200 State Inmates Might be Coming to County Jail

By Miles Shuper

Visalia - Tulare County Sheriff's officials are awaiting a draft contract with the California Department of Corrections to house 200 state prisoners at the county's sparsely used Pre-Trial Facility at Sequoia Field North of Visalia.

If negotiations between the Sheriff's Department and the state succeed, the $22 million 384-bed facility could be more than two-thirds full by this fall, said Sheriff's Capt. Kevin Mizner. He, along with County Supervisors Chairman Steve Worthly and Supervisor Connie Conway, have been talking with state officials for several weeks and it appears that the final details are nearly complete.

Capt. Mizner said this week that contract talks involve a minimum of 18 months with a potential guarantee of 200 prisoners.

Currently the Tulare County facility houses 50 state parole violators and about 50 county prisoners. The state currently is paying $63 per day, per inmate. Mizner said the fee being discussed for the 200 inmates is about the same amount.

In 2002, three years after it opened, the facility was closed in the wake of a $5 million budget cut. Sheriff Bill Wittman made the choice to close the state-of-the art facility which took three years to construct. The facility includes high-tech video surveillance equipment and a courtroom for arraignments and pre-trial hearings. The courtroom was opened early last month, but the inmate population is currently about 100, half of them local inmates and the rest state parole violators.

When he closed the facility, Sheriff Wittman froze 108 positions, including 98 in the jails, keeping deputies in the field. But that also resulted in the early release of some county prisoners to avoid jail overcrowding. According to sheriff's officials, nearly 35 percent of the sentenced inmates were released early a total of about 1,900.

There have been several potential plans for housing state, federal and out-of-county prisoners but no major contracts became reality. Capt. Mizner said that if the new deal is finalized, about 30 officers would be hired, probably all new hires. Inmates who come to the Tulare County facility would be those serving the last year of their sentence and are minimum- to low-medium-security levels, he said. "There would be no Manson types or anything like that," Mizner said.

The issue of the closed 141,000 sq. foot facility has been a hot topic for several years despite numerous efforts to obtain contracts to house out-of-county inmates. The sparsely-used facility is considered a “white elephant” by some critics, including Woodlake Police Chief John Zapalac, Wittman's opponent for sheriff in the June 6 election.

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Citrus Grower Complains Bees are Trespassing

Tulare County - Tulare County beekeeper David Bradshaw is one of several local beekeepers who have received a letter from Paramount Citrus, the state’s largest citrus grower, demanding he remove his bees from nearby land because Paramount says the wandering bees threaten Paramount’s mandarin crop. Bees can induce seeding on some mandarin varieties and the letter says “only a small intrusion of bees can destroy the value of the entire crop,” says Andrew Asch, counselor for Paramount. The letter demands that Bradshaw remove the hives near one of Paramount’s parcels north of Visalia by May 5. At press time Bradshaw is sticking to his own claim that bees can’t be charged with trespassing.

Citrus Research Board President Ted Batkin says the seeding problem is real. “These days the consumer wants not only a sweet tasting, easy peeling mandarin but one with few or no seeds.” Batkin says since Paramount sent out the letter to beekeepers as many as 80 percent of them have complied.

Beekeepers seek a location near citrus because of the popularity and benefits of orange honey. The citrus bloom is protected by the county because it keeps bee colonies supplied with sufficient nectar until another flower source come on line. Beekeepers pay property owners to locate their hives.

A letter responding to Paramount from bee broker Joe Traynor claims the company’s legal stand “seems shaky” since the court has found for beekeepers in other cases when a landowner has charged trespassing.

Some believe that Paramount’s request is a violation of the Right to Farm law. That law shields producers from nuisance claims that are common to commercial operators that have been in business for more than three years. Beekeepers have been using Tulare County citrus groves for the past 60 years.

Paramount says if beekeepers would keep their hives at least two miles away, there wouldn’t be a problem.

The question remains for stubborn beekeepers like Mr. Bradshaw - will Paramount take them to court? “It’s kind of hard worrying about fighting California’s second largest farmer,” notes Bradshaw. Paramount is owned by Stewart Resnick who also owns Paramount Almonds. Ironically, Paramount almonds need 50,000 bee hives for pollination, says Tulare County beekeeper Paul Godlin who recently removed hives from a grove. “The landowner was a good friend of mine and asked me to leave. I didn’t want to put him into any kind of jeopardy.”

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Consumer Products Company to Open Hub in Visalia

Visalia - Visalia’s third-largest industrial building at 550,000 sq. feet is going up on Plaza Drive starting this month and is expected to be ready for occupancy in late August or September. This is the latest in a series of tilt-up concrete buildings constructed by Fresno-based Diversified Development Group between Hwy. 198 and Goshen Ave. that will be part of a 1.4 million sq. foot industrial park here.

Tenant of the huge building is Spectrum Brands of Atlanta, GA says city economic development specialist Traci Myers. The publicly traded company (NSE:SPC) is a global consumer products company and a supplier of batteries, lawn and garden products, specialty pet supplies, household insecticides, personal care products and portable lighting. The company has 10,000 employees worldwide.

Among other popular products is the Cutter line of mosquito repellant that has picked up sale due to the spread of West Nile virus. They also sell products under the Remington brand.

The company showed sales of $625 million in the latest quarter.

Diversified Development Group vice president Marcus Pignotti said he could not confirm the name of the company who signed the lease.

Spectrum has distribution locations across the nation including in Fresno.

Besides this huge new building, DDG will continue with three other buildings adjacent the same site with the construction set to continue through the rest of the year on a 140,000, a 230,00 and a 40,000 sq. foot building. The company already leases two other buildings on Plaza to make up the 1.4 million sq. feet that will be open by next year. Pignotti says there are no signed tenants for the remaining buildings although the company has good success both here and in Fresno to attract tenants just as the building becomes available.

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Former Tulare County Fair CEO Decides Not to File Civil Suit

By George Lurie

Tulare County - In light of an ongoing investigation into the theft of $15,000 from the 2005 Tulare County Fair and the challenge of finding an interim CEO to replace current CEO Candace Patterson, who announced this month that she would be taking a six-month personal leave, the Tulare County Fair's board of directors got one piece of good news this week: former CEO Phyllis Harmon has decided not to pursue a civil suit against the fair.

Harmon, a volunteer and fair employee for more than 25 years, was the fair's interim CEO from December of 2000 until January 2002, when she was placed on administrative leave following accusations made by two former fair employees that she had illegally funneled fair money to her daughter and another former fair employee. Harmon was also accused of violating a rule that certain fair employees were only allowed to work 119 days per year.

The three women were indicted by a special grand jury and in November 2003, following a very public 10-day trial, they were found not guilty on the grand theft charges. The jury hung on the other counts but the following month, after listening to tapes of board meetings, Judge Patrick O'Hara dismissed the remaining charges as groundless, proclaiming that the case should never have come to trial.

On the advice of her previous lawyer, who charged her nearly $180,000 in legal fees, Harmon remained silent for nearly three years following her dismissal. But last month, in an exclusive interview with the Valley Voice, she told her side of the story.

This week, Harmon said she decided to put the painful chapter of her life behind her “once and for all…I have never been comfortable talking about filing a civil suit against the fair,” she wrote in a statement made available to the Valley Voice. “Being that I had given nearly 30 years of service and dedication to the fair, the thought of doing something that would hurt or place the fair deeper in debt is beyond my desire.

“Had the responsibility of a settlement been placed on those responsible for the actions taken against me rather than the current Fair Board members, the current Director of Fairs and Expositions and the current Secretary of Food and Ag, I might feel otherwise. Those former officials, who are no longer affiliated with any Fair entity, caused this mess, not the current office holders. I think most people believe that since the Tulare County Fair is a state agency that the state would have to cover any amount that might be awarded in a lawsuit. Not so, the fair itself would have to pay whatever amount the jury deemed appropriate…

“The bottom line,” Harmon concludes, “is that I cannot with good conscience proceed with a lawsuit that has the potential to cause great harm to the very entity that I have loved with a passion for so many years. My concern at this time is that the fair is currently $92,000 in the red and all the negative publicity regarding not only missing money and the CEO's failure to disclose the loss, but the number of fairgoers who are disgruntled by the atmosphere of the fair itself. I pray for the well-being of the fair and the all youngsters that participate through their exhibits. My hopes are that they have a rewarding and fun experience at the fair.”

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Goshen Company Plans Two More
Central Valley Ethanol Plants

Goshen - Goshen-based Western Milling has formed a strategic partnership with Ethanol West LLC to build up to six new ethanol plants on the West Coast including two in the Central Valley. The company has announced it will build a 55 million-gallon plant in Keyes near Turlock and a second plant of the same size in Famoso just south of Delano. Both facilities would be producing fuel in 2007, predicted president of the company Jeremy Wilhelm. The Keyes plant is being built next to A.L. Gilbert feed mill and the Famoso site is being built next to a site already owned by Western Milling, which is currently under construction.

Ethanol West LLC will build, own and operate their ethanol plant while Western Milling owned by the Kruse family will supply the corn used to make the renewable-based fuel and market the distiller grain that is a feed byproduct of the livestock industry.

Western Milling set out to attract an ethanol company to its Goshen site back in 2002 and succeeded in getting Phoenix Bio Industries including a 25-million-gallon plant under operation today - the first plant in California. As this paper goes to press the ethanol plant is being sold to a new company - Altra who is also an upstart builder of ethanol plants. Mr. Kruse says the sale of the plant to Altra is expected to close in June or July. Expansion plans are underway to take that Goshen plant to a 45-million-gallon capacity annually.

Jeremy Wilhelm says he has been working out of Goshen for just a month now having relocated from Omaha, Nebraska here after nine years in the Midwest ethanol industry.

“Ethanol makes sense for the economy, for the environment and politically,” he says. “People require the rapid growth of the ethanol industry with the dot com craze but the ethanol industry unlike some on the dot com era does produce real revenue.”

Asked if the central valley with eight plants on the drawing board or underway reaching a saturation point, Wilhelm notes that “it’s getting there” even though the state uses one billion gallons a year. “If you blend at a higher rate, 10 percent ethanol that becomes two billion gallons,” he says. The proposal of E-85 ethanol will mean more ethanol will be needed in the state.

Construction of more plants in the Golden State is more based on the byproduct distiller grain that is a high protein feed for cows and poultry. Unlike the Midwest which has to dry and process distiller grain, the grain is fed “wet” to cows here.

“But it has only a three- to five-day shelf life,” notes Wilhelm, meaning the plants are ideally co-located or near livestock who eat the stuff. The Central Valley has the largest number of dairies and beef cattle, and along with poultry, are considered the best customers for the valuable byproducts. But if you cluster too many plants, it may drive down the profitability.

Western Milling is one of the largest diversified animal feed manufacturers and commodity merchandisers in California with nearly $400 million in sales and over 230 employees. It has sites in California and Arizona. Western Milling distributes its products to more than 500 current active commercial dairy and poultry operations in the region.

Ethanol West, LLC is a newly formed Delaware, LLC headquartered in Goshen. Kevin Kruse, owner of Western Milling, LLC will be the CEO of Ethanol West. Joining the Ethanol West team will be Jeremy Wilhelm, President/COO, who most recently was one of the leading ethanol lenders in the country, Ejnar Knudsen, EVP, who was serving as EVP for Western Milling and Mike Rosa, Construction Superintendent, who most recently was Director of Engineering of the Western Region for Land O’Lakes.

Besides this new company, the newly formed Altra company has announced plans to build several bio fuel plants. In addition, Pacific Ethanol is underway with their Madera plant set to produce fuel this fall. The company has had an option to build on a Visalia plant site they still say might be built. Calgren Renewable Fuel is grading their Pixley site for a new plant expected to break ground this summer and also own a plant site in Hanford.

Wilhelm says all the 55-million-gallon sites will be identical in that they could expand to 100 million gallons. He says besides the two Central Valley sites, the company expects to build at Gila Bend where Western Milling has a site and in the Imperial Valley. This past week Pacific Ethanol announced an Oregon location. They are reported to be interested in a Stockton location as well.

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Study Sets Stage for Higher Densities in Visalia,
Fewer Annexations

Visalia - Along-awaited report on the amount of undeveloped land already designated for residential use in Visalia may set the stage for a future Visalia with a decidedly urban feel. If it became part of the general plan it could halt for decades the pace of annexations of surrounding farmland that has characterized the recent home building boom in town. Ironically, what will be a political decision is coming after that boom now appears to have lost its punch.

The report was requested by council member Greg Collins months ago for the council trying to get their arms around a simple question: “Just how much land is already available for housing in Visalia?”

The draft report released this week shows 8,400 lots already considered developed but not built on in the city. The Visalia marketplace will build an estimated 1,500 homes this year. Using that logic might give the town more than five years supply without adding another acre.

But besides those lots considered “developed” the city has 2,217 acres of land within the city limits designated for residential use that the report says is undeveloped and is not yet mapped for subdivisions. At four units per acre – the average use by the city in the past – that would yield nearly 9000 more lots.

Over the years, the city has opened up land for new housing based on a series of growth rings with the city’s downtown as its center. The council allowed more land to come into the city previously when we reached the population of 98,700 – called the 98,700 urban development boundary (UDB). Still some of this land is not in the city limits. In this category there is another 431 acres – figure 1,600 more homes. The next ring of land outside the boundary that was reached by the city in 2003 is the129,000 population UDB. Here there is 2,194 acres that is also not in the city limits. Again, using the four unit per acre number yields 8,500 units. The next ring set up in the city’s general plan is when the population is 165,000.

But even with all this designated but not-built-on acreage, the city population is about 114,000 (adding county islands) and according to this report has room for about another 27,500 homes or multi-family units without crossing over to the next boundary threshold – 165,000 UDB.

At three persons per household, that’s another 75,000 people living here without major expansion beyond the boundary the city is allowing development in today.

That takes us to one of three scenarios the city is considering in the draft document. Without expanding our urban boundary, the city can accommodate 198,000 people using a “natural growth” ratio. Or it can push the density higher to reach 212,824 or 219,461 within the same land.

Part of the reason the city says it can accommodate more people within the inventory of land we call Visalia is that around the new east Civic Center they plan 1,000 units – single-family, medium and high-density. In December the city council added a second high-density district both north of Goshen Ave. and east of Ben Maddox of the Civic Center adding another 2,000 units. These blocks will have the feel of a downtown residential district you might see in larger cities. Because the 3,000 units will be part of the growth plan, the city doesn’t need to expand boundaries so soon to add new acreage to accommodate expected growth. In addition to that, new masterplans like in the city’s southeast are calling for higher densities than four units per acre with a mix of small lots, larger lots, mixed-use and multi-story housing on the 800-acre planned development.

The city council can also change the mix to go low, medium or high-density that tends to increase the number of homes per acre. For the better or the worse?

Meanwhile, this estimate of expected growth does not include Goshen, which the report suggests is not expected to be annexed into the city any time soon. That doesn’t mean there won’t be lots of growth around Goshen. There decidedly will be plans to add several thousand acres in their new community plan being considered this week at the County Board of Supervisors. So while Goshen spreads out, Visalia it appears will build up and infill all this available land perhaps for decades to come.

So what does it all mean?

If the city council agrees with the plan, it seems clear there will be:

• Fewer annexations of land for new housing in the future and likely none outside the 129,000 boundary that is expected to hold 212,000 Visalians now – almost double our current population.

• More smaller, high-density, multi-story and mixed-use building around downtown and in the new masterplan areas in the southeast and northwest – Lowery Ranch for example.

• More people per square mile in Visalia. For retailers that’s a good thing with more customers nearby. For property values, it is likely to increase the value of existing land within the boundary since builders can’t hold out to the next boundary. It could drive up the cost of housing too.

Collins says the report not only suggests each growth ring could accommodate more population including the most people slated for the 129,000 boundary fitting into the 98,000 boundary. “Visalia is at a crossroads and we have the choice to keep spreading out at the fringe or do a better job of infilling,” he says. Collins also says higher densities will provide some benefit including better utilization of land, less vehicle miles traveled and better utilization of public transportation.

Collins says while the city will be different in the future than it is today, there will be a mix of products available to homebuyers. “In some subdivisions we’re just asking about an increase of 10 percent density and going down the street nobody would be able to tell except the developer.”

Longtime builder Basil Perch says he hasn’t seen the new report yet but suggested there are some people who can use smaller lots. “For some like the elderly and empty-nesters, smaller makes sense and there is social reasons to live in a compact development as well.” But for families “I think it is a crime to make them live in sardine cans.

“That’s not the reason people moved to Visalia. If they wanted to live in a metropolitan area where people are stacked up on top of each other, they wouldn’t have come here,” says Perch.

Perch says he also thinks it’s wrong to force low income families that tend to be large into multi-story buildings that could likely turn into slums. Rather, he would rather see “the rich people live in compact townhouses” and the large family sector live on a large subdivision “where they can feel a better sense of ownership.”

Regarding the recent expansion of Visalia onto farmland, Perch notes that much of that expansion “is onto land growing cotton which isn’t economic anymore in Tulare County.”

The draft report is being circulated to the local Building Industry of Association (BIA) builders and others who are being asked to make comments by May 24 for a June work session by the city council.

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What's New

Phil Cox’s campaign to get the county to increase fees to help pay for county services to fix roads, for example, took a step forward this week as the Tulare County Association of Governments (TCAG) heard a consultant report that suggested voters would approve a half cent sales tax if it were placed on the ballot. Members seemed ready to give it a try but the question remains when. TCAG, the group that represents the cities in the county along with the county itself will decide next month whether to place it on the November ballot. The approval would be by a simple majority. The report suggested 67 percent of voters would support the measure. Cox comes from Visalia where a one-quarter cent sales tax increase helped fund public safety.

Three Rivers will get a good size hardware store for the first time with the opening of Three Rivers Mercantile at 41152 Sierra Drive. Phone 561-2378. Residents have to come down the hill to Visalia to pick up most building or household repair supplies. The store is expected to open shortly when their new parking lot is done.

Amazing river flows in Three Rivers right now with the 90 degree weather prompting rapid snow melt. Stay out of the rivers, authorities urge, but enjoy the waterfalls that are worth a trip. Visit Buckeye Campground near Hospital Rock to enjoy a view of the raging Middle Fork.

Both Tulare and Visalia are quietly negotiating with major food processors to locate in their cities. A Tulare County EDC report says food processors are the most active prospects looking at Tulare County right now. Leaders like food processors because they often are connected to the ag base here. Food processors like both communities because they are some of a few places in the central valley with sewer capacity either built (Visalia) or under construction in Tulare. In Visalia’s case the food processors want to build a 600,000 sq. foot building and hire 200 people. The company wants to own their property and be under construction by January.

JG Boswell’s Yohkol Ranch project east of Visalia continues through its EIR process says county planner Teresa Szymanis. The “new town” development being proposed on Boswell’s 36,000 acre foothill property has suggested it would build a community in the pristine valley used mostly for cattle ranching. But a recent trip led by Boswell’s consultants to the property suggest to Szymanis the company also plans rural residential units in the middle of the cattle grazing area. “They want to set up a conservation easement program,” says Szymanis, where property owners might “own” 10 acres but build on only one acre, for example, allowing the remaining portion of their land to be grazed in perpetuity. Szymanis says the homesteads would be scattered around out of view of the main road. The move to align the project with a conservation element is seen as a political plus for the company who must assure county residents it won’t change the character of this rural part of the county. The project has generated stiff opposition but appears to have momentum behind it on the Board of Supervisors. Meanwhile, a group has been meeting to try to potentially reduce the scale of the Boswell project rather than simply urge a “no build” alternative.

Statewide ballot measure on High Speed Rail put off until 2008. But maybe a better bet for catching the train in the future near Visalia is a move gaining momentum to switch some AMTRAK trains to the Union Pacific line up Highway 99.

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