on Noble. Chagan who owns a number of hotels in the area including the Comfort Suites Downtown says the complex will break ground in December and open by April. Also on the western entrance to the city the new La Quinta is nearing completion at Akers and 198.
Retail tenant battle on the Northside as Joe Gong’s Food 4 Less shopping center has lost two food tenants, Starbucks and Panda Express, to rivals in recent weeks. Now a site plan for a Panda Express just north of the Giotta quick stop on Dinuba Blvd. Larger rival Donohue Schriber who is working on twin shopping centers at Dinuba Blvd. and Riggin has apparently snagged Starbucks. Only months ago there was little national tenant interest in the Northside and today they are fighting over which location to go to.
Hanford could be ripe for a Kohl’s department store says reliable sources. The company is being wooed by several developers.
Tulare County may purchase a 15.5 acre parcel south of Government Plaza on Mooney. The acreage would allow the county to expand its offices near its current multi story building not far from Mooney Grove. The county will consolidate its multi agency office in the future into a “campus” something they’ve looked at for the past year. But local supervisor Phil Cox says the county is still talking with the City of Visalia about co-locating offices with the city in east Visalia. “Just because we differ about one thing, it doesn’t mean we aren’t working together on other fronts,” says the former city council member. Cox is referring to the city’s opposition to the road tax – now on the fall ballot.
Good news for the Lowe’s project in North Visalia. City council on a consent time last week approved a plan to move the process forward to a specific plan status meaning likely it will be approved. The plan next goes to the planning commission. The project, being proposed at Demaree and Riggin, originally got a cool reception at city council.
Porterville’s big Riverwalk Marketplace shopping center is getting final approvals this week and developer Ben Ennis says he will soon be grading the site for the 360,000 square foot center – what will be Porterville’s largest. Anchored by Lowe’s home improvement store the center will have restaurants, fast food to add a score of familiar retailers to that will be new to Porterville.
Tulare County Escrow, which has been at 118 S. Locust Street for more than 32 years is moving to a “new” downtown Visalia location. A Labor Day weekend move is planned to the 308 W. Oak Street building, a home built in the 1800s by the Hyde family and featured in the Visalia historic homes book. The company was founded in 1974 by Earl Parsons Jr. and is the only independent escrow company in Tulare County. The company still is family owned and is managed by two of Parson’s daughters, Linda Reed and Karen Roberts.
Dept. Of Commerce reports the trade deficit is up $6.4 billion from June of 2005 as imports surged over $21 billion while exports were up just $14.8 billion. The trade deficit had a deficit of $50 billion in June 2004 so its building each month. The cumulative total in imports of petroleum products from January to June 2006 is $143 billion compared to $105 billion for the same period in 2005 based on fewer barrels of oil in 2006. That’s about 80 billion dollar increase going out of our economy in one year because oil prices have skyrocketed.
Tribe Closes its Visalia Health Center
Visalia - Patients and staff reportedly received less than a week's notice before the Tule River Indian tribe's Visalia medical clinic was suddenly closed earlier this year.
The Tule River Indian Health Center, which was located at 306 N. Conyer and had been in operation for more than 10 years, was shuttered in early June.
Today, a large “For Lease” sign stands in front of the vacant former clinic.
Tribal officials were tight-lipped about the details surrounding their decision to close the Visalia facility.
“It was a fiscal decision,” said Vida Khow, the tribe's medical director.
Reportedly, all of the staff members were offered jobs at the tribe's clinic on the reservation, which is located 14 miles southeast of Porterville, but only one staff member accepted the offer.
About 1,600 tribal members live on the Tule River reservation. Members of all Native American tribes are eligible to seek treatment at the Tule reservation medical facility.
Visitors to the tribe's Visalia clinic during its final days of operation reported that staff members were teary-eyed and visibly shaken.
Former patients at the clinic were advised that they could seek medical treatment at the reservation clinic or in Lemoore at the Tachi tribe's medical facility.
“I'm sad to see the clinic close,” said Visalia resident Esther Servantes, who has taken her children to the health center for 14 years.
“Fortunately, my children are pretty healthy. But I do worry about the day they might need to see a doctor for something other than a physical,” Servantes added. “Instead of traveling two minutes to get to the clinic, it will take me an hour to get there. And when my children are already nauseous and sick, the last thing they need is a windy trip up the mountain…It's not a big deal if you are at the reservation to start with. But for the rest of us, it is.”
“Whenever we would go to the clinic for the kids' physicals, it was always full,” said Servantes' husband James. “I saw all kinds of patients waiting in the lobby there, from elderly to regulars who were getting diabetic checks, and I can't imagine them able to make the trip up to the reservation on a regular basis.”
Servantes also is worried about what might happen the next time he gets a seasonal allergy attack.
“I have seasonal allergies that sometimes progress into asthma,” he said. “There were times when I'd call the clinic and they'd have me come straight over. I would arrive gasping for air. I can't imagine surviving the hour up the mountain for treatment.”
According to information posted on the tribe's Web site, in 2005, there were 5,687 registered Indian patients at the tribe's reservation medical facility, including 2,675 active patients.
Oaks Stadium Could See $4.2 Million in Upgrades
Visalia - This month the Visalia City Council will decide whether or not to approve a 10-year lease of the stadium at Recreation Park with Top of the Third, Inc., owner of the Visalia Oaks ball club.
The agreement that will come forward at the August 21 council meeting will detail plans for revenue streams to the city from the ball club as well as $4.2 million in upgrades to the ballpark, to be financed by the city.
At the July 17 city council meeting, city staff had originally recommended that the deal include a $2 million funding plan for ball park upgrades. The newest plan includes more extensive renovations for the $4.2 million price tag.
“It's going to be gorgeous-one of the best ball parks in the nation,” said Jon Peterson, Oaks general manager.
The plan includes not only upgrades for the fans, but also upgrades for the staff and players.
The Oaks staff will see new administration and ticket offices. The current administration building is housed in a trailer on the north side of the stadium, which is not so amenable to conducting business.
“It's just a lack of air conditioning and a lack of heating. It gets noisy next to the railroad tracks,” said Peterson.
The new administration office is planned for the first base side, where it will be a little less noisy.
By the 2007 season, the players will get new dugouts and the fans will see a two-story hospitality room, renovated concession stands, bigger restrooms, an Oaks merchandise store, more seating along the first base line, a grassy berm for picnics, misting fans on the picnic deck, and a new video scoreboard.
According to Peterson, the video scoreboard will be akin to what drivers see along Highway 99 with the Selma Auto Mall sign but “a crisper, cleaner version and a bit bigger.”
The video scoreboard will eventually allow for game highlights and instant replays once the ball club gets the cameras. By 2008, new sound and lighting will complete the video scoreboard experience.
Also for the 2008 season, fans will find expanded seating above the current rows, a shade canopy over the seating, a new press box, new luxury suites and field upgrades.
USDA Visit Boosts Valley Biodiesel
Tulare County - USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Thomas Dorr toured valley ethanol and biodiesel sites this week and boosted the idea that biofuels could make a difference in the national economy and locally to benefit the rural economy here. “If we made B-20 biodiesel you would expand the fuel supply 20%,” noted Dorr, with a 20% blend of biodiesel with regular diesel. “It’s cleaner burning for our air and is good for engines too,” he notes. Research shows biodiesel reduces carcinogenic air toxics by 75-90 percent compared to diesel.
Mr. Dorr toured the valley’s only major operating ethanol plant in Goshen and visited a site in Mendota where a new farm cooperative is planning on building the valley’s first major biodiesel facility. “I saw a lot of potential out there,” says Dorr talking about an oil tank storage area in Mendota where the group wants to build a 5.5 million gallon biodiesel plant.
Manuel Cunha of Nisei Farm League says USDA could fund research to help the project that would test alternative crops that could be used to make the fuel including oilseed crops like canola, safflower, cottonseed oil, used restaurant oils and fats. “We want to know is whether we can grow these crops in rotation with others,” says Cunha and that many of them can be grown with low water input. He says that “the air district wants to work with us” and that letters from county agencies promise to use biodiesel made by the co-op in their fleets.
Cunha says Nisei Farm League is working with California Cotton Growers Council on the project. Farmers will be the primary users of much of the biodiesel.
Cunha says the project could make far more than the 5.5 million gallon tank capacity on an annual basis to meet the need of California that uses 4.5 billion gallons of diesel a year. He says the co-op will seek about $400,000 in USDA research money to look at crop viability for tests through the Westside Ranch at Five Points and others.
Biodiesel is a diesel fuel replacement that is made from agricultural fats and oils and meets a specific commercial fuel definition and specification. Soybeans are the primary oilseed crop grown in the United States, and soybean oil makes up about half of the raw material available to make biodiesel. The other half consists of all other vegetable oils and animal fats.
Nationwide, the biodiesel industry has shown slow but steady success since the early 90s, however, in the past two years, it has grown exponentially. In 2004 there was approximately 25 million gallons of biodiesel sales. That increased to 75 million gallons in 2005. We are currently on track to exceed 150 million gallons in 2006. Likewise, we went from 22 biodiesel plants in 2004 to more than 60 biodiesel plants currently. There are over 40 more plants currently under construction, with another 30 projects in pre-construction.
Mr. Dorr says the government is boosting research for cellulose ethanol as well that he sees as 4 to 5 years off. He says USDA is interested in the use of methane from dairy waste to substitute for natural gas to fire up boilers citing a big project in Iowa.
The plant to begin operation next month in Sioux City Iowa will be the largest biofuel plant in the world using millions of gallons of livestock manure, collected in sealed trucks to be fed into anaerobic digesters - a process that has been used widely in Europe. Methane that would otherwise go into the atmosphere is sequestered and used to create energy.
Kaweah Delta Will Expand Pediatric Hospital Unit
Visalia - Kaweah Delta is studying a long term expansion of its pediatric hospital unit and neonatal intensive care unit. Currently just 10 beds, the unit will expand to 15 beds by this fall, says CEO Lindsay Mann. The hospital is in the process of hiring two more pediatric care hospitalists to be based at the hospital that would bring the total in this category to 7. Currently the hospital relies on two neonatalists affiliated with Children’s Hospital in Fresno.
Mann says the upshot is that the Visalia hospital will be able to take care of more and more complicated cases typically involving premature babies. “Our neonatal unit is always at capacity,” says Mann. The hospital handles 4000 births a year.
“Long term we will need a larger unit,” says Mann that could become part of the Northern Expansion underway.
Other key personnel hired will not be in private practice or affiliated with other hospitals but will work as independent contractors for the district and will mean the Tulare County hospital will be handling more cases that now go to Fresno. “We’ve already made significant progress handling far more cases than we did just five years ago,” says the CEO.
The above stories are the property of The Valley Voice Newspaper and may not be reprinted without explicit permission in writing from the publisher.
August 16, 2006
