Foreclosures Down, Sales Up
Visalia-Tulare Market Shows Some Stabilizing

Tulare County - Those in real estate got a little good news in the past week, among all the bad economic news floating around these days.

First, the number of home foreclosure notices in November was down slightly in Tulare County from October, reported RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties.

Second, real estate sales of existing homes continues to be strong, noted Carlos Aleman of Coldwell Banker J. Heaton Associates and president of the Tulare County Association of Realtors.

“Sales are up,” he said explaining that through November of this year, 2,814 units have been sold, compared to just 2,530 for the first 11 months of 2007 in the Visalia-Tulare market.

He said even foreclosures appear to be more isolated and not as broad as they once were.

RealtyTrac reported there were 630 foreclosure notices sent out in the county in November, 15 less than in October. Visalia had 291 of those, compared to 299 in October, while Tulare had 130, down four from the previous month. Porterville saw a drop of 10 (94 to 84), while the number of foreclosures in Exeter doubled (11 to 22).

In Kings County, the number of foreclosures jumped dramatically. In October, there were 147 notices sent out, which jumped to 180 last month. The big increase was in Lemoore where foreclosure notices jumped from 41 to 95.

The lower trend was reflected nationwide. RealtyTrac said foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 259,085 U.S. properties during the month, a 7 percent decrease from the previous month but still up 28 percent from November 2007. The report also shows one in every 488 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing in November.
In Tulare County, it is one in every 209 properties, while in Kings County, it was one in every 228 properties.

Aleman said buyers appear to be taking advantage of prices not seen in a few years and interest rates last week dipped below 5.2 percent for 30-year fixed mortgages.
“What you are seeing is a lot more agents hustling,” he added, saying the prices and rates are building interest in buyers.

“Buyers are starting to think, 'It's not so bad,' especially people getting out of the stock market and looking where to invest,” said Aleman.

For most of this year, the market has been fueled by foreclosed properties are properties being offered by banks in what is called a short sale. That is when the bank is willing to take less than what is owed.

That led to investors getting into the market, but Aleman sees the traditional buyers coming back, especially first-time buyers.

“What I'm seeing is young couples. We hadn't seen them as much for a while.” He said couples who have saved for a home, but were squeezed out of the market when prices were sky high, are now finding they do qualify.

He said the average price for a three-bedroom, two-bath home today is about $155,000. It was as high as $270,000 not that long ago, he said. Still, home values are higher than they were 10 years ago.

“The only real difference (from today and a year ago) is you have to have good credit.” He called that “responsible lending.”

He said a person can get into a $155,000 home – using an FHA loan with 3 percent down – for about $8,000, including closing costs.

Some are saying that the number of foreclosures is beginning to level off and that the inventory of homes is starting to drop. “We're around the bottom and we're going to hover here for a while,” he predicted.

“Foreclosures are going to continue for a while. On the flip side, it's a huge opportunity for young folks or those who haven't bought a home,” Aleman said.
According to Aleman the Visalia-Tulare area has a seven-month inventory of homes on the market right now. As high as that might seem, it was a 14-month supply not that long ago.

Buyers Get Jolly
Over Low Interest Rates

United States - Santa may not be bringing you that widescreen TV this year, but he is delivering some record low interest rates this holiday season. Freddie Mac's weekly survey for Dec. 18 showed average 30-year interest rates down to 5.19%, compared to 5.47% last week and 6.5% at the end of October.

“That's really improving the affordability of our homes,” says local builder Don Fulbright. The veteran builder can get cheaper financing through USDA for rural Tulare County homes that he builds in Farmersville. “We can get a home buyer in for $950 and around a $1,000 payment every month. Cheaper than rent.”

Bargain rates and lower home prices may tag team to change the wait til' tomorrow attitude that has to change to get us out of this downslide.

“We're seeing some loans at the high 4s,” says mortgage broker Greg Sherman. The real estate web site Zillow says the average 30-year mortgage right now is at 5 percent – the best rates in 37 years.

Realtor Brad Maaske says a 5 percent loan including principle and interest is about $530 per every $100,000. So borrowing $200,000 would cost you $1,060 – enough to buy a median priced home in Tulare County. That's around $225,000.
Maaske says a $90,000 condo he sold recently is rented out for $800 a month. But the new buyer wants to live in it and will pay 3 percent down and $677 a month including principle, interest and taxes. “Why rent?” asks Maaske.

Even as borrowing rates continue to plummet – talk from Washington is that in January you could see a 3 percent rate for purchase of homes only – not refinance deals – driving down the cost of buying homes even more.

“I think this thing has hit bottom,” suggests Masske.

New Home Builders Hit Hard

According to DataQuick, the median price of a new home in Tulare County in September was $226,000, compared to $255,000 a year before. Resale homes are cheaper with a median at $158,000 compared to $209,000 in September 2007.
But with all the foreclosures on resale homes, it's new home sales that are suffering most. “We aren't competing against other builders, we are competing against the foreclosure homes,” says Porterville builder Gary Smee. Still, some builders say they are starting a few homes right now.

Some builders cite the early 1980s as a time similar to this when a number of home builders went bust. The difference back then was 12 to18 percent interest rates. “I think it was tougher back then” says Don Fulbright who launched his company in1975.

While people are buying cheaper homes, it appears the new home market is suffering most with sales off by 63 percent from a year ago. In Visalia, Centex is said to be starting no new projects.

Sales Picking Up

The pace of sales in Tulare County is way up from a year ago, reports DataQuick, with 250 transactions in September 2008 compared to 166 in September 2007.
Visalia businessman Lloyd Pace owns JMT Document Service that has offered its services nationwide since 1978. Pace says he works with national lenders who contract with his company to send final purchase documents to buyers across the country for quick notary service. Pace says the company had been doing 350 transactions daily before the housing crisis hit and that fell to under 100 a day last February and stayed that way until October. In October, it rose and fell again. But by December 1, the pace of signature transactions jumped again to about 250 a day, he says, “and now we believe it will stay up,” suggesting the bottom of the housing crisis may have been reached.

Pushing some buyers to make a deal now is a $7,500 tax credit to buyers that you could get back as soon as February with the filing of your 2008 tax return. That credit is available in 2009 but you don't get it back until you file that year's tax return.

Meanwhile, there are some deals with a big bow around them this season, like the one realtor Phil Vandergrift of Tulare recalls. This is a well-built 1,700-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bath that sold three years ago for $220,000 and has been foreclosed and recently went back on the market and is now for sale for $87,000.
Clearly the rate plunge is also spurring a refinance wave across the country and in our area. Refinance applications have doubled in recent weeks.

Buyers are cutting their costs to buy a piece of the dream – a home in California – once considered out of reach for the average person. DataQuick says the typical mortgage payment is now $1,198, compared to $1,951 in November 2007.

Gottschalks/Mervyns Woes
Spell Humbug for Malls

San Joaquin Valley - Department store companies Gottschalks and Mervyns are what they call “anchors” at many Central Valley malls. But recently these anchors appear to be helping to weigh down those malls into the deep end of the retail swimming pool.

Mervyns is closing all its stores in the next few days, including many that are part of local malls and the fate of Gottschalks is very much in question this holiday season with the announcement that a deal that would have invested $30 million into the cash strapped retailer had collapsed.

As for its stock, it fell to just 15 cents a share before the Fresno-based company announced late Friday that the same Chinese-owned investment group, Everbright, was still interested despite the fact they called off their previously announced agreement after the due diligence period had expired last week.

The confusing signals did little to comfort stock holders who dumped 1.3 million shares of Gottschalks stock December 19 taking its value down 60 percent to just 15 cents. That compares to a stock value of near $15 a share as recently as April of last year.

While the entire economy has suffered in recent months, Gottschalks' pain dates back many declining years having lost nearly $20 million this fiscal year alone.

Like many retailers, the company hopes to make it up around at Christmas time. Indeed, big crowds of tardy shoppers were reported this past weekend. The store has been trying to attract shoppers this last week before Christmas with 20, 33, 50 and 70 percent off a variety of soft goods. If that's how low they will go before the big day, what will it offer after Christmas?

In its most recent Securities and Exchange filing, Gottschalks said it did not expect to have enough cash on hand to get through the end of January without an infusion of financing. Evergreen had offered $1.80 per share in its now expired deal, but the market appeared to suggest a far lower value plunging last week well below 20 cents. Something has to happen fast or suppliers will refuse credit to the company after Christmas, say informed sources.

Gottschalks said Friday that it was negotiating with another company besides Everbright.

Talks of bankruptcy or closure of stores could further depress the Valley's economy. The company employs more than 5,500, mostly in our area and has its roots here, founded by a German immigrant in Fresno some 104 years ago. The company operates 59 stores – mostly in malls.

Perhaps the biggest impact will be on a number of local shopping malls which count both Mervyns and Gottschalks as major drawing cards, anchors that draw the shoppers to smaller stores where mall management makes its money.

Some malls would lose two anchors, including the Hanford Mall, already for sale, and Bakersfield's East Hills Mall that in addition to these two department stores, has an empty Harris store still vacant after Gottschalks bought out Harris about a decade ago. Clovis' Sierra Vista Mall is in the similar boat with both a Mervyns and Gottschalks.

Visalia's two malls would have to backfill the Gottschalks 150,000-square-foot space – the centerpiece of the mall and Sequoia Mall is already working to fill the Mervyns space that will soon be vacant. Another center in Visalia has about 250,000 square feet of long vacant big box space with one retailer – Circuit City – (in bankruptcy itself) hanging on by its fingernails.

Malls are already suffering in the retail competitive mix with department store category expected to be off this Christmas by 17 percent, by one estimate, as shoppers turn to discounters like Wal-Mart and club stores like Costco for their Christmas booty.

Boarded-up stores in local malls vacant for months would not be good news for this retail category already struggling to survive as consumers appear reluctant to open their purse.

Some Mervyns locations have been purchased by Kohl's and a store chain called Forever 21—but none in the Central Valley except for Merced.
“Most of the locations announced were in the densely populated parts of the state,” says a broker familiar with the situation.

In the case of Central Valley's Mervyns locations, look for the bankruptcy proceedings to be completed next year and the leases broken before more back filling is done, says the broker. That's because the new tenant will demand to get the same space for less and would rather wait for the dust to clear and current lease terms are gone. That is helping to put downward pressure on rents for mall space.

That can be clearly seen in Visalia's two malls where both shopping center owners are facing financial distress that could affect the future of both our malls. In the same boat is Developers Diversified – the owner of the Tulare Pavilion shopping center where Mervyns will vacate – that likely will need to wait for the Mervyns bankruptcy to be final before it is able to attract another tenant. One source says Kohl's is unlikely to take the spot because of its proximity to Visalia.

A good bet might be for Hanford to attract a new Kohl's to the Mervyns space once the bankruptcy is complete, since Kohl's has been scouting for a location for a store for most of a year. “We'd love to have them,” admits Hanford Mall General Manager Lisa McIlwaine.

Waiting for the dust to settle and leases to be broken through bankruptcy makes it less likely for another retailer to acquire Gottschalks as a package now when it could be cheaper tomorrow - a psychology that has hurt many industries in this crisis.

If Visalia were to lose Gottschalks, our unnamed broker expects Visalia Mall would draw a Macy's to the spot – the only silver lining in all this bah humbug retail news. But Macy's too is suffering as some believe the go-go year for enclosed malls are over.

Bottom Line

“I don't see this leaves Gottschalks with many options,” say Joe Pinto, former Visalia store manager. “I think their best bet is to reorganize under Chapter 11 and try to survive.”

Pinto says banks are “still frozen up” as retail is far down the list of viable businesses, down there with car dealerships. Unlike car makers, shoppers won't avoid going to Gottschalks if they reorganize under bankruptcy rules even though they might shy away from buying a car from a bankrupt car maker. “The bottom line is that bankruptcy worked for the airlines – we're still flying,” he said.

Porterville, Lindsay
Consider Abatement Districts

By Steve Pastis

Tulare County - Plans to form a mosquito abatement district on the east side of Tulare County have received mixed reviews, and the Delta Vector Control District in Visalia says it is probably too late to get a district formed before 2010.

Mosquitoes carry the West Nile virus that causes a flu-like illness, but can be deadly, especially for those in bad health or the elderly. In 2007, a Tulare County woman died from West Nile virus.

The Lindsay City Council heard a report at its Dec. 9 meeting on mosquito abatement from the Delta Vector Control District, and one council member expects the matter to be put on the next month's agenda.

In Porterville, where the city council voted last month against forming a district, one council member wants to bring up the issue again at the Jan. 6 meeting.

“It was actually a study session for them to receive information,” said Michael Alburn, general manager of the Delta Vector Control District, about his presentation in Lindsay. He said he provided information about vector-borne viruses and what an abatement district is and does.

“I think that it was received well,” said Lindsay City Council Member Pamela Kimball about the Dec. 9 presentation. “I think there is interest in placing it before the voters. There isn't a sense of urgency about it, but it could be worthwhile.” She said that she expects the issue “to come back as an action item in January.”

But it now appears unlikely that Delta Vector Control District would serve eastern Tulare County. “Delta has officially pulled out of any desire to perform services in the area,” said Alburn. “We feel the timeline is too short.”

Alburn said that the process – which includes a survey and a vote – has to start in January to get the final paperwork to the county assessor by November. Also, Delta is based farther from both Lindsay and Porterville than the Tulare Mosquito Abatement District, he explained. However, he added, “We could potentially come back into the picture.”

The Porterville City Council will hear a presentation from a representative of the Tulare Mosquito Abatement District at its Jan. 6 meeting, despite having quickly voted against the issue at its Nov. 4 meeting.

“At that time, there was very little discussion, if any, about it,” said Porterville City Council Member Pete McCracken. “The mosquito abatement district requested that I put it on the agenda, but we weren't clear on the cost and there didn't seem to be any need for it.”

“They didn't feel there was sufficient information to proceed,” said John Lollis, Porterville deputy city manager. “There's been very minimal feedback relative to the establishment of a district, and few requests for a mosquito abatement district.
“What is precisely the problem we want to address?” he asked. “What are you going to be buying and will it address the issue? The communities in the (existing abatement) districts are still addressing the same problems we are. It's not a magic elixir. It hasn't eliminated the problem.”

Since the Nov. 4 meeting, McCracken attended a meeting of the East County Abatement Study Steering Committee, a county subcommittee where “new information was presented.” The meeting was attended by representatives of Porterville, Springville and Three Rivers, as well as Tulare County Supervisors Allen Ishida and Mike Ennis.

“The committee is interested in providing an avenue to facilitate mosquito control in the east country area,” said Alburn. He said the area has no mosquito control.
McCracken said that he learned at the subcommittee meeting what services were being offered and was provided with a better estimate on the cost. He decided that, even after the Nov. 4 vote, this information should be presented to the Porterville City Council. “I got them to bring it back for a study session,” he said.

The Porterville agenda item allows a presentation, but it is not on the agenda as an item to reconsider, said Lollis.

McCracken originally had concerns about the district's goal of monitoring mosquitoes. “It doesn't help us much if you just monitor,” he said. “But now they're coming up with some control measures.”

Alburn explained that mosquito abatement districts inspect sources that hold water on a four-day or weekly rotation. They also educate the community, speaking to young students, participating in health fairs and “writing letters that tell people not to breed mosquitoes in the back yard.” Abatement districts conduct aerial surveillance, taking digital photographs to identify potential mosquito breeding areas. In some cases, abatement includes vegetation management, the use of herbicides and creating trails along a river system.

If a mosquito abatement district is established, the annual assessment would average about $9.10 to $9.50 per single family residential property. The first step in establishing a mosquito abatement district is to survey the property owners to determine if they support the idea – and are willing to pay for it.

“Property owners would essentially vote whether they wanted to assess themselves for mosquito abatement,” said Alburn, who estimated that conducting a survey of east county property owners would cost about $27,000. The entire decision-making process would cost about $110,000.

Even without the approval of the Porterville and Lindsay city councils, an abatement district could still be established in the east Tulare County area.

“The county could proceed with the district,” said Lollis. “They have the jurisdiction. The cost would be some collaboration between the county and the city.” He added that this concept was discussed at the subcommittee level.

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New Brokerage Firm Opens in Visalia

By Rick Elkins

Jim Wohlford and number of other financial advisors who formerly were with A.G. Edwards in Visalia have opened a new office in Visalia, affiliated with Stifel Nicolaus, a longstanding brokerage firm in the Midwest and East, but now expanding in the West. The Visalia office is the 20th branch opened in the West and the 200th in the country by Stifel Nicolaus.

“We're lucky – 20th and 200th,” said Wohlford.

The former major league baseball player turned financial advisor said several of those who worked for A.G. Edwards have left since it was purchased by Wachovia Bank, which is now being purchased by Wells Fargo Bank. In fact, the A.G. Edwards name has been dropped in favor of Wachovia Securities.

Stifel Nicolaus is like the old A.G. Edwards where the client comes first, said Wohlford, who has been joined at their new 217 West Caldwell office in the Tuscan Plaza by Penney Sick and David Sharp, both formerly with A.G. Edwards.
“There are people out there who don't want to work for a bank,” he said of the reason for the switch, plus he said Stifel Nicolaus is the fastest growing brokerage firm in the United States, “when everyone else is retreating.”

Wohlford said he wanted to work in an environment where the goal is to do the best for the client. “We think Stifel Nicolaus will work well in the culture of Visalia.”
Sharp, Sick and Wohlford have more than 50 years in financial planning. The office is a full service brokerage firm offering stocks, bonds, annuities and more – “everything that everyone else has.”

“We're excited. I think the market's going to come back. It's been a difficult market,” said Wohlford, adding that now is a good time to get into the market which is at one of its lowest points in years.

“I think today is one of the best opportunities since the 1980s.”

For the past couple of weeks, the market has shown more stability and Wohlford thinks that will continue, although there will be a few wild swings.”

“We're definitely looking at history right now. Not necessarily the history we want to see.” However, he is optimistic that with a new president and the stimulus packages he is talking about, the economy (and market) will begin to turn around.

Stifel Financial Corp. is a full-service regional brokerage and investment banking firm, established in 1890 and based in St. Louis. The company provides securities brokerage, investment banking, trading, investment advisory and related financial services through its wholly owned subsidiaries, primarily Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc., to individual investors, professional money managers, businesses and municipalities.

Boingo's to Open Day Care
Next to its Kids' Party Center

By Steve Pastis

Visalia - While many business people sit and wait for the economy to bounce back, Laura Ancheta, the owner of Boingo's, has created her own bounce. She opened Boingo's at 7131 W. Pershing Court in Visalia less than two months ago, and is already developing plans to open a childcare center next door in the spring.

Boingo's, which bills itself as “Visalia's ultimate party experience,” features large inflatable bouncers, obstacle courses, a ricochet room and other activities to host children's birthday parties and provide “stop-and-play” sessions. Bouncers are large inflated “structures” which include features such as long slides.

The idea for Boingo's started when Ancheta and her husband, Cres, took their nephew to an indoor playground in Manteca. She described the playground as small. “It was only 1,250 square feet with two or three inflatable bounce houses,” she said, but she was impressed by the “tons of people there.” When she returned home, she researched children's playgrounds and activity centers.

“We wanted to build it from scratch,” she said. “A lot of thought went into it.”
Boingo's celebrated the opening of its 5,000-square-foot facility with a free Halloween party in its parking lot on Oct. 31. The event attracted 500 people.

“I have met so many people who say that Visalia has needed a place like this for so long,” she said. “Visalia is the perfect location. There's not a lot to do for kids for birthday parties, and there are so many families here.”

Ancheta wants to franchise Boingo's, selling the concept “and guiding someone else through the process.” She joined Francorp, Inc., which assesses franchise possibilities for businesses and provides marketing assistance.

Her entrepreneurial experience includes founding Pur Element, a makeup company based in Los Angeles that had an outlet in the Visalia Mall. She also started Razzle Dazzle Cosmetics and had 40 reps, mainly on the East Coast.
Ancheta also leases a second 5,000-square-foot building on West Pershing Court. Her goal is to open Boingo's Academy, a new commercial daycare for toddlers and pre-school children, on May 1. She was a teacher in Arcadia for seven years and has a degree in administration.

Ancheta said that there is a shortage of preschools in Visalia. “Moms are putting fetuses on waiting lists,” she smiled. “Kaweah Delta and Montessori have waiting lists a mile long.”

Boingo's Academy will be “fully loaded,” according to Ancheta, explaining that it will include art and computer centers, a cafeteria, brand new classrooms and new furniture. “It will be activity center-driven,” she said, adding that a playground will be built between the preschool and Boingo's.

The childcare center will accommodate 75 children, ranging from 2 to 5 years old. It will not accept infants.
Ancheta is also looking into franchising Boingo's Academy.

“All of this is pending approval by the city,” she said about the preschool plans. The company is still in the process of getting a license.

For more information, visit www.boingos.com.

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Dinuba Golf Course Rounds,
Memberships Better than Par

By Miles Shuper

Dinuba - Nearly five years ago, Pablo Contreras presented a petition to the Dinuba City Council calling for the city to consider building a golf course.

About a year later, a plan to develop a course, incorporating it with the needed expansion and improvement to the city's waste water treatment and reclamation needs was well under way as City Manager Ed Todd, an avid golfer, and the city council gave the idea thumbs up.

Now, just four years after Dinuba's Reclamation Conservation Recreation project began, Ridge Creek Golf Club, the city's championship-caliber course, is a reality and the city's total $28 million-plus investment is looking good. In fact, things are better than par, even with daily play slowing with the arrival of cold weather, traditionally slow in the San Joaquin Valley.

The same five council members who agreed the idea was a good one are still in office as their plans became reality.
The cost of the golf course was slightly less than $11 million, with the rest going to develop the wastewater facilities and reclamation project, club house, restaurant, maintenance structures and land development on the 250-plus-acre site on the western edge of the city. Eventually, a residential development featuring nearly 400 home sites – townhouses, patio homes and traditional single-family detached homes – will be developed on land now owned by the city.

Since opening July 12, more than 12,700 rounds of golf have been played, 12 percent more than projected. And more than 550 Rewards Club memberships, which offer discounts and other privileges to non-Dinuba resident golfers, have been sold. That's more than 90 percent of the one-year goal of 600 memberships, says Joe Wisocki IV, Ridge Creek's general manager.

Wisocki says not only have the projections for number of rounds and memberships surpassed expectations, but more than 80 percent of the number of events at the course anticipated through the July have been scheduled or booked.
And business at the Three Finger Jacks, the restaurant and lounge, is also ahead of projections, he said, another sign that Ridge Creek is off to a great start. KemperSports, an internationally known sports management operation, manages the Dinuba facility.

In fact, the upcoming January issue of Inc. Magazine lists Ridge Creek as the runner-up as the Best New Public Facility of the Year for 2008, according to Wisocki, who has received praise from many areas.

He sees the second year to be good, based on the solid first year response and success. With rates a little higher than most public courses in the area, without membership discounts, some observers expected the course would not see much success. But that does not seem to have been the case.

The design of the course to help solve its wastewater reclamation issues, along with providing more than enough course irrigation as well as restoring and enhancing surrounding wildlife habitat in the 350-acre overall project area, has drawn lots of attention.

That, coupled with the European-style design incorporating natural grasses, sloping and undulating greens and multiple bunkers (113), no trees or water hazards, sets Ridge Creek apart from other Valley courses. John Fought, a renowned course designer, mapped out the 7,495-yard heathland course, a traditional European format.
With 25 acres of practice area featuring five target areas for honing skills of chipping from bunkers, long range, intermediate and short game practice, to one the longest holes in the state, the 653-yard 15th hole, Ridge Course is not the run-of-the-mill golfing venue.

Most holes are bordered by well-manicured but challenging areas dotted with small shrubs, providing even more challenges for golfers who fail to hit the undulating fairways.

Terry McKittrick who is just finishing his term as Dinuba mayor, and other city officials are quick to point out that the golf course has played and continues to be a keystone to Dinuba's growth and emergence as an even more sparkling gem in the string of Central California cities.

City administrators and others in the community say the creation of the course came at the right time as the city experienced a growth spurt in new homes, new jobs and commercial and industrial development. Retail outlets, especially the Super Wal-Mart and surrounding new businesses, new hotels and accommodations, and the proximity to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks have transformed Dinuba into a city of destination.

In golfing terms, Ridge Creek's scorecard is looking good.

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Woodlake Gardens Suggested as State Site

By Miles Shuper

Woodlake's Bravo Lake Botanical Gardens would be a good choice for a California State Park, rather than other sites which state officials have suggested, says Woodlake City Manager Bill Lewis.

Although he calls the chances of that ever happening, at least in the foreseeable future, “a very, very long shot,” Lewis mentioned that possibility to officials from the California State Parks Planning Division during a November meeting. That session focused on the possibility of expanding state parks in the Central Valley, including some projects in Tulare County, including Rocky Hill and Deer Creek, both sensitive areas which some say would be changed too much if parks were developed there.

Colonel Allensworth State Park is the only state park in Tulare County. Lewis said he discussed the idea with officials at the Visalia session and followed it up with a letter but has heard nothing since.

The garden sits on about 10 acres of abandoned railroad right-of-way along a weedy Bravo Lake dam levy into a unique and attractive garden which features three themed areas – agricultural science, ornamental home garden and habitat conservation.

University of California Extensive Services advisor Manuel Jimenez, who along with his wife, Olga, and dozens of other volunteers of Woodlake Pride, Inc., have spent thousands of hours on what has become a showcase as well as an educational area. The project has gained regional and statewide recognition and been featured in numerous publications.

Jimenez agrees that creating a state park at the site would be an excellent idea, but agrees with Lewis that the prospects are extremely remote. Additional land would be needed along with other additions. Lewis believes neighboring property owners would at least be interested in selling land and the Woodlake community would be receptive to the idea. The economic boost of having a state park would be tremendous, of course, not only for Woodlake, but the entire area, Lewis explained, stressing the idea really “is just a pipe dream.” Given the state's increasing financial woes, state park expansion certainly is a non-priority issue. But, he reasoned, it just makes sense for state park officials to consider a site where its development would be welcomed and the main infrastructure already is in place.

While it is extremely unlikely that a state park is in Woodlake's future, Jimenez says provisions of state Proposition 84 contains $5.38 billion spread over eight project areas, including $500 million for parks and natural education facilities, $580 million for urban water and energy conservation projects, and $90 million for local land use projects. Jimenez says those potential funding sources are being studied.

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