Category: Central Valley

Tulare County Crop Value Falls To Number 3
Kern County has nudged out Tulare County for the bragging rights on the No 2 ag production county in California. Kern announced their crop value last week at $6.212 billion squeaking by Tulare County at $6.210 billion in 2012. Kern’s larger grape crop likely made the difference  says Tulare ag commissioner Marilyn Kinoshita. Kern’s fruit and nut crops were up around $550 million in 2012 over 2011.
Ag: Fertilizer Tax Coming?

AB 69,authored by Fresno’s Henry Perea,would impose a 1 percent tax on all fertilizer sales,dedicated to reduce the presence of nitrates in drinking water, with the authority to increase the tax up to 4 percent based on certain conditions beginning in 2016.The measure will be heard soon by two state Senate committees.
The talk is that a fertilizer tax might be used to pay for county by county monitoring of farm fertilizer use – similar to the monitoring of pesticide use  – a burden that could fall to county ag departments speculates Tulare County Ag Commissioner Marilyn Kinoshita.“We’re getting lots of invitations to fertilizer meetings.”

Ag: Paramount Citrus Adding 36,000sf Greenhouse In Visalia

Paramount Citrus is building a 36,000sf greenhouse at their rural Visalia facility on Rd 172. The large greenhouse valued at $1.5 million is being constructed by Conley’s Manufacturing. Paramount will grow their nursery stock inside in light of the growing citrus pest problem caused by the spread of Asian Citrus Psyllid. Most nurseries who want to keep shipping are building screen houses.

 Ag: Psyllids In Tulare County…. No News Is Good News

California officials have quarantined an area in the state’s citrus belt after the discovery of a tiny pests capable of killing citrus trees.The California Department of Food and Agriculture announced July 31 that 178 square miles in Tulare County have been quarantined following the detection two weeks ago of six Asian citrus psyllids around Porterville.
Since then,a month after those finds,there have been no new detections says county ag commissioner Marilyn Kinoshita.”That’s good news” she says. Growers who have to move their fruit out of the quarantine zone to a packing house have to pay an extra $4 a bin to remove the leaves.

Fresno Psyllid  Meeting

Assemblyman Jim Patterson will be hosting a Citrus Industry Town Hall to discuss Asian Citrus Psyllid and the steps being taken to control its spread in California. Friday August, 23, 2013,10:00am at the  Fresno County Farm Bureau,1274 W Hedges Fresno, CA 93728

Speakers include Victoria Hornbaker – CDFA, Program Coordinator
Dr. Beth Grafton-Cardwell – UC IPM Specialist and Research Entomologist,Sylvie Robillard – Fresno County Grower Liaison,Les Wright – Fresno County Ag Commissioner,Joel Nelsen – California Citrus Mutual, President

Adventist Health will build a new $40 million Family Birth Center to provide obstetrics and delivery services for Kings County families. The new hospital building will break ground in Hanford, October 10 next to the main Adventist Medical Center on Mall Drive, off of Ave 12 and Hwy 198.
The Adventist Health corporate board in Roseville, Calif., approved funding for the project on Feb. 11, and ground breaking is expected to occur October 10 for the 49,000-square-foot center.
It will replace the current birth center at Central Valley General Hospital on Douty Street in Hanford.
“We’re excited to announce a new birthplace for Kings County families,” said Adventist Health / Central Valley Network president and CEO Wayne Ferch. “The Family Birth Center helps us serve our region as a resource for starting healthy and happy families.” The county  experiences about 2500 births a year.
Features of the new complex include:
All private rooms
34 beds for mothers
6 neonatal intensive care beds
New equipment and technology
Two operating rooms
The new center is also expected to help attract physicians to the region. Currently, about six babies are born every day at Central Valley General Hospital. Project funding will be provided through private gifts and Adventist Health, requiring no public taxes.
Hanford Community and many departments at Central Valley General Hospital moved into the new 142 bed Adventist Medical Center – Hanford on December 5, 2010. When the new center opens – the hospital can count an additional 34 beds.
Adventist Health’s heritage dates back to 1866 when the first Seventh-day Adventist health care facility opened in Battle Creek, Michigan. There, pioneers promoted the “radical” concepts of proper nutrition, exercise and sanitation in a facility devoted not just to the healing arts but also to the prevention of disease. They called it a sanitarium, a place where patients and their families could learn to be well.

Vetinary Clinic Replaces Hanford Fun Park

New $36 Million UC Davis Lab Expected To Break Ground In November
Tulare’s UC Davis Veterinary Center will get a $36 million – 2 story,35,000 sf  California Animal Health & Food Safety Lab expected to break ground in November. The lab will provide diagnostic sampling for the Valleys dairy,cattle and poultry farmers.The lab will employ 37.The state’s labs “are the backbone of California’s warning system” says a 2011 report, for both animal diseases and food borne pathogens.
Project manager Joe Dickson says  the new construction at the Tulare Veterinary Center would be the first since 2004.The November ground breaking is  dependent on a successful lease revenue bond to be sold to investors in September by the state. The bonds are sold based on getting a stake and lease money from an he asset, the new complex although the ownership reverts to the state after 30 years.
Dickson says the lab should take 2 year to construct. It is out to bid this month.
Tulare In Line For 7 Dollar Stores
It must be some kind of record. Both Family Dollar and rival Dollar General definitely plan to have Tulare covEred with  3 locations each either already built or in the works says planner Bonnie Simoes. Then there is Dollar Tree who already has a location in town.
Surf Thru Car Wash To Break Ground
Fresno-based Surf Thru Car Wash who has a location on Mooney and Tulare Ave in Visalia now plans a Tulare facility breaking ground later this summer at 1414 E Prosperity near Walmart. Pickett &Sons is building the new carwash.

Walmart Foes Lose In Court

Tulare County Judge Lloyd Hicks has ruled that the group Visalia Smart Growth was too late in their appeal of earlier rulings on the expansion  of the Noble Ave Walmart store and need to pay $2000 in sanctions. The decision announced as a tentative ruling August 8 says the legal points brought up by the group had been brought up in previous lawsuits and that their continued assertions amount to “endless litigation” instead of “prompt resolution” of this dispute.
Visalia attorney Alex Peltzer says the issue – in litigation since 2011 and dating from a plan filed by Walmart six years ago – is  near complete although the appeal period has not run its course.
Walmart seeks to add 54,076 square feet of floor area and increase operations to 24 hours.Walmart wants to add a grocery wing to the store and has been thwarted by the shadowy group backed by rival grocery interests.

Permit Issued For Burlington Coat Store

The City of Visalia issued a permit July 30 to remodel the former Home Base property located at 3844 S Mooney for new store. The permit was valued at $700,000. Also in the past few weeks the company announced they would open the clothing store this fall employing 70 people. The new retailer will take only 63,011 square feet of the 103,800-square-foot building with no news on the rest of the center.

Permit issued For Akers Medical Building

A $5.1 million permit was issued by the City of Visalia to build a 52,135 sf shell building at 820 Akers. The project is being built on land owned by Kaweah Delta  District Hospital by the Fresno group, The Quiring Corp

Tax Revenue Higher

According to Visalia city council member Warren Gubler “New tax revenue projections indicate that this year, real property valuations will increase by 4.8%, which roughly translates into another $500,000.00 of projected tax revenues for the City of Visalia.”

Visalia Landfill Closure In Works

This week Tulare County field an environmental notice they would close the 127 acre Visalia Landfill “ in response to groundwater impacts associated with historical operation of the unit. Since Waste Management Unit-1 is unlined and does not meet current 27 CCR design requirements, the unit is being closed as part of the landfill’s Correction Action Plan (CAP) for the mitigation of known and future groundwater impacts. Post-closure land use for WMU-1 will be non-irrigated open space and will be returned to a natural setting with the exception of all necessary access roads, environmental monitoring/control facilities, and drainage structures.’

Project To Boost Groundwater Recharge
The Packwood Creek Check Structure Project will bring good news to the City’s groundwater recharge capabilities which could increase by about 600 acre-feet per month when water is available. The Visalia Water Management Committee oversees the project, made up by the City and the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District, the lead agency for the project.
Increasing the City’s ability to manage groundwater recharge is integral to implementing the agreement with Tulare Irrigation District for the exchange of recycled wastewater in return for up to 5,000 acre-feet of water monthly from the Friant-Kern Canal in wet years. Packwood Creek plays a key role in the City’s ongoing groundwater recharge program. The creek flows through the eastern and southern portions of the City and its sandy soil allows for good percolation.
The existing structure (pictured above at left) enables the pooling of water into the stormwater layoff/groundwater recharge basin south of Cameron Avenue. The construction of four new water-check structures (similar to the picture above at right), will have automated gates to regulate upstream water levels while maintaining downstream flows, and add about 600 acre-feet per month of recharge capabilities.
The project is budgeted at $1.5 million, and is partially funded through an $800,000 WaterSMART grant from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Additional grant funding is being sought by the District. A public meeting will be held to discuss the project and address any questions or concerns residents along Packwood Creek may have.

Immodo Eyes 6MW Lemoore Solar Facility

Immodo Energy who has 7 solar farms under development in Tulare County is back talking to the City of Lemoore about a facility on  25 to 35 acres of city land. City of Lemoore staffer Judy Holwell says Immodo had dropped a plan last year when PG&E would not agree to a power purchase plan but that there had been a change of heart.  The Spanish owned energy company is working to build up to a 6MW solar farm on city industrial land along Hwy 41.The city council is being asked this week to approve up to an 18 month option to lease the land.

Tulare Biogas Project To Get $500K Valley Air Grant

Colony Energy is working to break ground this fall on a $20 million biogas project next to the City of Tulare wastewater treatment plant. Earlier this year the company was awarded $500,000 form the Valley Air’s Technology Advancement Program to demonstrate a biogas cleaning and pipeline injection system.
The Colony’s Endeavor plant will take up to 500 wet tons of accepted waste per day – waste with a solids content up to 40%. The organic waste  including dairy manure and food waste will be converted into bio methane for use throughout the transportation industry, replacing 5,000 gallons per day of diesel fuel. Commercial operations at Colony Endeavor will begin in the first quarter of 2014.

More Solar in SW Tulare County

Samsung-backed Solar Projects Solutions (SPS), White River West, LLC received Tulare County Planning Commission approval late last month to build a 19.75 MW solar farm  near Alpaugh. SPS already built a 50 MW facility nearby called Alpaugh that is operational,a 20MW Alpaugh North facility that is operational,a 20 MW Atwell facility  also operational ,A White River 20 MW facility to be operational later this year,a 19.75 MW Corcoran solar farm to be operational in2014 and now White River West that will move forward as well. SPA has a portfolio of 170 MW either built or under development in Tulare County’s arid southwest quadrant.Once built the solar farms have been sold off to long term investor

The City of Lemoore’s 18 hole golf course is on the market for sale listed for $950,000 on the real estate website LoopNet. The 114 acre municipal course, built in1955 and expanded in1991, is located on 18th Ave and Jackson.

City Finance Director Cheryl Silva says the property is owned by the successor agency to the now defunct  city redevelopment agency and has a total debt of around $3.7 million.

That is money owed to the city’s general fund she says after years of subsidizing the golf course debt payment through the redevelopment agency.

Silva says there is interest in the property from the Tachi Yokut tribe but that “ I have no idea where they are in the negotiating process.” The tribe has been listed on the city council closed door agenda under property negotiations last month.

It is not clear if the tribe is interested in using the acreage to continue to run a golf  course. The land is well located right off of Hwy 198 – about a mile from the tribe’s hotel and casino complex.

But realtor Dora Vigil who is listed as the agent for the sale says there is no pending agreement with the tribe at this time.

Rezoning part of the acreage could boost its value to the tribe and on the market. A popular re- use nationwide is to build housing on the course.

Older muni courses compete for fewer golfers with newer courses like Dinuba..

According to the National Golf Foundation, in 2012 there were 15,753 courses in the U.S — down 299 from 2005.  Some 25.7 million Americans were considered golfers last year — down 4.3 million from 2005. NGF says 463 million rounds were played last year — that’s down from 500 million in 2005 and 518 million in 2000.

That big Cali Cheese project in Tulare, announced in January is a go at least half way home. The company informed the city July 15, as agreed to, it was still on-track to close the land deal in town by the end of the year. This according to Traci Meyers the city’s economic development manager. The $250 million cheese plant would be the first major cheese plant in the state in years and would employ 220.

Another Kings County dairy threw in the towel late last month when Martin and Martin Dairy of Hanford sold off both all their milking cows (about 1050) and rolling stock at auction.After 38 years in the business Tony Martin’s farm is for sale as well.

Dairies got some rare good news on the feed front – at least corn.  Corn futures for this fall are falling with a potential huge Midwest corn crop and good weather. Corn futures dropped to $4.66 a bushel this week, heading to half of what some paid for feed a year ago. “It was taking me 18 days a month of selling my milk just to pay my monthly feed bill” says Hanford dairyman Joaquin Contente.

In another trend reversal milk processors this summer are short on milk with Land O Lakes offering a premium price for 60 days. Earlier this year the region was swimming in too much milk.

Tulare’s UC Davis Veterinary Center will get a $36 million- 2 story, 35,000 sf  California Animal Health & Food Safety Lab that could break ground late this year. The lab will provide diagnostic sampling for the Valleys dairy,cattle and poultry farmers.The lab will employ 37. The state’s labs “are the backbone of California’s warning system” says  a 2011 report, for both animal diseases and food borne pathogens.

Mountain wildfires emissions impact east side of air basin
Lightning strikes have started many wildfires in the Sierra National Forest, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, and Sequoia National Forest that are sending smoke emissions to the air basin, prompting local air officials to issue a health cautionary statement.
Currently, the Aspen Wildfire is burning in Fresno County near Huntington Lake and smoke from this and other fires may impact the eastern parts of Merced, Madera, Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties, including the foothill and mountain areas. In addition, eastern portions of the Valley floor may be affected during overnight hours.
The fire has burned more than 9000 acres of rugged terrain with some 1000 firefighters on hand.
The health caution is in place until the fire is extinguished. The Air District will continue to monitor the impact these wildfires are having on air quality and update the media as warranted.
“If you can see or smell smoke in your area, you are most likely being affected,” said Samir Sheikh, the Air District’s director over air quality analysis. “If possible, stay inside to avoid breathing in the smoke.”
Smoke from fires produces fine-particulate matter (PM2.5), which can cause serious health problems including lung disease, asthma attacks and increased risk of heart attacks and stroke. Where conditions warrant, people with heart or lung disease should follow their doctors’ advice for dealing with episodes of particulate exposure.

How about a bumper sticker on the back of the pick-up that says “Farmers Do it With Fewer Workers”? That’s what is happening even though the local farm economy is mostly doing well. Tulare County’s employment data for June just came out showing the county’s farm workers numbered 38,900 – some 900 fewer than June 2012.Meanwhile the county’s nonfarm jobs are 2000 higher than a year ago at 111,200. Nevertheless, the county unemployment rate in June 2013 ticked up to 12.8% compared to 12% in May but much lower than the 15.4% rate in June 2012. Month-over-month the county lost 300 farm jobs.

A similar story next door in Fresno County in June where year-to-year nonfarm employment rose by 2,200 jobs (up 0.8 percent), while farm employment dropped by 2,400 jobs (down 4.0 percent).

Although the farm economy is faring better on exports – water is the limiting factor, and not just ‘down on the farm.’

Water issues in Sequoia Park are discouraging visitation now with tourists camping out at Cedar Grove no longer able to take a shower and some campgrounds in the park limiting reservations.Drought is hurting the power supply too with one Kaweah River hydro facility no longer able to make power due to low water levels.

Valley caught a few days break on the searing heat,19 days over 100 – but it’s back at it again this weekend.

Meanwhile the warm temps have heated up our cooling-off spots like along the Kaweah River near Three Rivers where the water temp reached 82 degrees July 5. Water temperatures on the Kaweah this week are in the high 70s at some favorite water pools.

Water issue is on tap at the Board of Supervisors this coming week with the board considering sending a letter regards the modified 2014 Water Bond that “We can not support a Water Bond that lacks a definitive surface storage program.”
Storage proponents argue that some additional dams (and higher existing ones) in the state can capture wet-year water not just for farms but for fish – facing extinction by global warming says a UC Davis study published last month.Cold water released downstream at the right time can help fish survive the most punishing heat of summer months.

One retail complex that does not mind the heat is Visalia Mall, known as the first air-conditioned shopping center in the Valley”We love the weather both when it’s too hot or too cold in the winter”says mall manager Rick Feder.”We don’t mind if people use us as a cooling center.”

With the new Starbucks under construction and other vendors expected to sign leases – the mall’s Food Court should be full-up by the end of the year says Feder.

Further, both bookends of the mall,empty buildings on the north and south sides are in play right now with restaurants says Feder and “We are expecting to fill both spaces in 2014.”That includes the old bank building where Elephant Bar was going to land before the big recession.Feder says the new tenant they are talking with is not them.

Predictions that gas prices would skyrocket with higher crude prices are thankfully facing some headwinds.Why? We are all using less gasoline pushing refined product inventories higher – some 8.8% higher than year ago – says the most recent government report.Gasoline inventories increased by 3.1 million barrels to 224.1 million barrels the EIA announced July 17. The Visalia Costco is selling regular as of Friday for $3.71 despite the fact that WTI crude oil has jumped nearly $10 in the past month.Wholesale gasoline did run up this past week but “just yesterday, Los Angeles wholesale prices dropped 19 cents in one day after rising 50 cents in two weeks.” says a AAA spokesperson.

Speaking of driving the Tule Indian tribe wants to bring Eagle Mountain a little closer to town making gambling more convenient.Currently,the casino is a 26 mile roundtrip from the lake up a windy reservation road. The full tribal council and Tulare County Board of Supervisors met together”for the first time ever” to discuss the tribe’s wish to locate a new casino. Supervisor Phil Cox says he thinks the tribe continues to look at a Lake Success/Hwy 190 site while Supervisor Allen Ishida says he hears the Porterville airport as a likely site.

“At least we we agreed to continue to discuss it openly and not just go through the lawyers” adds Cox.

Speaking of storage – Derrel’s Mini-Storage has applied to the county to site a new facility on the nw corner of Shirk and Caldwell and the City of Visalia is being asked to comment. Council member Greg Collins says he expects the city of oppose the idea.”We’ll go to the mat on that one.”