City Seeking Funds to Keep Unit Operational
By Rick Elkins
Visalia - When Visalia Fire Chief Mark Nelson was asked to cut more than $700,000 from his budget last year, one thing he looked at was the city's hazmat team – a team that can and has responded to all areas in the county and even Kings County.
The service, which when needed is vital, but has not been called out that often, cost the city about $120,000 a year to maintain. Nelson's approach to save the unit was to ask those who do get coverage – the county and the seven other cities in the county, to pay a share – based on population – to keep the unit running.
That plan worked for the second half of the current fiscal year, but now the county has balked at a long-term agreement, instead opting to approach hazmat coverage on a regional basis. That decision has placed the future of the city's – and the county's only hazmat unit – in doubt.
“It's insane, absolutely insane,” to let this service go, said Nelson. He estimates it would cost up to $1 million to recreate the unit if it is disbanded.
County Chief Administrative Officer Jean Rousseau said there is more to the issue than just the county's unwillingness to pay.
He said there was a gentleman's agreement for the 15 years of the hazmat unit that the city of Visalia would provide that service, with other fire agencies providing other services, such as the city of Tulare Fire Department providing confined rescue service. He also said he has an issue with what the VFD charges when the unit is called out, how few times it is utilized and the fact no one has polled the industrial community as to its willingness to possibly pay for the hazmat unit. He also said he was told that at least three cities did not want to participate in paying for the unit.
“Hazmat is not always needed. There is definitely some level of a philisophical disagreement,” said Rousseau, stressing the county did not want to commit to something if not all the cities were on board.
The county has told the city that it is looking into contracting with the city of Fresno for its north end hazmat coverage and either with Kern County or the city of Bakersfield for the south end coverage. It will contract on a per incident fee basis. He said that was the recommendation of both County Fire Steve Sunderland and County Health Services Director Ray Bullick
“It would be nice to do it locally, it's unfortunate that there's been a gentleman's agreement and now new players want to change it,” said Rousseau.
The issue, some pointed out at the Council of Cities meeting last week, is another example of the cities and county not coming to an agreement. The Council is made up of the eight incorporated cities in the county.
“It is irresponsible of the county,” commented Visalia Councilman Mike Lane.
Tulare Councilman Phil Vandegrift stated firmly, “The county's not going to participate. They're pulling out of everything we (cities) participate in.”
Nelson said that over the 15 years of the unit, it has responded to an average of five calls a year – 3.5 of those in the city of Visalia. However, he points out the threats are out there and the unit is now trained to respond to terrorists acts as well. Of the last three calls, one was at the County Board of Supervisors chambers when the cooling system had a Freon leak and forced the evacuation of the chambers during a supervisors' meeting. Rousseau said the county got a bill for more than $3,000 from the city. The most recent call was last Wednesday.
With the number of cold storage facilities, creameries, ethanol plants, Highway 99 and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, there are plenty of chances for a hazmat incident, points out Nelson.
Also, he said it is the county that has the main responsibility of providing hazmat coverage.
One proposal to cover the $120,000 Visalia says it needs to maintain the unit annually is to increase the yearly fees businesses that have materials that can cause a hazmat incident pay, but Rousseau said he is very hesitant to raise any fees in this economy without buy in from those businesses. He said he asked for those businesses to be surveyed, but the committee that Nelson headed up to study the issue failed to do that. Nelson said the county never allowed the issue to get as far as polling the industrial community, that Rousseau told him at their first meeting that the county was simply not interested in discussing the matter any further.
“If we're all in it together and the business community is willing, then we'll look at it again,” said the county executive.
What It Would Cost
Companies pay between $175 to $415 a year per permit into the Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA) fund. Rousseau said companies and entities like cities or a hospital may have more than one permit. Kaweah Delta Hospital, for example he said, has three permits.
Nelson said the fees would rise $25 for those with the least risk, $50 for those with moderate risk and $100 for those with a significant risk. On average, the increase is less than 25 percent per permit.
Of those, more than two-thirds of the permits would fall in the $25 or $50 increase, with about 500 raising by $100. Nelson, citing county figures, said there are approximately 3,000 businesses in the CUPA program, but Rousseau said there were 1,968.
Another idea was for each city to pay a portion of the $120,000 annual cost. Based on population, the fees would range between $39,446 a year for the county, $33,615 for Visalia, to $15,903 for Tulare and $2,899 for Exeter.
Up to the Council
The issue will be presented to the Visalia City Council Monday and Nelson said there a couple of ways the city could go.
1 – Get out of the hazmat business, basically disbanding the 20-person unit. However, regular firefighters make up the unit and no personnel would be laid off.
2 – Keep the unit and fund it through a local ordinance charging businesses that have hazardous materials and then enter into new agreements with those that want to pay an annual fee. Those cities could in turn impose their own fees on businesses in their cities.
However, continuing to negotiate with the county is not one of the options.
“We're not pursuing an agreement with the county. We're moving forward,” said Nelson.
Hazmat Team
The team can respond to any number of incidents, including chemical spills, gas leaks, terrorist acts, pesticide spills and ammonia leaks. The team is trained in industrial, agricultural and transportation incidents.
The unit includes several specialized pieces of equipment, including that to contain a spill, gain access to a spill or leak, and all the necessary safety equipment including entry suits for the firefighters. Much of the equipment has been purchased with grant money over the years.
One of the significant costs to maintain the unit is training. Nelson said the team members have to have a minimum of 240 hours of training in hazmat emergency mitigation, then annual training, about 25 hours a year.
Visalia - Every time the sun shines graduates of St. Paul's School's eight grade class this year can smile knowing that sun makes their gift to the school all the more valuable.
Students at the pre-school through eighth grade school off of West Goshen Avenue have given the school a 4.2 kilowatt solar power system. Principal Cathy Guadagni says they have estimated the system will generate about a fourth of the school's electricity needs.
Moore Electric installed the system that includes 24 solar panels that have been placed on top of the school's Academic Center that houses the library and classrooms. The building was perfect in that it is the newest building on the campus and its pitched roof has a south facing side – needed for a solar system said Bill Moore, who was installing it last week.
He explained the power comes into an inverter as DC power, is then converted into AC power and enters the school's electrical system. When the power generated is more than the school uses – such as on a weekend – the electricity is sent into the grid and helps power surrounding neighborhoods. That's when the school's electrical meter could actually turn backwards.
“What a system like this does is it knocks the over base charge off,” explained Moore, adding that can lead to significant savings.
Moore has installed several systems recently as more and more people are turning to solar and taking advantage of both federal and state rebates. Because the school is a non-profit, it will only be able to collect on one of those rebates.
The system at St. Paul's is not the largest Moore has installed. He said he did a 6 kilowatt system recently for a home, and that probably won't even meet all the needs of that house, he said. The St. Paul's system, like most, is guaranteed to produce the 4.2 kilowatts of electricity per hour for 25 years.
Guadagni said every graduating class has given a gift to the school and they vary from year to year. This year's $28,000 solar system is not the most expensive. One class donated an outdoor amphitheater at a cost of $60,000.
Still, this gift is significant, said the principal, for more than just the cost. She said it sets a good example with the students to do their part to help the environment.
“To me, that's the most important thing, to be a good example,” she said.
The outgoing class selects its project at the end of its seventh grade year or at the beginning of its final year. Scores of fundraisers – big and small – are held. “This year we had a lot of parent donations because they liked the idea of solar,” said Guadagni. Also, she added, “We have a lot of dedicated parents.”
She said the neat thing about the system is it can be added on to with more solar panels. The goal, she added, would be to someday power the whole school by solar. Also, she said they believe St. Paul's may be the first school in the county with a solar system.
A plaque will be placed near the project, which is not visible anywhere on campus, signifying the gift from the class of 2010, but the big, bright ball in the sky every day will also serve as a constant reminder of the gift that will keep on giving for years to come.
By Miles Shuper
Visalia - There is significantly strong renewed optimism that Mearle's Drive-In isn't dead yet.
But just how realistic the hopes of those who want to see the iconic, almost 70-year-old architecturally unique restaurant, come back to life remains unanswered.
Several new proposals to resurrect one of the Valley's most famed landmarks have surfaced in recent weeks.
At least two parties, one of them local, are interested in at least a long-term lease for the Mooney Boulevard property with plans to either remodel or rebuild the famed drive-in which has been closed for several years and fallen victim to vandals and time.
In addition, the Friends of Mearle's have joined with Visalia Heritage, Inc. a 30-year-old non-profit organization which has been at the forefront of the fight to save the legendary eatery.
Susan Mangini, one of the founders of Save Mearle's group, said she and others are “very optimistic” that eventually the famed building will rise again. Although she declined to outline details of what is happening, Mangini said there is a groundswell of renewed optimism based on recent developments.
Last week, a man who said he is a former Visalian who lives and owns businesses on the Central Coast, contacted the Voice inquiring about how to contact the property owner, the Karazians of Fresno, about the property. The caller, who identified himself as Brian Carr, was unable to read the number on the for lease sign attached to the art deco era tower which includes its famed neon “Mearle's” on the front of the decaying building. Carr said he owns property near Mearle's and has resources and investors eager to gain a long-term lease to repair or rebuild.
The Karazian family, which paid $700,000 at auction for the property, say they have been able to find a leasee in the current sour economic times but still want to see Mearle's restored or rebuilt or become home for some type of restaurant.
The auction followed a legal fight between co-owners unable to settle on the property's future.
At that auction a local group of investors, comprised mainly of those who formed the Friends of Mearle's, were outbid by the Kazarians.
The former drive-in was closed in August, 2006 when the operators went bankrupt. Time, weather, vandals and neglect took their toll and earlier this year the site was declared a public nuisance after a severe graffiti attack. City officials sent the graffiti removal team to clean up the mess only days before the owners faced stiff financial fines which could have reached $500 per day.
That vandalism apparently rekindled interest in saving Mearle's, sparking the bonding of the Friends of Mearle's and Visalia Heritage, Inc. The historic preservation group previously was able to have the site designated for historic status essentially halting any demolition without approval.
Historian Terry Ommen wrote in a recent letter to fellow Friends of Mearle's members, that 'a lot is happening with the Mearle's effort.”
“We are working with a commercial real estate professional, maintaining a dialog with the Mearle's' property owner, talking with local successful restaurant operators and we successfully secured some of the Mearle's' fixtures what were sold at a recent auction…”
Team In Baker-Vegas Relay
By Miles Shuper
Tulare County - It will probably take about 20 hours, more or less, for the Tulare County Sheriff's Office Baker to Vegas relay team to cover the 120-mile stretch across the Mojave Desert this weekend.
But they won't be lonely because they will be among more than 5,000 law officers running the relay with hundreds of others supporting them in the annual two-day event. It's officially called the Challenge Cup and has a long tradition.
It's more than just a challenge, it's a great way to demonstrate fitness and endurance and team work, factors engrained in the law enforcement family.
It's not a race for
money, commercial endorsements or major stardom. It's pride,
fellowship and a challenge of endurance and team work and
certainly a fun time.
But for TCSO Deputy Sean Taylor, it's one more indication
that almost nothing is impossible if you want it and are
willing to work for it.
This is his third Baker to Vegas relay. Not bad for a guy who was diagnosed nearly 20 years ago with a serious hip disease which doctors said would keep him from stressful athletic competition.
He's been running for a number of years now including competition in cross country and track at Mt. Whitney a decade ago.
At age 8, Taylor was diagnosed with Legg-Perthes, a deterioration of the ball on top of the femur which connects to the hip. Corrective surgery and a fierce competitive spirit proved the doctors wrong. Taylor comes from a running family which, he says, simply made his efforts to overcome pain and hard work something he embraced. No was not an option, as far as being able to compete in running events.
Running is part of his lifestyle, lacing up his running shoes several times a week, racking up at least 25 to 30 miles each week, often much more when training for a specific event, like the Baker to Vegas relay and the upcoming Police and Fire Games later this year in Reno, Nev.
His running companion, Deputy Gracie Johnson, a 20-year TCSO veteran and the TCSO training coordinator, train together in and around Visalia and sometimes over area foothills.
They and 18 other TSCO officers will start their 20-leg relay from just outside Baker shortly after 9 a.m. and will seek to finish the 120-mile relay in the neighborhood of 20 hours. The 20-legs of the race are of various distances, allowing runners of various skills and endurance to compete.
The Tulare County team has fared pretty well over the years, once coming in under 20 hours, according to Johnson, who notes that for the size of their department that is good. Many large law enforcement agencies have extremely competitive teams, she said, but the event is more about unity, friendships and a healthy competition which law officers anticipate each year. This year there will be 256 teams participating.
Rank plays no part in the relay team, Johnson said. Over the years, Sheriff Bill Wittman and other top ranking officers have run the relay. This year, Under Sheriff Dahl Cleek is an alternate and other supervising officers are part of the event.
For Deputy Sean Taylor, racing across the Mojave with 19 other companion officers is not what the doctors once ordered. That's far behind him now.
By Rick Elkins
Tulare County - Tulare County District Attorney Phil Cline, a Vietnam veteran, has seen too often a local veteran run afoul of the law. Often, he felt, the deep cause of the veteran's run in with the law was they were having trouble coping with society after serving in combat.
From that comes Veterans Court, patterned similar to drug court that has helped hundreds escape the bondage of drugs and alcohol. Veterans Court is to help those service members who are held bondage to post traumatic stress disorder.
“The problem for many of our Veterans is that for them, the war continues to go on in their minds,” wrote Tulare County Superior Court Judge Darryl Ferguson, who now oversees Veterans Court.
“They have seen things and done things we just can't fathom. The things they've seen and done have made an impression so deep that they will never be able to go back to the way they were,” the 17-year bench veteran wrote.
Now, they have a chance.
Cline said he began to think of a way to help veterans several months ago and as he and his staff looked into it, they found two counties had already begun similar Veterans Courts. Cline said they stole some ideas from those, incorporated some of their own, and the court began with two cases on March 15. Today, there are about a half a dozen veterans in the program.
Cline and Ferguson agreed that the court is especially needed in Tulare County, a county with more than its share of veterans. There are hundreds of local men and women who have served in the two Gulf wars and Afghanistan.
Cline said the symptoms of serving in combat are all too common.
“A classic case is a young man who has never been in trouble. He serves in a couple of combat theaters and all of a sudden these problems pop up,” he said.
He said one case could quality a person for the program and even those who commit a violent offense may be admitted if it is determined that post traumatic stress led to the violent act.
“One characteristic of these defendants is they come from violence and violence is a way of life for them,” said Ferguson.
Dr. Allen Middleton, a licensed clinical psychologist who has run the Veterans Counseling Clinic in Visalia for 25 years and who is working with the Veterans Court, said the program is needed.
“It's a way to divert veterans who have had post traumatic stress disorder into treatment programs rather than send then to jail or prison,” he said.
Ferguson noted that it is estimated that 20 percent of veterans today who have seen combat, suffer post-traumatic stress disorder and about 10 percent suffer some level of brain injury as a result of a concussion from explosions.
Cline said the court is open to any veteran, but they will take each on a case-by-case basis. The first step is for the veteran to recognize they need help, the second is to plead guilty to the charge before them. Their case is reviewed by the Veterans Advisory Group, but it is up to the judge if they will get to participate.
It is an18-month program that includes counseling, regular court appearances, peer group discussions and treatment. Often, noted Cline and Middleton, drugs and alcohol are part of the problem and they are given help to overcome that as well.
Ferguson said one key component of the program is the buy-in by local law enforcement, which has been supportive of the program from the start.
Middleton said it will not be difficult to track their progress, saying the vets are monitored all the way along. “It's not going to be difficult to know how they are doing,” he said.
Ferguson, who had a son return home with issues after serving in combat, said he was all too willing to participate. “I know these kids have really gone through it and they've really gone through hell.”
Middleton said it does not take a criminal case for a veteran to get help. He said those who are struggling can get help through the Veterans Hospital which has a clinic in Tulare.
SECOND FRONT PAGE
What's New
Spring has sprung, but winter won't let go. Sunday and Monday's storm dropped more than an inch and a half of rain on Visalia and more than a foot of snow in the mountains. At Farewll Gap, 9,500-feet above Visalia, snowfall Sunday and Monday left 17 inches with a total on the ground of 114.7 inches as of Tuesday. At Quaking Aspen, 7,200 feet above Porterville, there was 16 inches of new snow.
Plenty to choose from. The Kaweah Health Care District board of directors has its work cut out in trying to find a successor to Margaret Foley. The longtime board member retired from the district board last month and now the board will have to select from a list of eight highly qualified candidates. Those who will be considered are Greg Collins, Clyde Gillespie, Mark Hettinger, Noreen Kushnir, Raymond Macareno, Lynn Havard Mirviss, Richard Strid and Bill Witlatch. The board will make its selection on April 29. The person selected will have to run for the seat in November if they want to continue in the position.
Visalia/Porterville metropolitan area lost 22 percent of its construction jobs in the past 12 months, one of the hardest hit areas in the state, the Associated General Contractors of America reported. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Visalia area saw a drop of 1,100 construction jobs in the past year – from 4,900 to 3,800. Hanford saw a 19 percent drop and Bakersfield saw a 21 percent drop.
Staying put. For now, the Visalia City Council will continue to hold most of its meetings in the council chambers in City Hall West, it decided Monday night. The council has considered holding all of its meetings at the Visalia Convention Center and will still study that issue as well as what it will cost to improve the council chambers.
Visalia Unified School District will honor several staff members as part of the Tulare County Excellence in Education awards later this spring. A special board meeting will be held from 7-8 p.m. on Tuesday to honor the staff in the VUSD Board Room. To be honored will be: VUSD Classified Employee of the Year Joe Torres - Campus Supervisor for Valley Oak Middle School; VUSD Teacher of the Year Mrs. Liz Serrato – 8th grade English Teacher at La Joya Middle School and VUSD Administrator of the Year: Mr. Myron Sheklian – K-6 Area Administrator.
A $3 million loan for the development of the already completed Rite Aid store in Dinuba was among four California projects receiving federal loan assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the American Recovery and Federal Reinvestment Recovery Act. The guarantee was for Alta and Saginaw Associates, LLC for a $3.055 million loan through Suncrest Bank. The loan guarantees announced by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack totaled $101.6 million supporting 44 projects in 24 states.
Kings County has received $500,000 to widen 11th Avenue between Hume Avenue to Houston Avenue. The roadway will be widened from two to four lanes and curb, gutter, sidewalk, landscaped medians and street lights will be installed. In Visalia, $310,000 has been awarded for improvements at the Route 63/198 separation.
The Visalia PTA Council will honor outgoing district Superintendent Stan Carrizosa by inducting him into the PTA Hall of Fame on April 26.
A War of Words has developed between Rep. Jim Costa (D-Fresno) and Bay Area Congressman George Miller (D-Richmond) over water allocations after Miller was quoted as saying he will push for tougher restrictions on water diversions to farms and cities in the San Joaquin Valley. “We have stood up to the bully tactics of extreme environmentalists whose agenda ignores our families and our futures. We've made progress. More water will flow to our Valley and George Miller doesn't like it," Costa said. “Here's my message to Congressman Miller: We will not back down – not in the Valley and not in Congress.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed
Robert S. Burns to the Kings County Superior Court.
Burns, 47, of Hanford, has served the Kings County District
Attorney's Office as chief trial attorney since 2006.
Five people have been qualified for the vacant Ward 2 seat on the College of the Sequoias' Board of Trustees. They are Sesar Carreno, Kenneth Nunes, Marlene Sario, Leonel Leal and Barbara Waldron applied for the opportunity to replace Sue Shannon, a Tulare native who resigned her position at the end of March after serving 11-plus years. The board will interview applicants April 26 with a scheduled appointment date of no later than May 10. Ward 2 encompasses an eastern portion of Tulare, a small portion of Visalia and Exeter, and Ward 2 extends northeast into Three Rivers.
Pedro “Pete” Martinez resigned his post on the Porterville City Council last week, citing family reasons.
Kristin Hollabaugh has been named the new provost of College of the Sequoias' Hanford College Center. Hollabaugh has served as executive director of the COS Foundation since 1996. A Hanford native, Hollabaugh was a COS instructor before taking on her role as foundation director. The new COS Hanford College Center on 13th Avenue will open with a police academy cycle in August and the start of the fall semester Aug. 16.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has filed an administrative action against Salyer American Fresh Foods Inc., operating in Monterey. The action alleges that the company committed willful, repeated, and flagrant violations of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA).
First of Many Local Events is Saturday
Visalia - One of the strongest and most talented fields ever assembled for a U.S. cycling race has been invited to the upcoming 2010 Amgen Tour of California that for the second year will make its way through Visalia and Tulare County.
The city of Visalia will serve as the start for Stage 5 on Thursday, May 20. The pace laps will begin at Main and Garden in downtown Visalia at 10:45 a.m., with the actual start of the race about 15 minutes later at Walnut and Lovers Lane at 10:56. Stage 5 ends in Bakersfield after winding through eastern Tulare County.
The 16-team field will be comprised of a collection of the world's best international professional cycling teams, along with a selection of top North American-based teams.
The teams will be led by prominent UCI ProTour and Pro Continental teams, such as the three-time defending champion Levi Leipheimer and seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong's team RadioShack and 2009's No. 1-ranked Team HTC-Columbia, featuring Mark Cavendish.
Local Events
Several events will be held in the county leading up to the race on May 20.
On Saturday, the Tour of the Sierra Foothills will be held in conjunction with the Orange Blossom Festival in Lindsay. The race will start at 8 a.m. at McDermont Field House (Registration opens at 7 a.m.)
The entry fee is $40 and all proceeds benefit the children of Lindsay and Strathmore through the Lindsay Kiwanis. For information, call Bill Zigler at 333-4080.
Also on Saturday, the Mayor's Bicycle Race will be held at 9 a.m. at the intersection of Honolulu and Elmwood. Mayors and city councils from all eight incorporated cities in the county have been invited to participate.
The official Stage 5 Pre Ride will be held on Saturday, May 1. Riders can pre-register by April 29 at www.socalreg.com/atoc.
Hosted by the Bakersfield Sports Foundation, the race will start at Annie R Mitchell Elementary in Visalia and end in Bakersfield. Cost is $100 and that includes the ride, official t-shirt and post ride BBQ. For more information: 661-301-8489.
There will be a Bicycle Art Exhibit-Public Reception on Friday, May 7, at two locations: 210 at 210 W. Center and Cafe 225 at 225 W. Main. Meet the artists and enjoy hors d'oeuvres at both. There will also be live music and art and craft sale at 210. The event runs from 5-7 p.m.
At noon on Saturday, May 8, there will be a Bicycle Rodeo at the corner of Mineral King Blvd. and Conyer St. The event is hosted by the Jeff Barnes Brain Injury Foundation and the Visalia Police Department Traffic Division and is open to all youth ages 13 and under. Participants must bring their own bicycle which will be checked by the Visalia PD. Helmets will be checked, fitted and replaced, if necessary. For information: 679-3702.
The official Amgen Tour of California Fundraiser Dinner will be held on Monday, May 10 at the Rawhide Baseball Stadium Hall of Fame Clubhouse. Dinner tickets are available for $50. For information, contact the Visalia Chamber at 734-5876.
The Hungry Buzzard Century will be held
beginning at 7 a.m. on Saturday, May 15, at Cutler Park
(east of Visalia). It will be hosted by the Sequoia Visalia
Kiwanis and the Southern Sierra Cyclists. Riders can participate
in a 40 mile ride, metric century or Century Ride. For
information, call Bill Zigler at 333-4080. To register
visit www.sscbike.org/events.
There will also be a Live Strong Alley/Visalia Blood Bank
from Monday thru Wednesday, May 17-19, at the Visalia
blood bank. For information, call Leslie Caviglia at 713-4317.
Bike Night at 210 will be held 6-9 p.m. on Wednesday, May 19 at the 210, 210 W. Center in Visalia. The event is open to the public and will include local bike racers, reception, food, live music and hors d'oeuvres
Demolition of Downtown Block Set to Begin
Visalia - A block of Downtown Visalia that has definitely seen better days in the past will soon have better days in the future.
Officials with the Mangano Co. and the city will be joined by civic leaders at 11 a.m. on Wednesday for a ceremonial demolition event.
The block on East Main Street between Santa Fe and Bridge streets that has served as stores, storage, and a hotel for more than 30 years, will soon come down to make ways for Mangano Co.'s Main Street Promenade, a project that will change the face of east downtown Visalia.
The ceremonial demolition/ribbon-cutting event will take place at the corner of Main and Bridge streets.
Main Street Promenade, LLC, is a collaboration of several local builder/developers, including brothers Craig and Andy Mangano, Bob Dowds and Stephen Peck. The Mangano Co. Inc. is a family business that has been developing retail, commercial and residential projects throughout California for the past 40 years.
The existing buildings are of various vintages and have been used for storage and general merchandise sales over the last 20 to 30 years. The last known occupancy of the ground floor of the hotel structure was a liquor store, which was gutted by fire in the 1990s. The last known occupancy of the second floor of the hotel was in the late 1960s, more than 40 years ago.
Peck said they have been salvaging as much as possible out of the building and that the bricks will be salvage during demolition. He said much of the large wood beams have been salvaged, as well as the old skylights.
“That's what we've been doing for the past several months,” said Peck of efforts to use as much of the old materials as possible. Some of the wood in the building, especially the old stairwell, is vintage.
He said demolition will take about 30 days and should not disrupt vehicle traffic, but might affect the sidewalks in front of the building.
Built in four phases, Main Street Promenade will include 60,000 square feet of mixed-use space including retail, office and restaurants. Already, the project has several tenants committed to leasing space at the Promenade.
“We're working on them,” said Peck. “We've had very strong interest because of the site, location and preference for Downtown,” he said, adding some are existing businesses looking at coming downtown.
“We're hoping to name a few in the next 30 to 60 days,” he added.
“As an owner and builder of this project, we couldn't be happier with the response and interest we've received,” said Craig Mangano, president of The Mangano Company.
The project will be an extension of the downtown fabric with typical downtown Main Street pedestrian features such as mid-block pedestrian crossing, corner bulbouts, and outdoor dining and seating.
The ground floor is expected to be a mix of retail and office space ranging in suite sizes from approximately 900 square feet to over 5,000 square feet. Second and third floors are designed to accommodate similar sized suites. Other amenities include reserved on- and off-site parking lots.
Another aspect of the project is the city will extend the one-way eastbound traffic all the way to Santa Fe. That is expected to be completed early this summer.
Tulare County - Brandon Zelaski knew he needed help to get away from a life of drugs and alcohol, but he didn't know where to turn.
That is until he met Father Jim Rouse and his St. Jude's Ministry.
St. Jude's is an outreach ministry designed to help people like Zelaski, who today has a job, a car and is free from drugs and alcohol.
According to a pamphlet, it is a ministry without walls and uses the Bible to help people help themselves.
“It is an outreach ministry that helps people in many ways,” said Rouse.
While it is non-denominational, it has the support of many churches in Visalia and Tulare. In fact, St. Paul's Anglican church has loaned Rouse an office for Visalia services, while his main office is at 246 North M Street in Tulare.
Kevin Rowland, who has a management consultant business in human resources, assist Rouse in connecting those who need help with their employers to they can return to their jobs once they get their life straightened out.
The name comes from St. Jude that is known as the Helper in Desperate Cases. The services offered in pastoral care, biblical counsel, drug and alcohol counseling, family and social model living, biblical 12 steps, court advocate, life work direction, advance directives and clergy support.
Rouse, who is working with several people already, said he gets referrals purely by word of mouth. There are no fees and the ministry is funded by donations, said Rowland.
Rouse was a minister and counselor for Visalia Rescue Mission for eight years. He is affiliated with Convocation of Anglicans of North America.
Not only does he assist individuals, but their family members as well. He says he helps get people back into the workplace.
Zelaski said Rouse and Rowland have turned his life around.
“Father Jim has counseled me and helped me with drug and alcohol addiction and life issues.
“He helped me believe in myself, have better faith and a better relationship with the Lord,” he said.
Rouse said he works strongly with Biblical principles and instills them in those needing help.
“He's been able to pull himself out of the hole he was in,” said Rouse, pointing to Zelaski.
Rouse has been counseling him for eight
months, but said counseling can be for a few as 90 days
or as long as a year.
“There are many success stories like Brandon. This
is real stuff happening right here. It's a gift from God,”
said Rowland.
Rouse hopes to expand the ministry. He is hoping to add a female counselor.
For those needing help, or for those who would like to contribute to the ministry, call Rouse at 759-4636 or Rowland at 805-7168, or they can donated to the non-profit ministry by sending a check to St. Jude's Ministry, P.O. Box 72, Tulare, CA., 93275.
The above stories are the property of The Valley Voice Newspaper and may not be reprinted without explicit permission in writing from the publisher.
April 15, 2010
