This document is the City of Turlock Activity Update for the week of November 29 to December 5, 2008. The activity update is meant to keep the Turlock City Council and all areas of the government organization on the same page. The community may also view the complete document here at TurlockCityNews.com as it was sent out by the City of Turlock.
TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: Executive Team
DATE: December 12, 2008
RE: ACTIVITY UPDATE – WEEK OF November 29 – December 5, 2008
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
· The City Manager attended the December meeting of the Carnegie Arts Center Foundation Board on December 2. Much of the meeting was dedicated to the potential development of a memorandum of understanding that would outline the manner in which the Carnegie Arts Center would operate upon its restoration.
· The City Manager and Assistant City Manager attended the quarterly meeting of the Central Valley Division of the League of California Cities City Managers’ Department. In addition to the Department’s usual roundtable discussion among the area’s current public administrators, anyone who has previously served as an administrator in the Division is invited to attend the December meeting giving the group an opportunity to reunite with former colleagues.
Economic Development/Redevelopment:
· Economic Development/Redevelopment Manager attended CEO to CEO Business Cluster Forum sponsored by the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley.
· Economic Development/Redevelopment Manager attended Turlock Realtors Canned Tree Breakfast.
· Economic Development/Redevelopment Manager attended Chamber Mixer.
Housing Program Services:
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
Planning Division:
· On December 8 and 9, the consultant will be holding interviews with a representative sample of local business, community, and elected leaders to get a better feel for the current and future issues facing Turlock. The number of interviews were limited to around 30, 1/2 hour interviews over a two-day period. These interviews are intended to help the consultant get a feel for the community, not to establish any specific policy or direction for the General Plan Update. Policy and direction will be established through a series of public, joint meetings of the City Council and Planning Commission. The first meeting will be scheduled during the first few months in 2009 as soon as the consultant feels they have a pretty good grasp on the City’s existing plans, the City Council’s Strategic Plan, and background environmental and financial information.
· The Deputy Director gave a brief presentation on the City’s role in agricultural protection and production to the “Agriculture and Planning” led by Professor Mark Bender at CSUS. The City’s General Plan and specific plans policies that support compact growth, the mitigation of impacts on agriculture, and the development of ag-related businesses in the Westside Industrial Specific Plan area were discussed.
· Planning staff has contacted Dave Perry, the representative for P & F Metals to schedule a meeting to discuss the requirements and procedures apply for a Conditional Use Permit. Building staff has met with Mr. Perry to address accessibility issues for the site. Staff is awaiting confirmation of a meeting date.
· The predevelopment team met with Mr. Naresh Sawhney and his architect James Shaw to discuss the possibility of using an existing warehouse and industrial site at 107 S. Kilroy as a Mobile Food Vendor Commissary. The commissary would serve as a place for mobile food vendors to prepare their food, store their vehicles as well as wash down, drain, and possibly stock their vehicles. Staff comments were mainly related to specific on and off site improvements, fire access, trash enclosure locations, municipal service (discharge) requirements, and different permitting processes that will be required. Mr. Shaw will be revising the site plan and then re distributing to staff for further comment in an attempt to make the project ready for the permit application stage.
Capital Improvement Projects:
Projects in Construction
· Golden State and Tuolumne Road Signal: Teichert has directed the subcontractor for the traffic signal to begin work. We are also waiting for PG & E to remove a vent pipe.
· Water Reservoirs and Pump Stations: The contractor spent most of his installation work at the D Street site hooking up to the main water line.
· CNG Slow Fill Station: Construction is scheduled to start in January.
· Fire Station #1 Parking Lot: The rough electrical has been installed. Construction of the masonry wall will begin on Monday.
· Traffic Signal at Orange & South Avenue: Contractor has ordered the signal poles and construction will start in January 2009.
· Demolition of Existing Structures: Demolition should start next week.
· Interim Police Evidence Facility: The building was shipped in eight pieces (see picture below).
· Commercial Water Meters: Out to bid with a bid opening of December 18th.
· Trench Repair 08/09: In the contract stage.
· Antenna at Fire Station No. 1: In the contract stage.
· RFP’s – Landscape/Signage Beautification Project: Bids open November 26th.
· Prop 1B Homeland Security-Transit: Staff applied for and received a $91,000 grant to install security cameras and lighting around the transit area at the corporation yard. Work should begin early next year.
· Tennis Court Resurfacing at Columbia Park: Bids open on December 18th.
· Renovations at Columbia Park: The second revision to the plans are in plan check at the Building Department.
Projects in Design
· West Main Street and Fransil Signal: Working on acquiring right of way.
· Colorado and Monte Vista Signal Interconnect: Working on right of way and applied for federal funding.
· Westside Industrial Specific Plan
· City Hall Projects: Staff is creating a Request for Proposal.
· Water Line Replacement: Working on the topo.
· Sewer Line Replacement: Working on the topo.
· Well #40
· Prop 1B Overlays: Staff is reviewing which streets will be overlayed.
· Kilroy and N Walnut Road Pump Stations
· Fire Station No. 4 Roof Repair
Land Development:
· One of the submittals the Land Development Team is currently reviewing is the Lander Crossings Project. The review includes improvement plans and Subdivision map for this six acre commercial project near the northwest corner of Lander Avenue and Highway 99.
Active Submittals in Process
· 13 – Improvement Plans
· 7 – Parcel Maps
· 15 – Subdivision Maps
· 1 – Lot Line Adjustment
· 6 – Road Dedications / Public Utility Easements
· 3 – Abandonment
· 13 – Approved Plans waiting for permits to be issued
Land Surveying
· The survey crew continued with construction staking for City Project #0803, The Interim Evidence-Investigations Facility. They have also continued the topography on City Project #0869, Canal Drive Reconstruction and Resurface.
Public Works Inspectors
· We are occasionally involved with some unusual construction. See the attached photo of City Project #0803, Interim Evidence-Investigations Facility being installed by a crane. The building came in 8 sections, of which you see one being placed here.
Building & Safety
Among the 40 building permits applied for this week:
· 1200 W Main St – Tenant improvement for “Golden Valley Health Center”
· 27 building permits were issued within the last two weeks.
Traffic/Transit
· Transit staff will be meeting with the Car Swap officials in regards to traffic control.
· Working with IT putting Transit Routes and Schedules on the web site with a link to “Google Map”.
· Installing new shelters and benches at various locations.
· Staff has made out a work order to install 3’ vertical centerline markers on Soderquist Road in front of Osborn School.
· Worked on traffic control plans for the Christmas Parade.
· We received tentative staff approval from Stancog and the Transit Operators for Regional Transit 1B funds. This funding will go towards the property acquisition of the future Transit Hub and the re-model of the First Transit Operations office in the amount of $923,213. This action will require Stancog policy board approval.
MUNICIPAL SERVICES
Utility Maintenance Division:
Water System Projects
· Installed a 1 ½” water meter at 1290 East Ave and at 900 Pioneer.
· Collected 2 bacti samples at 532 N. First St and 1 bacti at D St. & Third St for the new water storage tank.
· Made a 6” hot tap for the contractor at 1400 Georgetown.
· Repaired a water leak in the meter box at 4300 Colorado.
· Installed a 1” and a 1 ½” water meter at 1049 Mitchell.
Sewer and Storm System Projects
· Repaired the manhole at Sewer Lift #4 on S. Kilroy.
· Repaired the 4” sewer service at 314 N. Thor – 3 ft.
· Replaced the sewer service at 1885 Arbor Way – 6 ft.
· Installed G-5 box over clean out and televised the sewer service at 669 Chestnut.
· Cut roots and grease with Power Rodder- 350 ft.
· Cleaned 31 catch basins.
· Cleaned existing sewer mains 991 ft., Grids D6, F6
· Televised 407 ft., of existing sewer main Grid D6
Miscellaneous and Special Projects
· This is the summary for this week’s projects, along with the normal USA’S, well pump and sewer pump maint, city bacti samples, water complaints & employee training hours.
Electrical/Mechanical
· Installed re-built 5 hp pump at storm 14. Installed re-built 7.5 hp pump at storm 26.
· Pulled 75 hp motor for pump 1 at Dianne Pond. Motor to be rebuilt at Andrews Electric.
· Isolated hycor 4 to remove 100 lbs of rags/wipe-alls from auger with assist from operators.
· Welded metal lid at 6th and C Street per Sam Beevers and Dan Frisch.
· Removed flare from Acid Phase Digester.
· Assisted contractor with tie-in to hot water return line for temperature probe for T.I.D. fuel cell.
· Completed weekly sewer lift checks. Pulled pumps at sewer 54, 9. Replaced capacitor for pump 1 at sewer 49.
· Completed weekly WQC calibrations and cleaning.
· Completed USA’s and street light work orders.
Fleet Maintenance
Diagnosed and repaired vehicles/equipment for the following divisions and departments:
· Police – 37 work requests
· Transit bus – 24 work requests
· Public Facilities – 30 work requests
· Utility Maintenance – 23 work requests (Electrical, Collection and Water)
· Fire – 1 work request
· Operations – 1 work request
· PM’s Preventive Maintenance work requests – 40 which include, A’s, B’s, CHP’s, mini’s, etc.
Recreation Division:
· Recreation Division Manager participated in meetings with Stanislaus County Children’s Council, Turlock Leadership Steering Committee, Carnegie Design Committee and Centennial Committee. Staff has been working with Turlock School District and the Stanislaus Consortium to prepare and submit a 21rst Century grant. If received the grant would provide Afterschool programs at the Jr. High and High Schools.
· The 34th Annual Turkey Trot Family Fun Run took place at Donnelly Park on November 22. The weather held up to offer a perfect venue for the run/walk. The event featured 234 youth and adults running/walking the two mile and one mile races. This was the largest turn out for the annual event held every year the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving. Race winners were awarded with prizes of turkeys, chickens and flats of eggs for their efforts.
· The last baseball/softball tournament of the year was held at Pedretti Park on November 22 and 23. The ball fields will be closed for the winter for field repairs by maintenance staff. The tournament hosted 8 teams in the 16 year old division. Tournaments and rentals will be available again starting in February.
· The completion of the 100 Mile Centennial Walk took place on Saturday, November 22, 2008 at Donnelly Park. This was an incremental walking program where participants signed up for the program in September, received a log sheet and then kept track of their own miles, at their own pace. Upon completing the final mile participants received an “I walked 100 Miles” T-shirt along with food and beverages. This race took place prior to the start of the Turkey Trot fun Run and was a great success.
Arts:
· Staff and volunteers are working to install the holiday fine art and craft sale that will run from the day after Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve at the Community Art Gallery inside Rex Klein Insurance Services office at 132 S. Center. Pre-sale publicity has been good, in both the Modesto Bee and Turlock Journal. 30 artists have brought in work for sale; items range from ornaments priced at $5 to large scale paintings priced at $500, with lots of unique jewelry, ceramics, fabric pieces, cards, small paintings, drawings and photographs in between. The reception, hosted by Rex and Edie Klein, will take place from 5-8 p.m. during the Downtown Festival of Lights on November 28th.
· Staff meets with the Carnegie Arts Center Design sub-committee and the architect on the 25th to have a final look at the design details on the building. The architect and Project Manager hope to have the City’s plan review process underway and to make a presentation to City Council at the end of January.
Public Facilities Maintenance Division:
· The Public Facilities Maintenance Manager met with a representative from TID on Wednesday, Dec. 3rd to discuss tree issues in the TID lines. The City and TID have taken a pro-active approach on the planting and pruning of trees in the City. Staff will continue to meet with TID on a regular basis to keep the lines of communication open on both ends.
· On Nov. 1st, four staff members attended the Pesticide Applicators Professional Association Seminar in Modesto. Staff must complete a minimum of 20 continuing education hours every two years to keep their certification valid. This certification is a requirement for their positions with the City.
Parks
· Central Park Christmas Tree – The Lighting of the new Turlock Christmas Tree on Nov. 28th was a great success. The countdown began at 6:45 p.m. and the Christmas Tree lights were turned on at exactly 7:00 p.m. Hundreds of people from the community were in attendance and everyone complimented the new Christmas Tree. It looks wonderful with all the lights on. The new Christmas Tree is a great addition to Central Park and to Turlock. Thanks to everyone that donated and helped with this project.
· Central Park Centennial Statue Ceremony – On Friday, Dec. 5th, the unveiling and dedication of the new statue of John Mitchell will take place at 5:00 p.m. Crews are working diligently on the plaques, cap, lighting, and foundation for the placement of the new statue which will arrive on Thursday, Dec. 4th.
· Cimarron Park – Staff planted 33 trees around the new playground area and at the south end of the park.
· Donnelly Park – The park continues to be tagged with graffiti. Crews removed graffiti from two picnic areas in the park, removed people that were sleeping in the east side play structure, and repaired a 2” line that was broken on the east side lake.
· Pedretti Sports Complex – The last tournament for the year was held on Nov. 22 & 23. The complex is now closed to the public. The complex will reopen in February 2009 for the CSUS Girls’ Softball Tournament. Staff will now have an opportunity to complete the annual winter maintenance projects that can’t be completed during league such as reseeding the worn turf areas at the entrance of each field, the infield of field #4, reconstruction of the pitchers mound on field #4, painting of the bleachers and concession area, backstop repairs, and the pruning of all the trees in the complex.
· Sunnyview Park – Installed pipe and irrigation and planted 5 Redwood trees in the new raised planter in the parking lot.
· Crews continue to do general maintenance, mowing, blowing, edging, weeding, irrigation repairs, cleaning, rake soft fall and playground safety inspections daily at all City Parks and ponds.
Streets
· The Leaf Pickup Program continues to run smoothly. Crews picked up leaves in Zones 5, 6 and 7.
· Six members of our staff will work traffic control and clean up for the upcoming Christmas Parade on Dec. 5th.
Water Quality Control Division:
· The Regional Water Quality Control Facility is operating well. Preventative maintenance activities during this period were conducted by staff.
· On Wednesday, November 26, 2008 staff collected the required weekly R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5 samples.
· Staff continued screening the yearly Nutrilock production.
· The WQC Operations Division Manager reviewed the Chlorine system CalARP Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) with the operations staff. The copies of the SOP’s were distributed at the Chlorine building and operation staff control rooms.
· Contractors continued working on the Fuel Cell Project.
· The WQC Facility has encountered 350 days without a lost time accident.
FIRE SERVICES
Administration Division:
· Brian White began his new post as Training Division Chief this week. Kain Packwood was promoted to Captain, effective 12/16/08 as a result of Chief White’s promotion.
Operations Division:
· Fire Services responded to a total of 87 emergency calls for service between 11/26/08 and 12/3/08. The break-down of calls were as follows:
ü 63 EMS Calls
ü 5 MVA’S
ü 4 Fire Alarms
ü 3 Public Service Calls
ü 3 Canceled In Route
ü 3 Checkouts
ü 2 No Patient Contacts
ü 1 Cooking Fire*
ü 1 Structure Fire*
*The structure fire and cooking fire had no real damage to the structure or contents, only light smoke in both incidents.
· Underwriters Laboratories was here on December 2, 2008 to perform the annual ladder test on our Truck 71 Ariel unit. There were some minor repairs that need to be corrected for certification.
Training Division:
· Engine Companies performed vertical ventilation manipulative drills at a single story vacant residential home which is soon to be demolished by the home owner. The home is located at the corner of S. Walnut and W. Linwood. The purpose of this drill is to maintain skills in ladder carries, ladder operations, chainsaw operations, proper ventilation techniques and equipment use and maintenance.
· Ongoing skills maintenance for probationary and newly promoted Firefighters, Engineers, Captains and Relief Battalion Chiefs includes task book and course book assignments, as well as, manipulative skills and exercises.
· The Training and Operations Division Chiefs attended a county wide training meeting in Salida to assist with standardization of training issues, set calendar agendas for the 2009 training calendar and determine training needs throughout Stanislaus County jurisdictions.
POLICE SERVICES
Service Demands:
Calls for Service 2050
Criminal Investigations 256
Arrests 85
Staffing Levels:
Sworn Personnel- 89
Deployed 77 (11 Officers: Field Training)
Vacancies 3
Non-Sworn Personnel- 47
Deployed 42
Vacancies 1
Special Operations Division
Investigations
· Investigators have been getting caught up on ongoing investigations this week. On Thursday our SWAT team and several investigators assisted the Merced County Sheriffs Office with the service of a drug related search warrant on three houses in the 300 block of South Broadway. Our staff was responsible for the initial contact and security of the homes. Once the area was confirmed to be safe the residences where turned over to the investigators for the service of the warrant.
· The modular buildings also arrived this week, with a 100-ton crane doing the lifting work and setting the buildings in their proper places. We are hopeful that we can move into the expanded area sometime in January.
Neighborhood Services
· As always the Neighborhood Services staff has been keeping busy this week. Several abatements are in various stages of completion. On December 2nd, staff identified a hazardous vehicle parked on Grant Avenue. This vehicle was discovered to be stolen, was recovered, and returned to the owner.
Field Operations Division:
Significant Events and Trends
Traffic Unit
· Avoid the 12 OTS Grant – The Traffic Unit was busy during the week gearing up for the Avoid the 12 Grant of which the operational period begins this month. TPD will be partnering with the Stanislaus County Probation Department later in the month seeking subjects with outstanding DUI arrest warrants and those who have violated terms of probation for a DUI conviction.
Patrol Unit
· Indecent Exposure – A male subject was reported being naked in the park located in the 500 block of N. Broadway. He was loitering about the women’s bathroom. Officers arrived and found the subject fully dressed. The subject is on parole for burglary. Officers located a victim who was willing to make a private person’s arrest. The subject was arrested for indecent exposure and he was reported to his parole officer and found in violation of his parole.
· Stolen Vehicle Arrest – A subject went to Ripon PD to take care of some business, trying to obtain property from a car that Ripon PD towed. The subject tells the Ripon officer that he stole a pick-up in Turlock and has the keys and the key in his possession. Turlock Officers responded and looked into the matter, recovering the stolen truck. The subject was arrested. He said that he wanted to turn his life around.
Street Crimes Unit “C” Team
· Stolen Property Arrest – Officers recognized a parolee riding a bicycle in the area of Palm and Hawkeye. He was stopped for a parole compliance check. The subject had a small amount of marijuana and a computer monitor in his backpack. When the officer ran the monitor over the air, another officer spoke up and said he had just taken a burglary report with a monitor taken. The victim responded to the area and identified the monitor. The subject was arrested for possessing stolen property and his parole officer was notified, who indicated that he was in violation of his parole.
Support Operations Division:
· AMS delivered the 8 modular units for our interim evidence/investigations facility on Tuesday, December 2, 2008. It is anticipated the Detectives and the Property and Evidence units will be able to move in either the last week of January or first week of February of 2009. The structure is well underway.
