General Plan Update moves to Council for September public hearing It's been over a three-year process, but the City of Visalia's General Plan Update is nearing its completion. The plan now goes through a public hearing process with the Visalia City Council. A Special public hearing will be held Monday, Sept. 8, at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, 707 W. Acequia Ave. The City is conducting an outreach effort to inform the public of the final stages of this process. To learn more about the General Plan Update, go to www.visaliageneralplanupdate.com.

District Election Process Kicks off with Community Meetings Have a Voice and help draw the boundaries for 2016 district elections. The City invites you to attend an important series of community meetings that need your input and participation for a successful outcome in developing five voting districts to elect City Council members beginning in November, 2016. Two meetings to explain the process and the criteria used to draw five City Council districts will be held: Thursday, Sept. 25 at 6:30 p.m., at Linwood Elementary School Multi-Purpose Room, 3129 S. Linwood St., and Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. at Manuel Hernandez Community Center, 247 W. Ferguson Ave. For more information on the City's District Election process, including links to public participation kits, click here.

Hilti's New Service Center Opens in Industrial Park Mayor Steve Nelsen and Vice Mayor Warren Gubler along with Prof. Dr. Pius Baschera, Chairman of the Board of Hilti Corporation, and other executives from Hilti were on hand for the company’s recent grand opening of a new service center location.  Hilti is expanding their distribution and service network in Visalia,  in preparation for future growth.  While Hilti has had a presence in the Visalia community for almost 20 years, the growing customer base and changes within the logistics structure prompted the opening of a new service center in order to expand its operations.  The new service center location is triple the size of the previous space in consideration for future expansion. This location allows Hilti to better serve their customers with state-of-the-art technology and equipment.  Hilti-certified technicians will perform tool repairs, laser calibrations, battery checks and maintenance at this new facility.  Currently employing approximately 30 service professionals, this large expansion allows Hilti the possibility to expand according to future market needs.