January 6, 2015

Council Member Amy Shuklian to hold office hours Jan. 7: Councilmember Amy Shuklian will hold her monthly office hours on Wednesday, Jan. 7, for Visalia residents to discuss issues of concern. Walk-ins are welcome from 5 to 5:45 p.m. in the conference room at City Hall, at 707 W. Acequia Ave. Appointments from 5:45 to 6:30 p.m. can be scheduled in advance by contacting Lauri Aguilar at 713-4322. Shuklian also can be reached through 713-4400, then enter 8313, or by email at [email protected].

First Kill-a-Watt Krackdown kicks-off: The Valley Innovative Energy Watch, VIEW, is partnering with Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern Callifornia Edison, and Southern California Gas Company for its first Kill-A-Watt Krackdown challenge for small commercial businesses in the Valley. The Krackdown is a fun and friendly competition designed to save businesses money on their operating costs by challenging commercial businesses to make measurable and lasing changes in the way they consume energy and improve their operating costs. In addition to the City of Visalia and Tulare County, other participating jurisdictions include Dinuba, Farmersville, Hanford, Lindsay, Porterville, Tulare, Woodlake and Kings County. Businesses will be asked to benchmark their energy usage through Energy Star's Portfolio Manager. Throughout the challenge, businesses will take steps to lower the energy they consume by either conservation, energy upgrades, or equipment updates. Small businesses are asked to register their building with the VIEW partnership, and if they design, work with local energy experts to see what can be done for little or no charge to lower energy usage. Quarterly updates will be provided to all participants, and the Kill-A-Watt Krackdown winners will be crowned after a full year of benchmarking.

Council appoints members of Eastside Regional Park Task Force: At the Jan. 5 City Council meeting, the City Council appointed 13 members to serve as the Planning Task Force for the Eastside Regional Park master plan. The Task Force will work with the consulting team from Provost& Pritchard Consulting Group to develop a master plan for the Eastside Regional Park and Groundwater Recharge Project. The City-owned 248-acre planning area is located on the west side of Road 152, between Mineral King and Houston avenues. The Task Force members are: Brian Blain; Juan Lopez; Dwight Merkel; Vickie Whitehouse; Donna Bailey; Roland Soltez; Carla Calhoun; Nancy Hawking; Norbert Duarte; Rodney Blaco; Dan Ajluni; Bill Morgan; and Larry Dotson. Alternates are Ben Filiponi, Steve Sanders, Jose Saenz, Jay Anderson, and Paul Olsen. To view the staff report, click here.

City completes over $4 million in road work projects: Over 100 miles of City streets make for a smoother ride with the recent completion in over $4 million in road projects. At the Jan. 5 meeting, the City Council authorized filing notices of completion for Reclamite and Cape Seal projects completed in 2014. The City's Street Maintenance Division developed the reclamite projects based on output from the recently implemented Pavement Maintenance Program. These projects will extend the life of the majority of the good roadways in the northwest portion of the City at a minimum maintenance cost. The Cape Seal projects can also significantly extend the life of pavements and postpone the much more expensive option of removing and replacing existing paving. The project provided cape seal to City streets in fair condition at various locations throughout the City. To view the staff report on the Reclamite Seal projects, click here. For the Cape Seal projects, click here.

Other Council news: Council directed staff to prepare an ordinance for a member of the City Council to call for a review of a Planning Commission decision on a tentative map and maps with a conditional use permit attached.