October 21 newsletter
Fall/Winter Water regulations in effect: With the end of the dog days of summer comes the change in Stage 4 water regulations for all City residents. From Oct. 1-31, residents may water their lawns on their designated days two times a week. In November and December, watering will only be allowed one day a week, with no watering in January and February. Watering landscape accounts for nearly 60% of all City water usage, so Make Every Drop Count. When Stage 4 regulations began in April, with only one day a week allowed, water usage dropped by 14%. That trend continued in May with a 12% drop in water usage going to two days a week. For more tips on how to conserve our most precious resource, go to www.gogreenvisalia.com.
Make a Difference Day on Oct. 25 by planting trees: More than 200 volunteers are needed to plant native trees and plants along a stretch of Packwood Creek in southeast Visalia on Make A Difference Day Oct. 25. This is a family-friendly project for people of all ages. Bring rakes, shovels and wear clothes that can get dirty. Work begins at 8 a.m. and ends at noon. Meet at McAuliff Street and Tulare Avenue. The Urban Tree Foundation designed this project in partnership with the city of Visalia, said Brian Kempf of Urban Tree. CSET is installing the irrigation system. On Make A Difference Day, the ground and holes will be ready for volunteers to show up and do the planting. “We’ll do six to seven weeks of preparation and it will get planted in one morning,” he said. “A lot of hands make light work.” For more information, contact Visalia’s Joel Hoyer at 713-4384. To volunteer on Make A Difference Day, go to www.makeadifferenceday.com and type in your ZIP code.
Council awards 24 grants to non-profits: At its Oct. 20 regular meeting, the City Council approved the recommendation by the Citizen Advisory Committee and awarded 24 grants with amounts ranging from $1,200 to $5,100 to non-profits submitting proposals. The Council had authorized the award of $65,000 in non-profit grants for fiscal year 2014-15 to eligible non-profit agencies providing services to youth in the City of Visalia. A non-profit grant subcommittee was established by the CAC to review and select the grants. A total of 54 applications from 29 different agencies were received with a total requested amount of $301,656. The CAC subcommittee recommended awarding 24 grants to 21 agencies, and that was approved by the CAC at its Oct. 1 meeting. Guidelines for the grants require that at least 50% of the funding be allocated to self-designated programs as gang intervention/prevention with a maximum grant amount of $6,500 and a minimum award of $1,000. For a list of the programs awarded grants, click here.
Other Council news: The Council approved the expenditure plan for the 2014 Citizens Option for Public Safety Program (COPS) funds totaling $204,637 to be used to fund 1.5 police officer positions, $86,850 for equipment, $26,000 to replace a gang unit vehicle, and $10,000 for training. To view the staff report, click here.
Project design meeting on Mineral King Sewer trunkline on Oct. 28: Citizens are invited to provide input on this project, which consists of installing a new sewer pipeline in Mineral King Avenue from Locust Street to about 1,200 feet west of Woodland Street at a Project Design Meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28, at City Hall, 707 W. Acequia Ave. The project will involve night work, road closures along portions of Mineral King Avenue and adjacent side streets, and other traffic restrictions. The City is nearing completion of the engineering design for this project and this meeting will provide an opportunity for you to learn about the project and how it will impact the surrounding area and provide input/concerns you may have. City staff will be available to discuss the project and answer questions. If you have questions on the project, you may contact Project Manager Chris Crawford at [email protected] or call 713-4331.