TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: Executive Team
DATE: October 11, 2008
RE: ACTIVITY UPDATE – WEEK OF October 4-10, 2008
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
· Mayor Lazar, Chamber President James Brenda, Chamber CEO Sharon Silva and the City Manager met with CSUS President Ham Shirvani to discuss the President’s proposed Turlock Economic Development Council. This new initiative is designed to complement the existing activities of the Chamber and City.
· The City Manager, City Attorney, Director of Development Services and Planning Manager met with representatives of the United Samaritans Foundation to discuss recent complaints the City has received regarding services provided by USF.
· The City Manager and Economic Development and Redevelopment Manager Heidi McNally-Dial attended the October meeting of the Chamber of Commerce Government Relations Committee.
· The City Manager, Administrative Services Director Sheila Cumberland, Municipal Services Director Dan Madden and Senior Accountant Marie Lorenzi attended a meeting at TID with representatives of the Cities of Ceres, Modesto and Hughson as part of the ongoing analysis of whether the Cities will participate in TID’s proposed surface water treatment facility.
· The City Manager and the Executive staff attended the kick-off meeting on the General Plan update. This is the first in a series of meetings. Future meetings will be scheduled with individual City Council members, Planning Commissioners and members of the public as well as numerous public meetings.
Economic Development/Redevelopment:
· At the request of Turlock Downtown Property Owners Association, Economic/Redevelopment Manager attended California Downtown Association Annual Conference.
· Economic Development/Redevelopment Manager spoke to the Development Collaborative Advisory Committee.
· City Manager and Economic Development/Redevelopment Manager attended Chamber Government Relations Committee meeting.
Housing Program Services:
· Due to the foreclosure crisis, HUD has allocated 3.92 billion to assist areas that have been hit the hardest with foreclosures. The Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) will provide emergency assistance to state and local governments. To determine the allocations, HUD used the following information: number/percent of foreclosures, sub-prime mortgages, mortgage defaults and delinquencies. Numerous data sets were gathered from government agencies and private sources. Unfortunately, Turlock was not one of the cities that received a direct allocation of these funds. For those cities that did not receive a direct allocation, funds will be made available through HCD in form of competitive grant application. HCD is currently in the process of developing an Action Plan for submittal to HUD by December 1, 2008. HCD will post the availability of funds through a NOFA by early 2009.
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
· The General Plan Update consultant, Dyett & Bhatia, met with the management team for the first of many internal coordination meetings. The purpose of this meeting was to introduce the management team to the general plan update process, obtain contact information, initiate the data collection effort, and get a better understanding of the issues and key stakeholders that will need to be contacted over the coming months. Dyett & Bhatia staff will be meeting with council members, planning commissioners, and other key stakeholders over the next few months in smaller meetings to get a better understanding of the issues, needs and desires of the community. The first joint City Council/Planning Commission meeting is being tentatively scheduled for the second council meeting in January. The meeting will be scheduled to proceed a starting time for the regular meeting. The first of several community meetings will be held shortly thereafter. Over the next month, staff will be working with the consultant to solidify the first round of meeting dates.
· The Deputy Director attended the professional planners group meeting for the San Joaquin Valley Blueprint on Tuesday to gain a better understanding of the status and direction of this effort. This group serves as an advisory body to the Blueprint Regional Advisory Council (BRAC) which is tasked with making decisions regarding the content of the San Joaquin Valley Blueprint. Although Stanislaus County has not formally approved a growth scenario for inclusion in the Plan, the group has decided to move forward with its meeting with the BRAC using a placeholder of the Moderate Growth Forecast shared with the City Council a few weeks ago.
· Rusty Baez met with predevelopment staff to review a redesign to an office expansion at 2060 Colorado, the project is currently under review for a Minor Discretionary Permit by the Planning Division. The new design significantly alters the project and allows the applicant to satisfy a number of the concerns staff had with the previous design. The applicant is going to finalize his site design and move toward approval of his Minor Discretionary Permit.
· Tracy Gordon, an architect representing Sutter Gould Medical Foundation met with City staff to discuss developing the property at 3006 and 3124 West Christofferson (the corner of Christoffersen and Golden State) with an approximate 34,000 square foot 2-story medical office building. The project would require a Minor Discretionary Permit to ensure all of the required development standards are met.
Capital Improvement Projects:
Projects in Construction
· Golden State and Tuolumne Road Signal: Received word from Union Pacific Railroad and they will call us with a date of return next week.
· Water Reservoirs and Pump Stations: The contractor has started erecting the steel.
· CNG Maintenance Facility: Received the Certificate of Occupancy and Fleet Maintenance can move into the new building.
· Canal Drive Bike Path: The street lights have been installed but we’re waiting for the punch list to be completed before we energize the lights.
· CNG Slow Fill Station: In the contract stage.
· Fire Station #1 Parking Lot: The contractor will start work on October 14th.
· Fire Station #3 Gate: Waiting on punch list and the building permit for electrical.
· Fairgrounds Sidewalk: A preconstruction meeting will be held on October 14th.
· Traffic Signal at Orange & South Avenue: In the contract stage.
· Demolition of Existing Structures: The apparent low bidder was WC Maloney Inc of Stockton, CA and will go to council for approval on October 14th.
· Interim Police Evidence Facility: In the contract stage.
· Commercial Water Meters: Utility staff is reviewing the plans.
· Trench Repair 08/09: Out to bid with an opening date of October 16th.
· Antenna at Fire Station No. 1: Out to bid with an opening date of October 30th.
Projects in Design
· West Main Street and Fransil Signal: Working on acquiring right of way.
· Colorado and Monte Vista Signal Interconnect: Waiting on FTIP amendment.
· Columbia Park Renovations: The architect should be getting plan check comments back from building department.
· Westside Industrial Specific Plan
· City Hall Projects: These projects include Fire Administration, repair of the sewer line in Engineering, repair of the balcony and City Hall HVAC.
· Water Line Replacement: Surveying has been completed.
· Sewer Line Replacement: Surveying is ongoing.
Building & Safety:
· Among the 28 building permits applied for this week:
ü 1200 W Main St – New shell building
· Among the 33 building permits issued this week:
ü 3015 N Tegner Rd – New retail shell building
Traffic/Transit:
· Staff is reviewing the fifteen highest intersection accidents to see if any improvements can be made.
· For Transit’s 10th anniversary here in the city, staff will go to council on October 28th to get approval for the “Blast Turns 10 Free Ride Day” scheduled for November 24th.
MUNICIPAL SERVICES
Recreation Division:
· Staff met with TUSD school administration to discuss summer programs for 2009. With schools reverting from year round to traditional school year there will be a need for increased youth activities in the summer months. Providing quality, safe and supervised activities will keep the youth engaged in programs that contribute to their mental health and well-being as well as deterring them from participating in juvenile crime and gang activity.
· Staff presented highlights of the Afterschool Program in the form of a power point presentation to the TUSD School Board. The purpose of the presentation was to educate and inform Board Members about both the ASES and PLAY Afterschool Programs. Together the programs care for approximately 1,000 youth per day. Afterschool programs engage youth in positive activities such as tutoring, sports, arts and fitness.
· A Babysitting class was held for youth ages 11 – 15 years. Participants were introduced to duties and responsibilities of child care as well as the developmental stages of children. Youth participating were taught safety techniques, accident prevention skills. This is a popular class for all youth who work with or care for children.
· Staff engaged the Teen Advisory Council (TAC) in assisting with the Turlock Shines community clean-up event on Saturday October 4 at Donnelly Park. TAC also distributed community information regarding events and activities for youth sponsored by the Recreation Division. Youth were encouraged to participate in the event as part Recreation’s effort to promote community stewardship.
· Fall League youth baseball league sponsored by Turlock Poker Room, hosted a 22 team tournament at Pedretti Park. More than 260 youth played games during the two day event.
· Turlock Regional Sports Complex has been extremely busy this fall. Every Saturday morning Turlock Youth Soccer Association uses the complex to the fullest extent with more than 2,500 youth honing their soccer skills. Also, every Sunday, hourly rentals have been steady with the University playing games and two separate adult leagues renting two to three fields weekly. On Sundays, the complex is mostly engaging about 100 adults in soccer activities.
· Last Saturday was the first meeting for the fall session of Kidz Love Soccer. This is a very popular program amongst youth and families. This program is located in the Christofferson Storm Basin.
Upcoming Special Event:
· Turlock Downtown Christmas Parade: City of Turlock, led by the Recreation Division annually coordinates and implements the downtown “Parade of Lights”. This popular and successful community wide event in enjoyed by both youth and families and has become a Turlock Tradition. Planning is now underway for this year’s event which is scheduled for Friday, December 5 at 7:00 p. m. Applications will be available October 13 – November 21 at the Recreation Division. This wonderful, wholesome family event brings 8,000 – 10,000 people to downtown Turlock. If you would like to volunteer please contact the Recreation Division.
Arts:
· On Saturday October 4th Arts Commission staff and volunteers participated in the Turlock Shines Community Clean-up event. Staff and Arts Commissioners worked with a CSUS student volunteer, to develop a temporary mural project that could be completed on the restroom walls at Donnelly Park during the event. Canvas panels were designed and fabricated and these were prepared with outlines for a “Turlock Shines” mural. The canvas panels were hung at the park on the morning of the clean-up event, and Art Club volunteers from Turlock High and Pitman High came out to supervise and assist community members in painting the mural panels. Teachers from both high schools were on hand to volunteer as well. Four children were engaged to help with the painting, along with 16 teen volunteers.
The mural will be available to both schools for display and for use at any community event where they can be shown. Duplicate panels will be donated to the two high schools for their Art Clubs to complete independently and can be used for fund-raising or promotion. Donations for the mural project were received from Lowe’s Home Improvement Store in Turlock and Turlock Sunrise Rotary (as part of their overall Turlock Shines event sponsorship).
The project provided an opportunity for students from the two high schools to work together with mentors from CSUS and the Arts Commission. It provided a positive interaction for community members around the creation of something unique and uplifting.
Public Facilities Maintenance Division:
· The Teens in Action Leadership Turlock Environmental Awareness Day was held on Oct. 8th. Students from Turlock High School and Pitman High School spent the last hour of their day at Crane Park learning about career opportunities within the Public Facilities Maintenance Div. and the importance of our urban forest in Turlock. The students were teamed with city staff and planted three trees in Crane Park. It was a great day and the students really enjoyed themselves.
· Staff attended the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting on Oct. 9th to give an informational update on the Parks and Public Facilities. Staff is working on the AD HOC Committee for a teen center in Turlock.
Parks
· Christoffersen Park – Removed one Evergreen Pear tree and fixed a bad connection on bad valve that had created a dry spot. Crews removed graffiti from inlet wall.
· Bristol Park – Removed one dead Deodar Cedar tree in the park.
· Dog Park at Sunnyview Park – The Dog Park is getting lots of four-legged visitors and the City is receiving thank you notes and calls from happy dog owners. The Dog Park has been a wonderful addition to Sunnyview Park and the City. Take your dog to our new Dog Park and check out the new park identification sign. The park looks great! Great Job to everyone that worked on the park.
· Sunnyview Park – A 4” main line broke and water was off for 3 days. Crews replaced two sprinkler valves and fixed the broken water line. The park identification sign has been installed in front of the parking lot.
· Crane Park – Crews cleaned up downed tree limbs from the wind.
· Central Park – Installed irrigation lines, seeded dirt areas, and completed the landscaping in the new planter area at the south end of the park. This planter is part of the Central Park Master Plan.
· Denair Park – Planted flowers in front of the park identification sign.
· Pedretti Sports Complex – General maintenance, mowing, blowing, edging, weeding, and irrigation repairs throughout the Complex. Paint and prepare fields for games. Cleaned off pavement, washed down all bleachers and trimmed low hanging tree branches.
· Turlock Regional Sports Complex – Painted fields, set goals, staked trees, repaired irrigation and general maintenance. Crews edged valve boxes, raked soft fall under swings and set trash cans with liners. Crews are still having problems with people jumping the fence and moving goals around.
· Graffiti continues to be a daily problem in the parks. Crews spent hours cleaning up graffiti in misc. parks.
Streets
· Street crew took the water truck out throughout the City to water down misc. areas around town to keep the dust to a minimum due to high winds.
· The patch truck ran for 1 day and used 1 ton of hot mix. The patch truck crew has been working on other assignments.
· Crews replaced/repaired/trimmed branches away from 20 miscellaneous street signs throughout Turlock. Crews responded to a material spill on W. Main at Dianne, a large branch down in roadway on Memory Lane and one on Crowell near Monte Vista,
· Per Engineering work order, crews assisted in removing double railroad crossing limit lines and replaced with one 24” painted white line. Set up work zone. Crew replaced 6 reflective pavement markers at Monte Vista and Golden State.
· Crews painted in Zone 3, added a crosswalk on Hedstrom, grinded out stop, relocated stop legends, and painted crosswalk on Olive. Crews are painting stops, red curbs, speed limits and speed bumps.
Graffiti Abatement and Yard Sign Removals
· Cleaned, painted and removed graffiti in 5 miscellaneous locations around Turlock, removed 86 yard signs from miscellaneous locations, and picked up 16 shopping carts and took to Turlock Scavenger.
· Crews continue to do general maintenance, mowing, blowing, edging, weeding, pruning, watering, irrigation repairs, etc. in the islands around Turlock.
Assessment District
· Planted trees along the bike path, and pruned trees on Rose Circle and Christoffersen Parkway.
· Crews continue to do general maintenance, spraying, mowing, blowing, edging, weeding, irrigation repairs, etc.
Buildings
· The roof at the Senior Center is starting to deteriorate and needs to be repaired.
· Staff painted the Club Room at the Senior Center on Tuesday and Wednesday, primed wall behind stage, primed door and door jam for Club Room 2 at the War Memorial.
· Painted downstairs kitchen and planted flowers at City Hall, painted the lobby walls in Recreation last Friday, and painted the Police Department on Saturday.
Utility Maintenance Division:
Fleet Maintenance
· Diagnosed and repaired vehicles/equipment for the following divisions and departments:
ü Police-19 work requests
ü Transit bus-9 work requests
ü Public Facilities-27 work requests
ü Utility Maintenance-21 work requests – (Electrical, Collections and Water)
ü Operations -3 work requests
ü Fire dept.-2 work requests
ü PM’s Preventive Maintenance work requests – 23 which include, A’s, B’s, CHP’s, Mini’s, etc.
Electrical/Mechanical Projects
· Assist parks with lights at Pedretti Park.
· Replaced salt bridge and buffer solution in ph probe at Foster’s 2.
· Replaced snubber at Well 33 with new unit and more snubbing (#3).
· Installed rebar cage and poured 6.5 yards cement at Well 38 for antennae foundation.
· Replaced hour meter at Well 39. Replaced the time delay at Well 32 and adjusted chart recorder pen arms.
· Replaced power supply for pressurization pump 1 at Flotator 3.
· Removed the air cylinder at Summerfaire park valve 5 to repair. Installed 2 micro switches for open and closed indication.
· Completed weekly sewer lift checks.
· Completed USA’s and street light work orders.
· Completed weekly WQC instrumentation cleaning and calibrations. Installed new air diaphragm pump for chlorine analyzer at the contact tank outlet.
Water Conservation Projects
· Gave 14 watering schedules
· Reponded to 4 water leaks
· Set up 3 sprinklers/timers
· Gave 4 level 1 – first time notices
· Gave 1 level 2 – 2nd time notice
· Recorded 175 street lights
Regulatory Affairs Division:
Water Meter Project
· The Modesto Bee interviewed staff for an article on the city’s water meter project.
Teens in Action
· Municipal Services staff assisted in hosting “Environmental Awareness Day” for the Teens in Action program. The participants toured Turlock Scavenger, the Water Quality Control facility, received a presentation on the Go Green program, viewed some of the City’s water resource facilities and planted trees at Crane Park.
Industrial Customers
· Wastewater fee and rate quotes were provided for a potential manufacturing facility in the WISP area.
Development Collaborative Advisory Committee (DCAC)
· At the request of the Committee and the Development Services Director, Municipal Services staff attended a DCAC meeting. The goal is to improve coordination between all departments who are involved in the development process. Because Municipal Services operates public infrastructure our role is to ensure that it is designed and constructed properly to prevent future operations and maintenance challenges.
Abandoned / Inactive Construction Sites
· With assistance from the Engineering Division a list of abandoned / inactive construction sites has been compiled for the Regional Water Quality Control Board. The Regional Board is concerned that, without proper stabilization, run off and erosion could entrain sediment into the storm drain system, thereby adversely impacting water quality. The city’s Environmental Compliance Inspector will periodically review these construction sites to ensure that all mitigation measures and best management practices remain in place even if construction has ceased.
Go Green Presentation
· Staff presented an overview of the City’s Go Green program to the Leadership Turlock class, Teens in Action students, and the California Association of Public Purchasing Officers (CAPPO).
No Drugs Down the Drain
· The City of Turlock participated in the statewide “No Drugs Down the Drain” campaign which will conclude on Saturday, October 11th. The campaign served to educate residents on safe, legal pharmaceutical disposal options and the effects on the environment of improper disposal of old medicines.
Water Quality Control Division
· The Regional Water Quality Control Facility achieved Biochemical Oxygen Demand and Total Suspended Solids removal efficiencies of 99% as well as daily effluent Turbidities of 2 NTU or less.
· On Tuesday September 30, 2008 staff collected the required weekly R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5 samples.
· The operations staff continued with the Facility building clean-up project and completion of weekly MP2 (preventive maintenance) work assignments. Staff continued working on paint projects throughout the facility.
· Staff continued working on the yearly Nutrilock production. The biosolids yearly removal started on Tuesday September 30, 2008.
· The WQC Operations Division Manager was on an Interview panel for the City of Hughson on Thursday, October 2, 2008.
· Staff conducted a Facility tour for two groups from the Walnut Elementary school on Wednesday October 1, 2008.
· The contractor continued working on the fuel cell project.
· The WQC Facility has encountered 292 days without a lost time accident.
FIRE SERVICES
Operations Division:
· Fire Services responded to 77 calls for service for the week of 10/3 through 10/9.
ü 49 – EMS Calls
ü 3 – Grass fires
ü 3 – False Alarms
ü 3 – Assist Invalids
ü 3 – Canceled Calls
ü 2 – P.D. Assists
ü 2 – Arching Wires
ü 2 – Public Assists
ü 2 – Unauthorized Burning Calls
ü 2 – MVA’S
ü 1 – Haz Mat
ü 1 – Brush Fire
ü 1 – Structure Fire
ü 1 – Overpressure
ü 1 – Checkout
Training Division:
· We conducted Chiefs interview for Firefighter positions. Completed development of upcoming auto extrication training. In addition, we completed the Firefighter 4 month testing process.
POLICE SERVICES
Service Demands:
Calls for Service 2,029
Criminal Investigations 242
Arrests 81
Staffing Levels:
Sworn Personnel- 87
Deployed 77 (11 Officers: Field Training)
Vacancies 1
Non-Sworn Personnel- 47
Deployed 42
Vacancies 3
Special Operations Division:
Investigations
· Late Sunday Evening Investigators were called to assist the Stanislaus County Sheriffs Office and Foster Farms Security regarding the theft of copper from one of Foster Farms properties. A search warrant was obtained by our investigators and a search of a property west of the city limits of Turlock was served. The stolen property was recovered and several arrests are expected in the near future.
Neighborhood Services
· Staff from Neighborhood Services participated in the Turlock Shines Community Clean up. This event lasted from 0730 hours to 1200 hours. Turlock PD staff worked with 6 groups that cleaned alleys, right of ways, and also some private property. The groups involved were Turlock Covenant Church, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Huntington Learning Center, Westside Ministries, Turlock Unified Office Curriculum and Turlock Scavenger. Turlock Scavenger allowed free dumping which ended up being over 11 tons of trash and refuse. Muni Services also assisted with the project at Donnelly Park where children activities took place while the adults worked.
Field Operations Division:
Traffic Safety
· This week the Traffic Unit participated in a Car Seat Safety Check-up at Walgreen’s as part of the “Buckle-Up Stanislaus” grant. Many vehicles were inspected and nearly all of them had car seats installed improperly. Dozens of children left safer that day.
Significant Events and Trends
· Auto Theft Arrest – While a CSO was in the process of taking a stolen vehicle report, an officer located the vehicle parked and occupied at West Avenue and Main Street. As the officer was conducting a consent search of the vehicle, the dispatcher realized that the plate matched that of the stolen vehicle the CSO was now taking. The officer was made aware of this and as he was preparing to take the first suspect into custody, the suspect took off running. The suspect was eventually located in a backyard and arrested. The second suspect did not leave the scene and it was discovered that he was wanted by State Parole.
· Missing Juvenile Investigation –The mother of an eight year old boy reported that the child did not come home from Wakefield School. Patrol officers began an initial search of the boy’s home in the 900 block of Vermont Street as well as several relative’s homes on the same block. After the child was not located during the initial search, Officers requested additional resources. Due to the length of time that the child had been missing, significant resources were pulled together. Off-duty Police Officers and Firefighters, Explorers, Cadets, VIPS and command staff responded. A ground search was started and the Principal of Wakefield School assisted with utilizing the school’s Parent Notification phone system to call the homes of all Wakefield students looking for the missing child. The Polly Klaas Foundation and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children were notified. At about 9:30 A.M. the next morning, the missing child was found at a neighbor’s house after the resident of that house heard of the massive search. Searchers were five doors away from knocking on the door of the house where the missing child was located. The missing child had spent the night at a friend’s and his parents had not been informed.
· Theft of Copper- A theft of copper wire was reported from Foster Farms in the 4000 block of West Main Street. Foster Farms had placed a GPS device inside the wire spool due to prior similar thefts. The spool was located out in the county and a detective responded assisted by officers. The property was recovered and the detective has several leads.
