March 14,2018-
Kings County asks to tweak ‘Opportunity Zone’ application
Kings County will ask the state to allow the expansion of the number of “opportunity zones” it approves from five to six or seven says EDC president John Lehn. Under the new federal tax plan some low income census tracts in the state will be earmarked for tax incentives including savings on capital gains for investors who add new business activity.Lehn says the county will not pull support for 5 of the census tracts suggested by the state around Avenal, Kettleman City, Home Garden and Corcoran but will look to add tracts that include the Hanford Industrial Park and Armona, places where infrastructure is in place to attract new development. ”If you live in one of the 5 census tracts your best chance for a job would in the area’s industrial park” explains Lehn. The county will submit their list to the state this month who may or may not accept the changes and will forward it to Washington.
Faraday Future requests first permit
Will Faraday Future, the start-up electric car maker bring jobs to Hanford? Locals have been waiting for dirt to fly at the big empty million square foot warehouse in the Hanford Industrial Park since last summer when a lease was announced. Now for the first time we are seeing activity. This week the city site-plan-review meeting will include contractors and consultants for Faraday Future discussing the remodel of the big building with city staff.
Also Community Development Director Darlene Mata says she expects the filing for the first permit for the company, a demolition permit for the interior of the building.”There is plenty going on behind the scenes” advises Mata.
At a February supplier conference in LA, a company spokesman discussed the Hanford plant and their new car-FF91.”Our Hanford factory project is developing according to our planned schedule, and we appreciate the support give to us by the City of Hanford,” said Dag Reckhorn, SVP of Global Manufacturing. “We are well into the process of design and permitting and have begun planning our recruitment cadence. As of February 1st, the property has been completely vacated, so we will move forward on construction and equipment by the end of the quarter. We remain on an aggressive, yet workable timeline of year-end delivery for FF 91.”
Lennar wants to build 194 unit subdivision in Hanford
Fresno-based Lennar got approval from city planning commission this week to build a 194-unit subdivision in Hanford.The project will be located on land recently approved for annexation at Stagecoach and Mustang Drive. Last year Lennar was the number 2 builder in the county behind San Joaquin Valley Homes.
Tessenderlo Kerley expansion
Also at this week’s planning commission meeting, the city approved of the sale of 16.96 acres – zoned IH (Heavy Industrial) and owned by the City of Hanford, at at the northeast corner of 11th Avenue and Energy Street. The City has been in negotiations with the adjacent property owner, fertilizer company Tessenderlo Kerley, to purchase the property for expansion of their business.
Kings jobless rate told
January’s jobless rate in Kings County came in at 9%, up from 8.4% in December but down from 11.4% in January 2017.Year over year farm jobs were up 600 while non-farm jobs increased by 500.The surge in farm jobs likely reflect improvement in water supply from earlier. The largest increase in jobs that month came in the category of trade and transportation.
Water use rises
Statistics released by the State Water Resources Control Board suggest urban Californians are still saving but just barely, under 1% of the water they used in 2013, before conservation was mandated. Those mandates have been lifted and use has gone up. Within California the Tulare Lake region that includes Kings County, saw a 4.4% savings as of January 2018 (from 2013) compared to a 17% saving in January 2017. Residential per-capita use increased from 71.7 gallons per day in January 2017 to 82.5 per day in January 2018.Ours is the largest per-capita use in the state except for users the Colorado River area of California.
Dairymen cull their herd
Lower profit margins in the dairy business is prodding operators to step up the culling for their herd. Dairy cow slaughter was up 3.4% the week of February 24 compared to same period in 2017. California Milk Producers reports that springer values are down to under $1400 a head in January 2018 compared to $2200 in January 2015. Springers are dairy cows who are due to deliver a calf within a few weeks. To stay in milk production, dairy cows must be bred every year. Their value is dropping this year.
Lost Hills industrial project could employ 1000
Kern County is processing an EIR for a huge distribution warehouse to be located along I-5 at Lost Hills. The 112-acre project is expected to build near 2 million square feet of warehouses employing 1000 says their report.
Ag secretary defends NAFTA
US ag secretary Sonny Perdue who was in California recently, has heard an earful from farmers about NAFTA and remarked recently he has tried to convince president Trump not to scrap the trade measure.
“I can assure you our voice is being heard on a weekly basis, and the administration hears me loudly and clearly,” said Perdue, responding to a question during a press briefing in the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show’s Media Center. The story was recounted in the Packer newspaper.
Perdue said earlier in the week he was attending a meeting at the White House about the Renewable Fuel Standard or RFS, which oil industry lobbyists have been trying to modify so they wouldn’t have to blend as much ethanol in gasoline.Farmers are opposed to the idea.
“I’ve had a little bronchitis, and when the president went over into NAFTA and started talking about wouldn’t it be better if we just withdrew from it, we were all saying no, no, no, and I had a bit of a coughing fit,” said Perdue.
“The president asked me if I was all right, and I said, ‘I’m OK, Mr. President, but I get choked up every time you start talking about withdrawing from NAFTA.’”
Perdue said Trump came out of the 2016 presidential elections thinking all Americans were against NAFTA. “He soon learned how NAFTA was beneficial to most of U.S. agriculture, and we continue to press that forward.