Tulare County - Tulare County Sheriff Bill Wittman won a fifth term Tuesday, easily defeating Woodlake Police Chief John Zapalac.
In the race for the two supervisor positions, incumbent Steve Worthley will likely face Brian Rouch in November. The two men were headed to a 1-2 finish in the District 4 race, but since neither got more than 50 percent of the vote, they will now face off in November. As of 10 p.m. and 63 percent of the ballots counted, Worthley had 38 percent of the vote, Rouch 35 percent. Visalian Juan Guerrero had 15 percent of the vote.
In the District 5 race, incumbent Mike Ennis held a narrow lead over Porterville City Councilman Cameron Hamilton. The two waged a strong battle, with Hamilton pushing the eastside railroad issue.
Turnout was light, as expected.
In the race for Tulare County Assessor/Clerk Recorder, assistant assessor Roland Hill and his co-worker, chief auditor/appraiser Ron Medlock, were locked in a tight race, but with 69 percent of the votes counted, Hill held a 51 to 49 percent lead.
The races for supervisor were closely watched. The board has been under fire the past several months, first for how it voted raises for board members, then for expense accounts and possible violations of the Brown Act, the state’s law governing open meetings. The issue of the rail system on the county’s eastside also struck a chord with a lot of people, many opposing using Measure R sales tax funds for the purchase of that system.
Worthley, chairman of
the board, took the most heat, but Ennis was also under
fire.
Not know is if Ruben Macareno has qualified for the race
in the 21st Congressional District. He ran as a write-in
candidate and it will be several days before all those votes
are counted. He needs to get 2,099 votes to qualify to run
on the Democratic ticket in November. He would oppose Devin
Nunes, (R-Tulare) who was unopposed in his nomination bid.
In Porterville, where nine candidates sought two city council seats, incumbent Pete McCracken and Greg Shelton were leading as of 10 p.m., but only 9 percent of the votes had been counted. Incumbent Felipe Martinez was apparently heading to defeat.
Crop Values Plunge 19%
By Rick Elkins
Tulare County - Farmers in Tulare County certainly felt the effects of the economic downtown last year with the value of crops down a whopping 19 percent, the biggest drop in history.
Tulare County Agricultural Commissioner Marilyn Kinoshita reported Tuesday that the 2009 value of ag commodities declined nearly $1 billion from 2008's record year of $5 billion.
Officially, the value of ag commodities in 2009 dipped to $4,046,447,700 – from $5,018,022,800.
Of course, the dip was led by diary that saw its value dropped a huge 32 percent.
Dairymen saw some of the lowest prices in years last year and many dairies are still just hanging on even as prices have rebounded a little bit.
“The big hit we took was with milk,” understated Kinoshita. When Tulare County was once more evenly diverse in its crops, milk is today the dominate crop, representing 30 percent of the total value of ag in Tulare County. So, as milk goes, so goes the rest of the ag economy and in 2009 it was a rough go.
“If you took milk
out of the equation, it would have been a decent year,”
she noted,
However, she added, “Nothing is going to top milk
for a long time.”
Not only did milk suffer, so did many of the dairy support crops such as alfalfa, grain, cattle & calves, corn & silage and Sudan grass. About the only product related to dairy farming that saw its value increase was from the backend output of cows – manure. Total value of all field crops – mostly dairy feed - was off 38 percent.
Olives were hurt last year by a freeze in April, followed by high temperatures. The crop yield was off nearly 70 percent and the value off the same - from $21.3 million in 2008 to $5.7 million last year. That led to a disaster declaration for the county.
Prices Off Worldwide
“It is reflective of the world economy,” agreed Kinoshita who gave her first annual report to the board of supervisors on Tuesday. She was named ag commissioner late last year to replace Gary Kunkel who retired. The price per hundredweight for milk dropped from $16.60 in 2008 to just $11.40 in 2009. Prices were off for Kiwis, lemons, pears, pecans, and most field crops.
A crop that had been on the rise for the past several years – blueberries – was not immune. It lost value for the first time in while as yield and price combined for about a 25 percent drop in value.
“People just aren't buying as much of anything. It stands to reason that ag commodities wouldn't be any different,” she noted, adding she was not surprised by the lower values.
Supervisors' Chairman Steve Worthley said the economy acted like other years when natural disasters like freezes, flooding or extreme heat caused crop damage and lowered the value of crops.
“That 19 percent number is a tremendous drop,” said Patricia Stever, executive director of the Tulare County Farm Bureau.
She said dairymen especially can expect a lot of “volatility” in milk prices, as well as volatility in many ag commodity prices over the next several years.
At a meeting in Tulare last week on a bill in Congress to give some stability to milk prices, Stever said dairymen expressed concerns over the recent highs and lows of milk prices.
Stever also noted that even tough crop values were off, it did not tell the complete story of the struggles many in farming had last year, considered one of the worst years in many years for many in agriculture.
Few Good Numbers
There were some bright spots, Kinoshita noted.
“I was shocked that stone fruit values were up,” she said, explaining there were export challenges that she felt would hurt those crops. However, nectarines nearly doubled in value to $159 million and the value of peaches rose from $72 million to $105 million. Kiwis also showed improvement, rising to a value of $23.5 million in 2009. And, plums gained $17 million in value to $94 million last year.
Another crop that did well in 2009 was pistachios. It moved up to No. 6 on the list of the county's million dollar crops - the highest it has ever been. Pistachios were valued at $118 million last year, an increase of more than 50 percent. Both yield and price were up for the popular nut.
Nut crops in general did well in 2009. Walnuts had a value of $94.2 million, up from $76.6 million in 2008, mainly due to improved prices. Prices for almonds were also up.
Vegetable crops did well also, especially sweet corn that hasn't seen as many acres or as high of value since 1997.
The number of acres planted in sweet corn rose from 160 to 676 acres, the most in more than a decade. The value was $2.6 million, again the most in a decade.
Stever said growing fresh produce, especially for Farmers” Markets and roadside stands, is gaining in popularity.
She also noted that Tulare County absorbed some of the vegetable crops that were not grown on the Valley's Westside because of the lack of water last summer.
Acreage was up for broccoli and cucumbers. Then, there is a long list of other vegetable crops grown in the county, with the total number of acres up about 75 percent.
“Tulare County is not known for its vegetable crops,” said Kinoshita, noting that vegetable crops still account for a small portion of the county's ag industry.
Oranges, still the county's No. 2 crop in terms of value and acres, was down due mainly to lower prices. Navel oranges were off $90 million in value.
A sign of a switch to different varieties of oranges is reflected in an increase in the value of citrus nursery stock. Many growers are moving to a mandarin orange and last year the value of citrus nursery stock doubled to $10 million and the sale of that stock nearly tripled.
Worthley noted the increase in citrus plantings in the Dinuba and Cutler-Orosi areas where citrus is replacing stone fruit because right now citrus is a more stable crop.
2010 Looking Better
Already, 2010 has started out better than 2009. Prices are up for milk, although not to a level that will help dairymen recover quickly.
“This year is looking better,” said Kinoshita. She said the olive crop is looking strong, it will be a good year for almonds and stone fruit is looking good. Overall, prices are up in most commodities.
And, more importantly, the global economy has improved and that is huge. Tulare County crops are exported to more than 70 countries, with Japan, China and Korea the top three importers of Tulare County ag commodities.
She added it will likely be several weeks before other top producing ag counties release their figures, but expects Tulare County to remain at or near the top.
Tulare County - At a recent site plan committee meeting something occurred that city building officials hadn't seen for quite some time – two tentative subdivision maps for review.
“This is real good,” said city of Visalia chief building official Dennis Lehman of the two set of plans before the city. “We haven't seen these for a long time.”
In fact, the only subdivision plans the city has seen in more than a year were actually the same as one of those submitted last month.
Randy Forester resubmitted his plans for Orchard Walk subdivision on Court Street north of Riggin on the city's northern border.
“We just want to get it going and get started,” said Forester of the 104-lot project.
He already has a project going to the west and this one would be a little more upscale, said Tom Hughes of Hughes Homes.
Lehman noted there appears to be some renewed interest in moving forward on subdivisions that had been on the back burner for many months.
One such development is the Diamond Oaks development on East Caldwell. That development had been before the site plan review committee last year and last month the developers were back with a conceptual plan that includes commercial space at Ben Maddox and Caldwell, multi-family, condos and single-family residences. The project calls for 170 lots.
“We're starting to see some housing stuff. Starting to see real big companies come into town,” Lehman said, noting that some of the big companies have been able to purchase unfinished subdivisions at a bargain price.
One of those is D.R. Horton that is doing very well with its Southern Oaks community off of Demaree between Goshen and Houston.
“We're pleased with the response. Compared to what some of our competitors have done, I'm very happy,” said Mary Boudah, sales agent for the national company that purchased the subdivisions from Ennis Homes that is just emerging from bankruptcy.
In just two months they have sold 12 of the 64-lots in the development that is being built in phases. She said the price - $175,000 to $210,000 – and the size of the home – 1,400 to 1,940 square feet – have proven attractive to buyers, especially first time buyers.
The federal and state tax credits have not hurt.
“Oh, you bet,” replied Boudah of how the tax credits have helped. “Some of the lucky ones were able to capture both tax credits,” she said. However, only the state tax credit remains as the federal one ended April 30.
Not all buyers have been first time buyers. She said some are people looking to move up and some are those looking for a smaller home and lot, although the lots are good size, she pointed out.
Permits for new homes were up last month, although only slightly and still are far behind the levels seen three years ago.
Pamela Sing, senior administrative analyst in the city building department, reported 44 new home permits were issued in May, 13 more than April. Of those, D.R. Horton had eight, but Centex homes took out 14 permits. Linnare pulled eight and McMillin seven.
For the year, however, the number of new home permits issued through May is one less than were issued in the first five months of 2009, which has the city on pace to issue about 360 permits this year. That pales in comparison to the boom years when the city would issue 1,065 to 1,520 permits in a single year.
The average cost of the homes dropped slightly – from $205,347 in April to $199,513 – further reflecting a soft market.
That was not true for the sale of existing homes in April. Visalia saw a 14.75 percent increase in the price paid for a home in April over a year ago. A home sold this April at $159,500 compared to $139,000 in April of last year. In Tulare, the price rose 37 percent.
However, compared to March sales, the median price in Visalia dropped by less than 1 percent. In Tulare, the median price paid in March was $10,000 more than the median price paid in April.
Another positive sign is the rate of foreclosure proceedings has dropped as well.
According to RealtyTrac, a company that follows foreclosure trends, the number of foreclosure proceedings in April fell to 322 in Visalia, a decline of 25 percent over March. Foreclosure proceedings were down in most cities in Tulare in April, with the total countywide 774 compared to 1,045 in March.
The same was true for Kings County where the total was 187 proceedings begun in April compared to just 250 in March. The number of foreclosures in Hanford dropped from 153 in March to 113 in April.
Visalia / Tulare - It became apparently clear that the two biggest challenges facing Tulare County's effort to develop of trail between Tulare and Visalia are its compatibility with farming along the route and resistance by some of the landowners to sell their property for the trail.
“The challenge is going to be the impacts to agriculture,” said Stephen Svete with Rincon Consultants, the firm hired to do the environmental documents for the proposed project, after hearing more than an hour of comments regarding the project's environmental assessment.
The Tulare County Association of Governments, which manages Measure R funds – the county sales tax for roads, transit and trails – is proposing linking Tulare and Visalia with a 5.5 mile long trail similar to what Tulare constructed through its city and to what Visalia is planning to construct through its city. Both Tulare's and Visalia's trail will run along the Santa Fe railroad right-of-way in most areas abandoned expect for a portion through and south of Visalia.
The county portion of the trail will run along the old Santa Fe Railroad right-of-way just east of Road 124 for most of the distance from Visalia heading to Tulare, then veers west at about Cartmill Avenue north of Tulare and follows the Tulare Irrigation District ditch to Prosperity Avenue where it will meet up with the Tulare Santa Fe Trail there.
However, Mike Sherrord with RRM Design, the consultant hired by the county on the project, said the route is not set in stone. He said the EIR will determine what is the best route.
During last week's EIR scoping meeting to get input from residents on what concerns should be addressed, Svete and others got plenty of suggestions, concerns and outright vows from some property owners that they don't want the trail.
Most vocal was Ron Machado who has said the trail will take approximately 10 acres of his farm and cut through his residence as well.
“I know a lot of landowners along this path and we don't want it – period.” He pointed out that while the trail follows the old RR right-of-way for about half of the five miles, it cuts through private land the other half, including his property.
Machado and others raised several concerns on what impact the trail would have on their farming operations, and what impacts farming will have on the trail and those using it.
Fred Lagomarsino, who owns a large farming operation along the trail, said, “I find this plan would be very difficult.”
He explained that there are many different crops grown along the proposed route and that farmers would be spraying all the time.
“The trail would have to be closed down for several days, several times,” Lagomarsimo said, adding, “I question the validity of the trail for that.”
County Supervisor Phil Cox explained as the meeting began that the trail is still in the planning stage and nothing is definite.
“Before a project like this can become a project you have to study it,” he said, “and the EIR is part of that study.”
Sherrord said that meetings have been held with all the affected property owners and all but one have been willing to talk about selling, but he noted there is opposition.
During the hour-long meeting last week several other issues besides farming were brought up. One was the safety of the trail crossing several county roads, including Road 256. Another issue was safety concerns where the trail runs along the ditch.
But, it was concerns over farming that dominated the meeting.
“My pesticide guy said that trail won't be open most of the summer,” said Machado regarding the closing of the trail when farmers are applying chemicals. Another issue, is if the trail is closed, where would it be closed, and how would those using it be affected.
A big question was the issue of who is liable if a runner or bicyclist is injured or sickened because of farming operations nearby. Pam Machado said she was concerned with security and the threat to people and property along the route.
Cox said supervisors will have to take a close look at the right-to-farm ordinance and how mitigating measures will affect farmers.
Svete explained that mitigating measures fall on the applicant's shoulders – the county – not the property owners, but they could impact everyone.
“TCAG (Tulare County Association of Governments) would have to finance any mitigation measures,” said Svete.
Visalia - Monday night the Visalia City Council approved a stimulus plan for builders that basically cuts most development fees by 15 percent. The action comes on the heels of the Visalia Unified School District reducing its building impact fees last month by 51 cents a square foot.
Everyone seemed to agree it was not completely what they wanted, but they also agreed it was a good first step toward getting the local building industry moving forward.
The city's action will cut $1,027 from the cost of a home in Visalia and add to that the savings by the school district's action and the cost of a 1,500 square foot home drops about $1,800.
Robert Keenan, president of the Homebuilders Association of Tulare/Kings Counties, said the reduction in fees is welcomed. He said for every $1,000 increase in the price of a home, 133 buyers in Tulare County no longer qualify for a loan. So, a $1,800 drop in price means at least 260 more people qualify for a new home loan than before.
The action is a result of a challenge Mayor Bob Link made in February for the city to come up with a stimulus plan. While it fell short of what some wanted, including a stimulus plan for retailers as well, Link said he was pleased.
“It sends a real positive message. It shows this community is interested in a housing stimulus plan,” he said Monday night.
The plan approved Monday reduces the city's Transportation Impact, Park Acquisition and Waterways Acquisition fees each by 15 percent. It also established a Special Downtown TIF Credit Zone with up to a 25 percent credit, increases the “in-fill” incentive to 25 percent, and amended the gas station fees and put them on a more equitable tiered structure.
Several developers have complained about the fee for new gas stations. Even Chris Young, city Community Development director, admitted the fee structure “didn't make a lot of sense.”
The new fees would reduce the cost for an 18-pump gas station from $405,000 to $265,000.
In praising city staff for its work, Craig Mangano of The Mangano Company, said, “We wanted something more aggressive, but we understand the down economy. It's time to get on board and promote this as a stimulus package.”
Mangano and others said the plan, which applies to commercial and industrial construction as well, will create work and jobs.
Councilman Mike Lane, a strong proponent of a local stimulus plan, said, “It's actually a very impressive proposal. This is the place we need to be.”
He was especially pleased with the in-fill incentive that is designed to have developers look at open space within the city's limits, rather than on the fringe. “These are smart fees for smart growth,” he said.
Councilman Steve Nelsen agreed with Lane that the city needs to look at the fees annually. One stark figure that stood out is that land costs have dropped 65 percent. That allowed for much of the reductions.
The building industry has been hit hard by the economic downturn. New home construction in Visalia is on pace for about 360 new homes this year, way off from the more than 1,000 homes built a year when housing was booming.
Keenan said job losses in the construction industry are about 50 percent since the peak period.
SECOND FRONT PAGE
What's New
The Dinuba Sentinel, one of the last family-owned newspapers in California, has been sold to Mid-Valley Publishing, owner of the Reedley Exponent, Sanger Herald and three other small weeklies. The Sentinel was sold by owners Bob and Diane Raison. The weekly Dinuba paper had been owned by the Raison family since 1997, but before that by the Locke family, including Diane Raison's parents. At one time the paper, owned by the Lock-Raison families since 1914, was a daily edition through World War II, then it was twice a week for many years before becoming weekly.
Going, going ….The warmer temperatures have definitely accelerated the melting of the snowpack in the mountains. Farewll Gap (9,500-ft. above Visalia), which at one time had more than 10 feet of snow, is now down to just over 3 feet and it's going fast. At Quaking Aspen (7,000 ft. above Porterville) the snow is gone. That melting of the snowpack has filled the two local reservoirs. Kaweah Lake was up to 172,000 acre feet even as the release out of the dam has been increased greatly. Success Lake is just over 40,000 acre and holding.
Tami Crawford has been named Executive Director for Valley Oak SPCA. Crawford has 28 years of experience in advertising and marketing and 25 years of experience managing, organizing, leading and training work teams. She has been a Valley Oak volunteer for five years.
No, Jimmy Hoffa was not found buried under the old city block on East Main Street where the Mangano Company is clearing the land for a new development. Steve Peck said while Hoffa was not found, workers did discover the basement to the original hotel under what was the vacant lot on the property between Bridge and Santa Fe. “We didn't know that was there,” said Peck, who added several old bottles and a few other items have been discovered, but nothing of significance.
Plans are moving forward for the new Taco Bell restaurant on North Dinuba Blvd. The company submitted preliminary plans to the city's Site Plan Review Committee last week.
Business owners will be required to remove graffiti within three days of being notified by the city under a new ordinance introduced Monday night at the Visalia City Council meeting. If not, a lien could be placed on the property.
Visalia - Within the next couple of weeks Tulare County will have only the second Latino Rotary Club in the Central Valley.
A group of Latino leaders have been busy the past eight months organizing the club that will meet Wednesday evenings at 6 at the Sports Zone in Visalia. It will be the fifth Rotary Club in Visalia, but this club is for anyone in the county.
“It is called the Latino Rotary of Tulare County,” said Louis Montion, one of the organizers and the club's first president. He said they hope to be chartered in the next couple of weeks. The club is being sponsored by the County Center Rotary Club in Visalia.
Montion, and club secretary Esther Petlachi point out the club is geared toward Latinos, but definitely not exclusive. They encourage anyone to join them.
Already, the club has 27 members, almost as large as the Latino Rotary Club in Fresno, the only other one in the Central Valley.
“We started slowly six weeks ago. We were having six or seven people show up, but we've been getting over 20 the last two meetings,” said Montion, now retired.
Montion said the idea was brought up by Mike Fierro and Dr. Robert Aguilar of the Hispanic Roundtable.
“I jumped at it,” said Montion, who has been a Rotarian before. “I thought it was a fantastic idea.”
He said the club has two major goals. First, it is to bring young Hispanic people into leadership roles and “pair them with those who have been leaders in the past.”
Second, is to get those in the club out in the community doing good deeds, something Rotary is known for.
Rotary is an international club with 32,000 clubs and over 1.2 million members worldwide. It is a club devoted to service in many ways - from offering local scholarships and supporting local causes, to wiping out polio around the world. The stated purpose of Rotary is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.
“We definitely have a balanced group,” said Petlachi, noting it is about 50-50 in terms of gender and age. And, as one of the younger members, she is anxious about the club.
“I definitely take pride in this being my first,” she said of the club.
“I love the idea of Rotary. I feel extremely comfortable. I love service and I do think there's a lot of needs in the Hispanic community,” said Montion, who was one of the founding members of the Tulare-Kings Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Besides Montion and Petlachi, other officers are Gerald Caldron as vice president; Cecilia Maldonado as treasurer; Louie Luna as historian; Leonard Valesquez as sergeant at arms and Raymond Macareno in charge of publicity.
Montion said the next step is to adopt the club's constitution, then hold its charter night.
Montion does not see a shortage of candidates for the club.
“I really feel we're on the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “All of sudden, we'll have quite a group,” added Petlachi.
For more about the club, people are encouraged to attend their meetings on Wednesday evenings, or call Petlachi at 619-400-7555 or Macareno at 734-6020.
Ivanhoe - With a $200,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development grant in hand and more than $110,000 already donated toward an additional $250,000 community fund drive, the Boys and Girls Club in Ivanhoe could be in it’s new and greatly expanded headquarters by January.
Friday, Tulare County officials along with officials of the Boys ad Girls Club of Tulare County, who have partnered to repair and renovated the community’s only youth center, held a ceremony marking receipt of the $200,000 in the American Recovery and Investment Act (ARRA) stimulus funds.
Earlier this year, county supervisors authorized the purchase of the former church building at 15892 Azalea Avenue for $117,000 using most of a $125,000. At that time, county and club officials announced that application had been made for the $250,000 in federal funding to update and renovated the 5,000 sq. ft building. Plans call for the construction of a game room, classroom, computer learning center, art room, Kids Café and kitchen. A new hearting and air conditioning unit will be installed along with insulation and structural improvements.
Steve Worthley, chairman of the board, said the center will have a significant impact on the community. “This funding will serve as a tremendous benefit to the community of Ivanhoe. Tulare County will continue to strive to provide positive activities for our youth.”
Galen Quenzer, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Tulare County, said, “This is such an exciting project; not only because it will provide a beautiful new building for Ivanhoe's youth, but because the entire community - the county, the surrounding farmers, those who used to live in Ivanhoe and those who now live and work in the town - are 100 percent behind this clubhouse," Quenzer said. "We received overwhelming support for what we are working to accomplish. This is not just a Tulare County or Boys & Girls Club project, this is true community collaboration."
Quenzer cited the continuing efforts spearheaded by area farm family member Chris Ritchie and former Kaweah Delta Hospital administrator Tom Johnson in bringing the project to its current level. Quenzer also said the construction project will be overseen by Basil Perch of BJ Perch Construction and that Ray Schlick, a long-time Visalia area architect, is providing design and other architectural services.
Brian Summers, director of Tulare County Capital Improvements, said a firm will be hired to remove asbestos or other potential toxic materials form the building. The county is paying for that work, which is expected to cost between $15,000 and $20,000, Summers said. He is hopeful that project can be competed in three to four weeks after a contract is awarded.
After the asbestos project is finished, Summers said, interior demolition can begin. That work, he said, will be provided with county inmates working through an inmate job training program.
Summers, who said the entire project, including the purchase of the building, the obtaining of the grant funds, the concerted and continuing fund raising and donation of time and labor “have just been amazing,”
Summers said unless there are unforeseen delays, the January or early 2011 opening of the center seems to be realistic.
Visalia - Not even open, the four new youth baseball fields at Riverway Sports Park already have had a huge impact on the city.
Friday morning, and again Saturday evening, officials gathered to open Phase II of the large sports complex off of North Dinuba Boulevard, but it was Friday's announcement that drew the most excitement.
“For years and years our league has sent teams out in regional playoffs and we always said, 'We wish we had a park like this,'” said Bob Pierce, a member of the board for Visalia Youth Baseball. “You are standing in the middle of a vision the city had and it's become a reality,” he said Friday standing between the four new ball fields.
Pierce made his remarks before Michael Caudillo, Central California Cal Ripken Baseball State commissioner, announced that Visalia would host the 2011 12 & Under National Tournament.
Telling of watching a Visalia team compete in a Cal Ripken tournament on national television, Mayor Bob Link said he remembered thinking, “This is the type of thing we want here in Visalia. This facility makes that possible.”
The tournament will be held August 11-20 and will bring nine teams to Visalia. In all, 10 teams will complete including a host team of Visalia players. There will be eight teams from out of state and the California state champions will compete as well.
Link and others noted the economic boom the tournament will mean, bringing approximately 135 players, their parents and fans to the city for 10 days.
In making the announcement, Babe Ruth League Vice President/Commissioner Robert Faherty said, “We are honored to be going to Visalia with our 2011 Cal Ripken Major/60 World Series. I was not only impressed with their community, but was also amazed by their commitment to youth.”
He noted that the League looks at many factors in selecting a site to host the national tournament, and Visalia stood out.
“We also look for areas that in addition to offering a competitive athletic experience, can also offer a diverse cultural and education experience. Visalia has all of these elements and more,” he noted.
City officials have said the success in the city hosting the Amgen Tour of California would lead to more such events, and while that was not mentioned, it is obvious that the city's ability to host such events is a plus.
Like Amgen, Visalia will have to come up with money to bring the tournament here. Pierce told the Visalia City Council Monday night that approximately $90,000 will need to be raised to cover expenses, but that the return will be about $1.5 million spent in the city during the 10 days of the tournament.
Caudillo said the Major/60 series is for youth who play on fields where the bases are 60 feet apart. There is a Major/70 series where the level of play is slightly higher, but that is played at the same site every year. Cal Ripken does move around its 10-year-old tournament and Robert Fletcher, president of Visalia Youth Baseball, said they would strongly consider putting in a bid for that tournament in the future.
Beautiful Fields
The latest phase of the sports complex includes more than four baseball fields. That phase also included a concession stand and storage facility, added lights to the BMX track and added lights to two more of the soccer fields – giving the park 10 lighted soccer fields. The city also added more than 350 parking spaces.
City Parks and Recreation Director Vince Elizondo said the second phase cost $4 million to complete, about $1 million under the estimate. He was especially pleased with the extra lighting.
“There is a half a million dollars in improvements to lighting,” he said.
He and others noted that more than 1,500 boys will be playing on the fields this summer. The first games were held on Saturday.
Fletcher noted the league has grown to 800 players and 66 teams. “That just shows how well this organization has developed,” he said.
Pierce summed up Friday's announcement, “I'm so excited to bring this tournament to Visalia. We plan on being the first host team to capture this tourney championship.”
The above stories are the property of The Valley Voice Newspaper and may not be reprinted without explicit permission in writing from the publisher.
June 10, 2010
