Category: Central Valley

Brown Praises Effort/ Bid Contractors Announced

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Following a competitive bidding process, the California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) Board of Directors has selected PGH Wong Engineering, Inc., and Harris & Associates to provide additional oversight and management of contractors who will build the initial 30-mile stretch of high-speed rail from Madera to Fresno. Thirty percent of the work will be done by small businesses and over 50 percent of those will be located in the Central Valley.

“We’re proud to say both companies that won the Project and Construction Management (PCM) contract are California-based firms with extensive experience in transit delivery and design-build programs in California and around the nation,” said Jeff Morales, CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority. “They have also achieved the Authority’s goal of having 30 percent Small Business participation and of the Small Businesses that will provide PCM services over 50 percent are located in the Central Valley.”

Also this week the names of five bidding teams offering to build the first leg of the system were made public. The bids of the contractors will be examined in the next few weeks before a decision is announced. The contractor groups are:

* California Backbone Builders, a consortium of two Spanish construction firms — Ferrovial Agroman and Acciona.
* California High-Speed Rail Partners, composed of Fluor Corp. of Texas, Swedish-based Skanska, and PCL Constructors of Canada.
* California High-Speed Ventures, made up of Kiewit Corp. of Nebraska, Granite Construction of Watsonville, and Comsa EMTE of Spain.
* A joint venture of Dragados SA of Spain, Denver-based Flatiron Construction Corp., and Shimmick Construction of Oakland.
* Tutor Perini Corp. of Sylmar, Zachry Construction of Texas and Pasadena-based Parsons Corp.

Wong-Harris will work with the Authority to oversee the contractors that will be selected to design and construct the backbone of the high-speed rail project, an initial 30-mile stretch that runs from Madera to Fresno. Wong-Harris will provide extra oversight of inspection and testing, construction safety and security, technical and environmental compliance, document control and public outreach. The purpose of this oversight is to ensure that construction is managed properly and that taxpayers are getting a good value for their investment.

This week Governor Jerry Brown praised the effort to build the huge rail system in his State of the State speech.

“ In the years following World War II, California embarked on a vast program to build highway, bridges and roads.
Today, California’s highways are asked to accommodate more vehicle traffic than any other state in the nation. Most were constructed before we knew about climate change and the lethal effects of dirty air. We now expect more.
I have directed our Transportation Agency to review thoroughly our current priorities and explore long-term funding options.
Last year, you authorized another big project: High Speed Rail. Yes, it is bold but so is everything else about California.
Electrified trains are part of the future. China already has 5000 miles of high speed rail and intends to double that. Spain has 1600 miles and is building more. More than a dozen other countries have their own successful high speed rail systems. Even Morocco is building one.
The first phase will get us from Madera to Bakersfield. Then we will take it through the Tehachapi Mountains to Palmdale, constructing 30 miles of tunnels and bridges. The first rail line through those mountains was built in 1874 and its top speed over the crest is still 24 miles an hour. Then we will build another 33 miles of tunnels and bridges before we get the train to its destination at Union Station in the heart of Los Angeles.
It has taken great perseverance to get us this far. I signed the original high speed rail Authority in 1982—over 30 years ago. In 2013, we will finally break ground and start construction.”

PGH Wong Engineering, Inc. is a full-service engineering firm that specializes in construction management, project management, and design of rail transit projects which include heavy rail, light rail, commuter rail, freight railroad, and high-speed rail. Wong’s extensive experience includes project and construction management of major transit projects including BART Silicon Valley Berryessa Extension, Central Phoenix/East Valley Light Rail Transit System, Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit Project, San Francisco International Airport AirTrain System, and San Francisco BART Extension to the San Francisco International Airport on behalf of the Airport.

Harris & Associates provides expertise from project conception through occupancy in project and construction management, program management, engineering services, and municipal services. Harris has also provided services to Caltrans starting with the first
consultant contract for Construction Engineering in 1986 for District 6, headquartered in Fresno. Harris was a key part of a team to provide oversight for both the design-build of the SR-22 Widening and the current design-build of the I-405 projects.

The PCM will be located at the Central Valley construction site with the Design-Build Contractor. Under the contract, Wong-Harris could receive up to $34.9 million based on actual work performed.

PGH Wong Engineering, Inc. is headquartered in San Francisco and Harris & Associates is based out of Concord, California.

The Board of Directors of Sierra View District Hospital in Porterville have fired their CEO Joseph Stewart.”Joe Stewart will no longer serve  as the chief executive officer effective January 16,2013”, says a hospital press release. The board voted 3 to 2 to oust Mr Stewart who has held his position for a yeas and later this week named Donna Hefner as interim CEO. She was director of risk management for the hospital and a 20 year veteran employee. In the public session Mr Stewart acknowledged financial problems at the district hospital.

As the housing market recovers across the state – Tulare County’s numbers are improving as well. In December 2012 the median home  price in Tulare County was  $144,440 – up 13.1%% from a year ago when it stood at $127,660. Time on the market has dropped from 35 days a year ago to 25 days in December 2012. But the volume of sales is down from a year ago by 23.4%.

The unemployment rate in Tulare County was 15.7 percent in December 2012, up from a revised 14.5 percent in November 2012, and below the year-ago estimate of 16.5 percent. This compares with an unadjusted unemployment rate of 9.7 percent for California and 7.6 percent for the nation during the same period. A closer look reveals that farm jobs year-over-year in Tulare County are down 3800 while non-farm jobs are up by 1200, the later a hopeful sign.

Targeting Asia Market

The Tulare City Council approved the sale of 59 plus acres this week to CaliCheese Company LLC, to build a 300,000 sf cheese plant on city-owned land next to the wastewater treatment plant.

The deal calls for just over $2 million for the land with the money changing hands between June 30, 2013 and the end of the year.

According to the company’s business plan the start-up cheese plant will to employ 220 producing both cheddar cheese and whey protein -both big sellers in the export market in Asia. They put the value of the project at $250 million and say it would produce 4 million lbs of milk a day to start.

The company plan says they expect to close financing by June 30, 2013, and begin operation in early 2015. Council was told this week that the plant was already designed and the milk supply would be secured with talks ongoing with two large milk coo-ops.

The sale of the property at 2600 W. Paige comes after a year of negotiations with the firm says a city staff report. The company expects the purchase to include “full entitlements” to the land to build a plant based the approved EIR at the same site for Western Pacific Meat packing a few years ago.  That meat packer never bought the land but the cheese project is similar enough that it can be used, it is assumed.

The city staff report asks the city council “Approve and authorize the Mayor to execute a Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) between the City of Tulare and Cali-Cheese LLC for 59+ acre parcel of property located adjacent to the Wastewater Treatment Plant, to be used for a cheese processing facility…”

Project Development Manager of CaliCheese Co is Jeffrery F. Lee Mr Lee is also affiliated with Manhattan Beach based California Ethanol  and Power.California Ethanol & Power, LLC focuses on production of renewable energy from sugarcane and on developing, financing, installing, and operating sugarcane-to-ethanol-and-electricity production plants in California. The company says it is in the permitting stage to build a plant in Imperial Valley by 2015.
CaliCheese Co lists Mr Lee as the former Division Counsel for a $1 billion-plus Bechtel Power Corporation operating division and a Senior Development Manager with Bechtel Enterprises, where he led or participated in a number of project developments and financings for industrial processing facilities.  Mr. Lee also wrote the business plan that provided the foundation for Southwest Cheese Company in Clovis New Mexico founded in 2006.  He holds a BA in Economics with honors from the University of Michigan, and a Juris Doctorate from Michigan Law School.
The company lists Chief Operating Officer Daryl D. Boddicker  – a 30-year Kraft Foods veteran and recipient of the Kraft Merit Award. Mr. Boddicker had responsibility for all Kraft North American plant operations, and also for all Kraft Research & Development activities worldwide.

CaliCheese Co. mission statement says the huge project requires them to raise up to $350 million in financing to fund the $250 million facility. The statement  says the plant” will generate cash flow that is more than sufficient to provide adequate debt service coverage, a fair market return to the project finance equity provider(s), and robust returns to the CCC ownership interests, particularly once the senior debt is retired.”

Their project is huge by any standard. At $250 million – the project would be the largest in Tulare County in recent memory. The largest project underway in the county now is the new Porterville courthouse valued at $91 million.Visalia’s largest commercial projects in recent memory was the VWR warehouse valued at $22 million or the KD hospital wing in 2009 valued at $143 million. The Leprino cheese plant – built almost a decade ago in Lemoore – was valued at $300 million and has expanded since – processing some 12 million lbs of milk a day into mostly mozzarella cheese.

The CaliCheese Co(CCC) statement says their business plan calls for expansion of the 4 million lbs a day production by 50% putting its planned capacity at 6 million lbs a day.

Asia Market

Regarding the market opportunity the company’s statement says “Asia’s growing appetite for cheese and whey-derived products has caused wholesale cheddar cheese prices to increase more than 50 percent, and whey-derived products prices almost 100%, over the past year.  CCC expects to enter into long-term contracts for the sale of a majority of its cheese and the totality of its whey-derived products to a major industry player at pricing indexed to market prices. “

“The U.S. shipped more than twice as much cheese to Asia in 2011 than in 2010, and the demand for whey-derived products is growing even faster, also driven in large part by the increasing demand for protein from Asia. “
The US Dairy Export Council recently stated that ”through the first 10 months of 2012, the volume of major products increased a combined 5.5 percent to more than 2.8 billion lbs. Although growth had softened in recent months, U.S. cheese and whey protein concentrate were poised to shatter volume records, and nonfat dry milk/skim milk powder was tracking at or near record levels.
For the second consecutive year, U.S. export volume accounted for more than 13 percent of total milk solids produced in the United States. “

Must Perform

The Tulare city agreement with CaliCheese Company has provisions that include;

A six month feasibility period for the developer to approve the site
A $10,000 non-refundable deposit
A 12 month period for the developer to obtain project financing
A six-month period after the close of escrow for developer to initiate the project, failure to comply would result in a reversion of the property to the City.

Tulare officials wanted the last provision to be in the agreement keep a developer from buying the land and just siting on it or flipping it. This is a sensitive issue in this community where two large projects, a meat packing plant and a huge race track project were near final approval but in the end failed to get financing. The projects, instead of producing jobs, actually cost the city lots of time and grief and money as well as the jobs of several politicos.

Tulare is already home to many of the worlds’ largest diary product producers  and the largest cluster of dairy firms in the US West. They include names like Land O Lakes employing nearly 600, Saputo (now with three plants and 400 workers), Haagen Dazs(Nestle) with some 300, and Kraft employing 120. Scores of supply firms for the industry are based here as well with employment of hundreds more. Tulare County is the largest milk producing county in the world with $2 billion in milk sales annually.

Despite the size of the California dairy industry producers have complained they feel they are being paid too little for their milk particularly from the private cheese plants who suck up about half the milk produced in the state. Cheese makers – particularly the smaller ones – say it is they who are in danger of being driven out of business.

Caught in the middle is CDFA ag secretary Karen Ross who is expected to make a price adjustment upward for some dairy products later this month (by Jan 22) that could translate into higher costs for cheese manufacturers here. One other new cost – paying for greenhouse gas emissions in California now.

Welcoming More Competition

“Producers would favor a new processor” in the area says Tom Barcellos – a Porterville dairyman and president of the Western United Dairymen. ”We need more competition for our milk” he adds.

January is supposed to be a quiet month for business activity but some  important and even multi-billion dollar decisions could be made. Here is a roundup of few to watch.

Fresno County

Central Valley High Speed Rail construction begins later this year with the construction bids on first 28 mile segment from Fresno north to Merced due on January 18. Five companies have pre qualified to bid. Jeffrey Morales, CHSRA CEO expects to award a contract by June. This fall, property acquisition and initial construction work will begin, assuming there are no successful legal challenges.State Public Works Board is expected to approve the rail agency request to purchase 356 parcels on the route at their meeting this week.

Kingsburg: Manufacturer Could Bring 200 Jobs To Town: So says Kingsburg City manager Don Pauley. An unnamed company is working with the city and Del Monte to buy the now vacant 100,000 sf warehouse from Del Monte to convert it to a manufacturing facility.Pauley says the company may start work to remodel the building as soon as February but that the deal is not yet done. Del Monte closed all their operations in Kingsburg last year. Several other pieces of the Del Monte empire in town are for sale as well including the 14 acre processing plant and the former Silgan can manufacturing building.

Kings County:

Navy is expected to release their draft EIR for the Joint Strike Fighter this month that will spell out if the plane will based in Lemoore or alternatively in San Diego County. This is a $500,000 million impact annually on Kings County. If the draft decides against Lemoore, the local base and its economic impact here, would shrink dramatically.

Long awaited 19th Ave interchange over Hwy 198 will break ground  soon in Lemoore.The $21 million half clover-leaf project will require 2 years to build with a contract awarded to Granite Construction. The interchange  will be the only one on Hwy 198 and ties the rest of the city to its industrial area. The project has been on the drawing board  for decades.The intersection has the second largest accident history in town say city planner Holly Smyth.

Avenal: Avenal Energy has got approval on a 4 to 0 vote from the California Energy Commission this month to move forward on their 600MW natural gas power plant in the works since 2009 despite objections from environmental groups.

Avenal: NRG plans to expand their solar farm to the southeast of their current project in the county and is applying to the county for a permit.

Tulare County

Tulare:  $250 Million cheese plant could bring 220 jobs to town CaliCheese is negotiating with  the City of Tulare to buy acreage at 2600 W Paige in west Tulare to build a new cheese plant.The city lists the item on  its January 15 agenda to sell it for $2 million.The property is the same city-owned land that was the subject of a lengthy and court tested EIR for a meat packing plant. It is expected the cheese plant would qualify as a similar type user and could use the EIR.The cheese plant is valued at $250 million.

Tulare has scheduled a Jan 15 city council meeting to pass a resolution of necessity to acquire right of way to begin construction of the new  Cartmill /99 interchange. City engineer Mike Whitlock says the city has agreements with about half the property owners that hold the necessary land and it may require some property be taken by eminent domaine.

Separately, the city is expecting to break ground on the new Bardsley Ave overcrossing with all funds  and the contractor in place. The crossing will make it  safer and faster to go east-west in Tulare.

Visalia

Growth Issue Returns/Salomon Offers Plan

Visalia City Council and Planning Commission are expected to take up the 2030 General Plan Update January 22 and we should see a lively debate over growth projections.

A citizen committee and their consultant have projected faster growth than several recent studies and as a a result their plan requires more land than may be needed to accommodate population growth between now and then says one council member. Councilman Greg Collins expects we can handle city growth “within the current city limits” with enough room, he says, to add another 40,000 to 50,000 residents.

City manager Steve Salomon is recommending the council adopt a policy that estimates a 10 year average for growth – currently 872 new homes built a year –  even though growth rates have slowed in the past few years to 250 in 2012. Mr Salomon’s staff report says there is an inventory of some 9359 units within the city limits or just under a 11 year supply using the 872 unit year average.

The staff suggested policy being proposed would allow annexation of non city limits, Tier 1 residential units, once the inventory got below the 10 year average of  8720 units or about 650 lower than we have today. County islands add 473 new units that would bulk up the current inventory. Salomon argues the ten year average would change allowing for market flexibility.

Salomon’s report suggests allowing immediate development of 572 acres of new industrial land along Riggin and 82 acres south of Goshen  to help bring in more employers.

On the hot button issue of new commercial land Salomon would add new land options immediately on South Moooney –  126 acres of new regional commercial land south of the Visalia Parkway – past Target. But any new Caldwell /99 commercial shopping center land would be pushed off to some future time. “I think it is clear that commercial developers want to be on Mooney Blvd and we are close to being filled up.”

Technical School To Expand In Visalia: The Visalia Unified School District plans to expand and modernize the current VTEC that currently leases a portion of the College of Sequoias Visalia Campus. The VUSD plans to purchase the entire 26.29 acre property from the COS. the project consists of modifications to current buildings with the addition of 2 standard modular classrooms. The future Master Plan Capacity will be 621 students in grades 10-12. Parking will be relocated on site; the new classrooms will occupy current parking places. No changes to the existing ingress/egress are proposed. The existing house and garage on the property will be demolished as the first phase of construction.

General Plan Update Jan 22

Construction could start later this year on a new TJ Maxx apparel store in the Target shopping center on North Dinuba Blvd. So says consultant Jim Perkins of DeKleer & Associates who works with shopping center developer Donahue Schriber.
The developer has filed a preliminary plan for a 22,127 sf store with the City of Visalia this week that would be located in the last in-line pad available in the Orchard Walk East Center anchored by Target,Ross and Vallarta Supermarket.
Realtor Shane Anderson would not discuss the new store but said the Northside shopping center is attractive to many retailers who already have a presence in Visalia on Mooney Bld –  on the other side of town – big players like Target and Ross.
TJ Maxx is a female favorite with locals wondering when the first TJ Maxx would come to Tulare County. The same company owns Marshalls with a store on Mooney as well as a chain called Home Goods, rumored to be coming to town as well. The just purchased Sierra Trading Post, an on line retailer as well.
Anderson says the Orchard Walk East center is likely to break ground on a new 10,000 sf strip building on Dinuba Blvd later this year. Nearby,a new strip center has recently been approved on Riggin and Dinuba Blvd as well.
Strong Financials
TJ Maxx has nearly 1000 stores across the US. The off-price retailer offers an array of fashionable, brand-name family apparel, home fashions and other merchandise such as beauty products. T.J. Maxx differentiates itself from Marshalls with an expanded assortment of fine jewelry and accessories, and in some stores, The Runway, a high-end designer department, the  company says.
One financial analysis of the company says” through long-standing partnerships with apparel manufacturers like Polo Ralph Lauren RL, TJX is able to buy brand-name goods at rock-bottom prices, passing the savings on to consumers.” The company stock was up from $32 a year ago to around $45 today.
Ignoring The Northside?
While the well known shopping district in Visalia is Mooney Blvd, by 2007 there was enough demand for the developer Donahue Schriber to  plan to build both East and West shopping centers along both sides of Dinuba Blvd as the city planned a 70 acre plus sports park nearby.  Home Depot was to be the main tenant in the Orchard West complex but the recession prompted the big home improvement store to back out.Donahue Schriber continues to market that 199,000 sf center. Still, the center across the street where TJ Maxx is going appears to be filing up now in 2013 with recession fading.
Ironically, the Northside as a shopping district doesn’t seem to show up on the radar screen for the city’s General Plan Update led by a consultant who largely ignored the prospect of adding more stores in this part of town but  proposing to add a large new shopping center on Hwy 99.
The city is expected to take up that plan January 22 at a joint city council / planning commission meeting.
Mooney Filling
Meanwhile it appears Mooney is filling up as well.
Nasdaq-traded Ulta Beauty will open a 10,000 sf store in Visalia’s Packwood Creek Shopping Center this spring, the latest sign that this city’s big retail strip is back.The fast growing chain who opened 49 stores in the latest quarter and enjoyed a 22.5% increase in sales – plans to open 125 more in 2013,including Visalia.
Shopping center owner Patrick Orosco says the addition of the high end store to the center replacing the shuttered Firkin Hound eatery is the latest evidence of retail strength in the market. “We have a pending lease on one smaller space and then we stand at 100% occupancy.” Orosco adds the beauty supply retailer would be the largest in the Visalia marketplace and “will go a long way toward re-enforcing the image of the shopping center as a destination for female shoppers.”
Besides this deal, Orosco is working on a landing a megaplex movie theatre behind Lowes. and Walmart. Also, El Polo Loco appears to be heading for space next to BevMo and InShape Fitness is remodeling  the former 24 hr Fitness in the Sequoia Mall.

AFFECTED TULARE COUNTY CUSTOMERS

Southern California Gas Co replaced an 800 ft section of a major gas pipeline that supplies Tulare County after a routine inspection found problems. The gas company took the pipeline in question off line and installed an 800 ft bypass pipe says Andrew Lockman,manager of Emergency Services for Tulare County.

“My understanding is that they dealt withe problem by taking the pressure off  and installing a bypass” says Lockman ,who adds around a dozen large gas customers,industrial plants, were effected by a supply problem for about a week with repairs completed in the past few days. All  gas customers are now able to return to normal operations.

Lockman says the work by SoCal Gas was done”out of an abundance   of caution” remembering with at happened with PG&E and the town of San Bruno in 2010 when a 30 inch gas pipe exploded.

SoCal Gas has a major gas pipeline that supplies Tulare County from Kern County near Delano where the problem pipe was discovered. Tulare County is the furthest north in the company’s service territory.In the interim, some gas supplies came from PG&E.

“We were advised in case residents of Tulare County were going to be without natural gas when there were freezing temperatures”  Lockman says. Lockman has been advising local  government  officials around the county about the incident in the past week.

Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) is the nation’s largest natural gas distribution utility, serving a population of 20.9 million consumers through 5.8 million gas meters in more than 500 communities. The company’s service territory encompasses approximately 20,000 square miles of diverse terrain throughout Central and Southern California, from Visalia to the Mexican border.

 

Three Rivers Historical Museum will be expanding now that it has acquired another 2.5 acres next to their museum/visitor center on Hwy 198 (Sierra Dr). Museum spokesman Tom Marshall says the museum recently acquired title to the property that includes the Bequette house through efforts of community-minded supporters to make it happen.”We want to thank Chan and Elizabeth Wilcox” for buying the property out of foreclosure and selling it the museum “for a very good price.” In addition Marshall says local realtor Dave Learned helped put the paperwork together. Community donations from the local Lions Club and Women’s Club help keep the doors open.

Marshall says the 1926-built Bequette house was the headquarters for Judge Walter Fry,the first superintendent for Sequoia National Park. ”We’ve been told that family members are donating some of the original furnishings from that time” to use in the building. Marshall says after some rehabbing around the house they plan to use one large room for a conference room for the museum as well as make it available for meetings.

Besides the building the extra 2.5 acres graced with oaks and sycamores, might be used for outdoor events from time to time.

In addition the property will be the new home of the famous 1950s Three Rivers metal sign done by sculptor Carroll Barnes when it is relocated from Slick Rock soon. Barnes carved the famed 1941 Paul Bunyan wooden statue in front of the current museum (see picture) as well as the redwood Giant statue in front of COS in Visalia.

This sign will be relocated in part because CalTrans requires there be only one welcome sign and the Three Rivers Foundation is erecting a new entrance sign for the community north of Horse Creek bridge as soon as next month. That 12’ by 8’  metal sign proclaims ‘Welcome to Three Rivers – Gateway to Sequoia National Park.’

Marshall says the all volunteer museum in Three Rivers – open every day of the week – gets good visitation particularly in the busy summer months when as many as 1000 visitors stop on the way into the park.

A bit more history. The Kaweah Commonwealth newspaper has written  “The Three Rivers Historical Museum evolved from Bequette’s Gift Shop that Jessie operated from 1953 to 1967. The shop later housed Mountain Arts for nearly 20 years, then for a short time was an art gallery before being acquired by the historical society in 1997.”

For those who would like to donate to the museum contact Tom Marshall and the Three Rivers Historical Museum, email:history@3rmuseum.org,website:www.3rmuseum.org
42268 Sierra Dr., P.O. Box 162, Three Rivers, CA 93271
559-561-2707.

Author: Anne Lombardo
December 18, 2012

There is a new predator in the forest these days. It has arisen quietly over the years. Any wildlife feeling hungry when they come upon it in the Sierra is vulnerable. This predator is amazingly small for the scope of its damage; it can’t run fast or climb high.

Rodenticide bait pellets (bright green) with plant fertilizer dispersed around 2,000 plants in a northern California marijuana grow site within the northwestern California fisher project boundary.
This new predator is rodenticide in pellet form, used in violation of all safe-use regulations in our national forests by large-scale marijuana growers. Rodenticides are being used to protect young and tasty marijuana seedlings from wildlife roaming through the forest looking for a meal. Chemicals never meant to be used more than 50 feet from homes are now scattered across forest hillsides. Piles of poisons are left around hundreds of plants even though only a few pellets can be lethal. Miles of water pipe are lined with these pellets to protect the stolen water source. Camps are circled with pellets to protect human food sources and sleeping areas.

University of California scientists originally became aware of this problem when Rick Sweitzer, associate professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at UC Berkeley, and his wildlife research team retrieved a radio-collared fisher whose cause of death was unclear. Sweitzer and his team are researching are studying the fate Pacific fishers as part of the Sierra Nevada Adaptive Management Project (SNAMP).
Necropsy (an autopsy for animals) of the fisher carcass by Mourad Gabriel of UC Davis and the Integral Ecology Research Center found rodenticide poisoning to be the cause. With these new findings, the livers from previous fisher mortalities in the SNAMP study were reexamined for evidence of rodenticide exposure. They discovered that more than 80 percent of dead fishers examined had been exposed to rodenticide. These toxicants can persist in animal tissues or the environment for potentially hundreds of days. At least five dead fishers found by researchers in SNAMP and a second fisher study in northern California have been confirmed to have died of rodenticide poisoning, the scientists reported in the science journal PlusOne.
Considering the hundreds of marijuana grow sites found every year on public lands, the scale of the damage to California’s natural resources may be unprecedented. Grow sites are also found containing massive amounts of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, all of which are being used without concern for run off or aquatic species nearby. Marijuana plants are removed from these plots when found, but these chemicals are often left behind.
Although this problem might seem overwhelming, there are efforts to address it. The non-profit Environmental Reclamation Team has cleaned up hundreds of grow sites since 2005. They remove and document all of the poisons found along with the miles of plastic irrigation line and piles of trash. More efforts like this are needed if we are to maintain rare animals like the Pacific fisher as well as all the other species who have the potential of coming in contact with these poisons.

Milk,Movies & Mill Creek On Tap

Minnesota-based Milk Specialties Global plans to open a Visalia operation in the existing Provisions Foods plant on Divisadero, the former Kraft plant. The plant is equipped with drying and evaporating capabilities and Milk Specialties will install a proprietary membrane filtration system to process whey proteins. Provisions Foods will reportedly continue to produce cultured dairy products. Milk Specialties Global has published a request to hire an HR manager in recent days who would be in charge of overseeing up to 60 employees the notice says. A company spokesman said a news release would follow.

The company offers value-added whey protein isolates, hydrolysates and concentrates including  science-based nutrition products for the sport nutrition and healthy lifestyle industries as well as Milk Specialties Global Animal Nutrition is a leading supplier of functional fats, proteins and carbohydrates for livestock producers worldwide.

Milk Specialties has hired Jim Ford as its manager, the former plant manager at Mozzarella-Fresca in Tipton. That cheese plant is rumored to be closing in the new year with production shifted to Idaho although the company has refused to comment.

Provisions opened in 2007 when Kraft closed their cottage cheese plant there. Provisions manufacture blue cheese, cream cheese and yogurt from two family-owned farms – the DeGraaf families in the Pixley area.

Visalia shopping center owner DBO Development is in advanced discussions with three movie theater chains to open a multi-screen theater just east of Mooney at Cameron on the south end of town to anchor the next phase of their Packwood Creek Shopping Center. “We expect to have a commitment from one of the chains by February” says Patrick Orosco of DBO.

Orosco has been marketing the next phase of Packwood Creek – Visalia’s largest retail complex – called The Grove at Packwood Creek, a 25 acre,278,300 sf center on both sides of Cameron Ave with the help of Fresno-based Commercial Retail Associates. On the south side of Cameron,Orosco hope to land big box national tenants facing Costco and on the north side they hope to bring in a large cinema complex. Orosco confirms they are talking to Regal Cinemas who already operates both movie theaters in Visalia.

Orosco says while discussions with movie theater operators are well along none of the other potential retailers or eateries listed in the marketing materials are signed up yet and some are already likely to locate elsewhere if they come to town.

That includes Pollo Loco who recently filed a plan to locate on south Mooney next to BevMo. “This is like a wish list of prospects who might be interested incoming to town.” They include the fast food hamburger chain Five Guys,an East Coast favorite who is expanding in California.

The marketing materials,done in August for the ICSC trade show, also include Burlington Coat Factory who is now expected to locate next to the new Walmart (the former Costco) on South Mooney,not a part of the Packwood Creek center.
Orosco says the key anchor for The Grove will be the megaplex – well suited for the site offering acreage for the hundreds of cars need to park at one time. He maintains that Visalia is losing out to the Tulare’s Galaxy Theatre next to the outlet mall in Tulare because it is far newer than the Sequoia Mall 12plex, a 40,000 sf divided theater inside the mall with no visibility,no other nearby nightspot ( Borders closed in 2011) and very small theater sizes.

Dollar General stores has signed a letter of intent to lease the former Harbor Freight store (9500 sf) on mid-Mooney Blvd and will move in the next few months.Broker Doug Burr adds that Harbor Freight relocated down the block to the former JoAnn’s Fabrics location, a larger 14,000 sf space.Dollar General has plans for large grocery type stores in Farmersville, Woodlake and Tulare. Also this week,Orosi joins the dollar store boom with the construction of a Family Dollar store at 12835 Ave 416.

Napa Auto Parts is working on a lease for 940 E Main,a long vacant 14,500 sf building owned by S.Pete Salerno. Pete says the building was originally the Toyota franchise showroom and has had plenty of users since. But it has been empty for long stretches  from 1993 to 2000 and again form 2009 till now. The last occupant was an auto parts store that went out of business all over California.But now another investor bought  the assets and hopes to re-open at this location and elsewhere under the Napa name.

City Council member Greg Collins says he is satisfied with the idea that Kaweah Delta board of directors presented to the council the other day that would mean that Mill Creek would need to be culverted west of Acequia for 2 blocks for a major building expansion if the hospital agrees to open the creek on the west end of their property near Johnson and Mineral King. The hospital might agree to removing a small parking lot to daylight the creek. ”It makes more sense to improve the area closer to Miki City Park where the creek is already opened up” agrees board member Jody Graves.The creek is mostly open as it travels west from here.

Gas prices are at $2.99 a gallon at six stations in the Lodi /Turlock area today.

Tulare County Board of Supervisors rejected a call to slap a moratorium on new solar projects this week noting that the solar projects could create $12.7 million in economic benefit to the county in fees alone.

Corn futures fell to $ 6.94 a bushel Dec 20 declining over $1 from September and down from  $8.20 in August. The price spiked this summer because of the Midwest drought. Corn price s this time last year were $5.50. Livestock owners and ethanol makers have been hard hit by the price rise that should ease once a new crop comes in.

Milk Hearing Friday.CDFA will hold a dairy marketing hearing in Sacramento to hear proposals to raise milk component prices for six months in an effort to help struggling California dairymen.

Monterrey County leads the state in the value of all organic food production at $170 million worth of farm products on 20,000 acres. Fresno is number two at $131 million produced on 41,000 acres. Humboldt is third with $44 million on 70,000 acres.

The City of Tulare is processing the largest new home subdivision in years proposed by Central Valley Land Co on the city’s north side. Called the KCOK Ranch ,the 110 acre tract would have 343 residential units. The company is a partnership led by by Harvey May’s Paloma Development. The project that has been revised from an earlier hearing is east of Mooney and north of Seminole Ave. The plan will be the subject of a city EIR committee review December 21.

Kings County planning department is processing a General Plan Amendment and zone change for a 151 acre parcel on  I-5 at Utica Ave. – five miles south of Kettleman City.  The plan calls for allowing highway commercial uses with services like truck stop, hotels and restaurants  similar to what is offered in Kettleman City. The highway commercial  uses would be on 38 acres with the remainder zoned for light industrial uses.The land is now planted to an orchard on 120 acres. The proposal is by land owner Don Jackson.