TO: Mayor and CouncilFROM: Executive Team
DATE: September 3, 2008
RE: ACTIVITY UPDATE – WEEK OF August 23-29, 2008
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
· The University's Center for Public Policy Studies has completed its work with community members and homeless advocates with the completion of a draft charter and bylaws to govern the formation of the Turlock Homeless Action Committee. This document will be sent out in September to eleven community and business groups which the study identified as having a significant interest in solving the problem of homelessness in Turlock. These groups will be invited to send a representative to join and assist the efforts of the Action Committee. The Assistant City Manager and the Neighborhood Preservation Staff have been attending and assisting in this work.
Economic Development/Redevelopment:
· Economic Development/Redevelopment Manager met with a commercial broker to provide information and brief him on the WISP.
· Economic Development/Redevelopment Manager is part of a Chamber and community group formed to encourage citizens to shop locally. A multi-pronged advertising campaign will be initiated in the Fall.
Housing Program Services:
· Staff has just received word from the State of California that the City of Turlock has passed the first round for the Cal Grant application submitted last month. If our application is successful funding for an additional 15 families would be available for the First Time Home Buyers Program. Successful applicants will be notified early October 2008.
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
· The Development Collaborative Advisory Committee held a workshop to discuss the topic "Variations from Signed Plans". The meeting was attended by several members of the development community and assisted by DSD staff. Several scenarios were discussed as well as a distinction between issues that were from years ago versus issues that have come up in the recent past. The issues and subsequent action items will be included in the DCAC's report to the City Council.
MUNICIPAL SERVICES
Regulatory Affairs Division:
· City staff along with County and TID staff met in Sacramento with the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, formerly the Reclamation Board. The purpose of this meeting was to request the direction from the board regarding the future of Gomes Lake facilities and related infrastructure.
· The City Manager, as well as Municipal Services and Finance staff met with TID, Modesto, Ceres, and Hughson to discuss the Surface Water Project and strategies for financing of the project. Staff will be presenting to Council further information during the second Council meeting in September.
· Automatic Car Wash: Staff met with representatives from Prime Shine Car Wash to discuss their current community outreach/information program. Their efforts are aimed at informing citizens of the environmental benefits to automatic car washing, such as water conservation and pollution prevention. They also are offering a fundraising program service for charitable organizations. We are looking at viable alternatives for community groups to still do fundraisers without the adverse impacts of charity car washes on water use and water quality.
· Municipal Services Newsletter: Just a reminder that the Municipal Services Department has a new department newsletter, which offers up-to-date information on current issues, events and public announcements. If you would like to sign up to receive the publication, preferably by email, you can sign-up online at http://ci.turlock.ca.us/aboutturlock/emailupdates/ or by sending a request to tcordell@turlock.ca.us.
· Storm Drain Stencil Event: In order to protect our local watershed, the City of Turlock, along with a group of community volunteers, is organizing a storm drain stenciling and community outreach program. The message “The Solution = No Pollution, drains to river,” will be stenciled on storm drains throughout the City to provide a visible reminder of the consequences of improper waste disposal in storm drains. The stenciling program also consists of distributing educational materials to residents. The Storm Drain Stenciling Project is open to volunteers from all community clubs, groups and organizations. The program kick-off event will take place on Saturday, September 27th at 9:00 am at the Turlock Youth Center. The Municipal Services Department encourages anyone who maybe interested in participating in this event to call ext. 4474 or e-mail tcordell@turlock.ca.us for more information on how to sign-up.
· Water Meter Project: A staff coordination meeting was held to review procedures for completing the water meter installation project. Furthermore, we reviewed internal procedures to assist with metered billing and keeping customer information data up-to-date once the new billing system is deployed.
· New NPDES Permit for Water Quality Control Facility: We continue to provide data to the Regional Board’s contractor related to their preliminary work on updating the City’s NPDES Permit which establishes the water quality limits for the city’s effluent.
Utility Maintenance:
Water System Projects
· Repaired the 2” RP device at Golden State and Christoffersen
· Repaired the fire hydrant at the corner of Fifth St & Linwood, 1075 Teakwood, Old Vineyard & Zinfandel.
· Repaired the leaking water service at 1403 Andleman, 2720 Marshall, 3075 N. Walnut and 3101 Hotel Dr
· Lowered the water service in the meter box at 1685 Ramson
· Upgraded and installed a 2”meter at 1317 Colorado
· Replaced the 1” meter at 1745 Carnegie
· Raised the G-5 valve boxes to grade at 1500 Venture
· Tested 4 City backflow devices
· Miscellaneous fire hydrant maintenance, 7 in Grid H-6
Sewer and Storm System Projects
· Repaired 3’ of 6” sewer mainline block of Sierra St
· Repaired a sink hole around catch basin at the corner of Tapestry & Christoffersen
· Cleaned 3,230 ft of existing sewer main and 10 catch basins
· Cleaned 6 sewer lift stations
· Televised 4,703 ft of existing sewer main Grid D5
· Rodded/cut 1,765 ft of roots and grease, existing sewer main
· Televised the sewer lateral at 630 Crane
· Cleaned 11 storm lift stations
Miscellaneous and Special Projects
· Water meter project
Electrical/Mechanical Projects
· Installed new 15 hp Flygt pump and base with guide rails at Storm #31. Fabricated 10 inch discharge line and check valve to existing line feeding into Christoffersen Storm pond.
· Installed 100 hp motor at Well #20. Installed new mechanical seal. Flushed well and placed into service.
· Removed 350 hp motor from Well #37 due to bearing noise. Andrews Motors will rebuild this motor.
· Howk removed motor and well head from Well #39 to replace seal and top bushing. Warranty work- well online 1 year.
· Replaced UPS and level transducer for Tertiary Filter #3.
· Replaced card reader LCD screen at the CNG station.
· Shipped 11 valves to Hoerbiger to be rebuilt for spare units for CNG compressor.
· Completed weekly sewer lift checks. Pulled pumps at Sewer #54, #9, #61.
· Completed weekly cleaning and calibrations for WQC.
· Completed USA’s and streetlight work orders. Completed streetlight survey lights (additional 50 lights).
Fleet Maintenance:
Diagnosed and repaired vehicles/equipment for the following divisions and departments:
· Police – 7 work requests
· Transit bus -11 work requests
· Public Facilities -29 work requests
· Utility Maintenance -7 work requests (Electrical, Collections, and Water)
· Fire Dept. – 1 work request
· Engineering -2 work requests
· Operations – 2 work requests
Public Facilities Maintenance Division:
· Help support the City of Turlock’s Central Park Christmas Tree Replacement Project. The City is offering individuals and businesses the opportunity to donate $100.00 toward the purchase of a 60” box Deodar Cedar tree to replace the old Christmas tree that had to be removed recently because of the hazard it presented. The City will accept 50 – $100 donations and those who donate will get their names and dedications up to 40 characters (including spaces), engraved on a bronze plaque that will be permanently installed at the base of the new tree. Our goal is to have the tree planted in time for this year’s “Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony” on Nov. 28th. The donations will be accepted on a first come basis. Please call or send your check to Carla McLaughlin ext. 4409. Thank you for your support!
Parks
· Donnelly Park – Removed graffiti from the bathroom and repaired broken bridge from the wood play park.
· Bristol Park – Water main broke and had to shut the water down over the weekend to let it dry out for digging. Crews had to remove the air relief valve.
· Broadway Park – A report came in that a section of the sidewalk fronting the park had caved in. Staff removed and re-poured 5’ piece of sidewalk.
· Sunnyview Park – Staff repaired12 sprinklers that were vandalized, the heads were kicked off and water was flooding the area.
· Pedretti Sports Complex – General maintenance, mowing, blowing, edging, weeding, and irrigation repairs throughout the Complex. Painted and prepared fields for games. Trimmed low hanging tree limbs and worked on irrigation in the field 5 parking lot. Resealed pavement inside park, welded locks on all gates, spikes drug and leveled area on ball fields. Painted 1 table in the play area and fixed table board in covered area. Painted trash dumpster that had graffiti on it.
· Turlock Regional Sports Complex – On Tuesday, August 26th, we had approximately 50 kids trespassing that we asked to leave. The next day on Thursday, August 28th we had approximately 85-100 kids trespassing that we again had to ask to leave.
Streets
· Crews worked 8 hours smoothing/eliminating humps on northbound Golden State.
Potholes
· The plant was opened for 5 days. The patch truck ran for 2 days and staff used 2 tons of hot mix to fill in potholes and used 1/4 ton of cold mix. The patch truck crew has been working on other assignments.
Sign work
· Installed, replaced, and removed 13 street signs throughout Turlock.
Tree work
· Trimmed branches away from signs and signals in 3 separate locations around Turlock.
Public Calls
· low branches over roadway at Kellogg and Monte Vista
· debris in roadway on Aptos
· low broken branch on N. Quincy
· speed limit sign post knocked down on W. Olive near W. Main
Graffiti Abatement and Yard Sign Removals
· Cleaned, painted and removed graffiti in 12 miscellaneous locations around Turlock.
· Removed 19 yard signs from miscellaneous locations around Turlock.
Recreation Division:
· In an effort to positively engage community youth, Recreation Division staff proposed and designed a leadership skill building program for Teens. The Teens in Action Program is being led by Recreation Supervisory staff in collaboration with TUSD, the Chamber and a volunteer Steering Committee. The Program held its first meeting Wednesday, August 20th. The Program Steering Committee, which consists of involved community leaders, developed the program outline, program budget, along with participation rules and guidelines. Each month students will learn leadership skills and develop an educational knowledge of the City of Turlock, the community and business. 19 teens are participating in the 2008-2009 leadership training Class.
· Adult Summer Softball League completed its fourteen week season last week. There were 89 teams this summer. The top three teams from the fourteen different divisions of play advanced to playoffs to determine the league champions. Fall league softball will begin September 2. Schedules were sent out on August 27 for this league. 70 teams are registered for the fall league. The youth baseball tournament scheduled for Pedretti Park on August 23/24 was canceled by the tournament director because of a lack of teams.
· Recreation Staff have been attending Back to School Nights as a means of creating community awareness regarding the benefits of having youth involved in positive programs and activities. Thus far, over 400 youth have registered to participate in the (Positive Leisure Activities for Youth) P.L.A.Y. Program.
· Staff attended a meeting with staff from the Gallo Center for the Arts. The purpose of the meeting was to create a partnership in efforts to involve youth in the programs that are currently being planned at the Center. One program in particular titled “Cranked” will be coming to the Gallo Center next May. The performance deals with the effects of drug abuse.
· Recreation and Arts staff will be participating in the “Turlock Shines” Community event to be held on Saturday, October 4. The event is being organized by community volunteers with the focus being “Community Clean-up”. Recreation programs support community stewardship amongst youth and families.
Buildings
· War Memorial and Senior Center buildings: General cleaning and maintenance, building set up as required for renters per notification by the Recreation Division.
· City Hall: General cleaning and maintenance, and other miscellaneous duties as requested by City Departments through the Work Order process.
· Columbia Center, Rube Boesch, Corporation Yard and WQC Buildings: General cleaning and maintenance.
· Police Department: Restored floors and restrooms.
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, August 19th staff collected quarterly ground water samples within the Facility. On Wednesday August 20th 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 worked on numerous major paint projects throughout the facility.
· Staff cleaned three winter sludge drying beds and continued adding water and tilling windrows for the compost operation.
· The Contractor continued working on the Fuel Cell Project. Major pieces of equipment will be arriving next week.
· The WQC Facility has encountered 250 days without a lost time accident.
FIRE SERVICES
Operations:
· Fire Services responded to 85 calls for service for the week of 8/12 through 8/27.
ü EMS calls – 51
ü Canceled Enroute Calls – 6
ü Public Assist Calls – 4
ü Structure fires, both with minor damage – 2
ü Police Assist Calls – 2
ü Vehicle Fires – 2
ü False Alarms – 2
ü Dumpster Fire – 1
ü Unauthorized burning Call – 1
ü Fence Fire – 1
ü Vehicle vs. Pedestrian – 1
ü Smoke Detector sounding – 1
ü Wrong Location – 1
· Troy Gonzales was promoted to Captain and moved shifts.
Training:
· This past week our Fire Fighters completed their quarterly EMS instructor based training.
· We are continuing to work on training and skill sign offs for our probationary Firefighters.
POLICE SERVICES
Service Demands:
Calls for Service 2233
Criminal Investigations 259
Arrests 104
Staffing Levels:
Sworn Personnel- 86
Deployed 77 (8 Officers: Field Training, 2 Officers: Police Academy).
Vacancies 4
Non-Sworn Personnel- 46
Deployed 41
Vacancies 5
Special Operations:
Investigations
· Investigators have been focusing their time on investigating a robbery suspect that has been active in Turlock and Manteca. The subject has been armed but has not been violent at any of the robberies. We have good suspect information and some video. We are working with other agencies in the area and are hoping to identify the subject soon.
Neighborhood Services:
· Staff and patrol officers contacted several homeless subjects at Broadway and “A” Street regarding personal property left in the street. The property was identified as trash and another truck load of property was taken to the dump. Animal Control Officers also responded to deal with a dog tied to a fence in the alley way adjacent to the City Parking Lot.
Field Operations Division:
Traffic Safety
· The whole unit was called out to assist patrol with an auto/pedestrian accident that occurred on Lander & South. The pedestrian was medi-flighted to Modesto where it was determined that she sustained broken bones.
· Sgt. Lugo and Administration met with the traffic camera company (Redflex) for a presentation on their product. This project is near completion; surveys are done and they are ready to proceed.
· Members of the Traffic Unit competed in a motorcycle skills training and competition in Elk Grove. The team worked hard and ended up with two 3rd place awards in both the team and individual classes.
Significant Events and Trends:
· Home Invasion Robbery – Officers responded to a report of 6-8 subjects who forced their way into a residence in the 500 Block of Clover. The subjects stole money from the residents and at least one was armed with a weapon.
· Pursuit / Auto Theft Arrest – An officer attempted to stop a vehicle for traffic violations near E. Olive & Center St. The vehicle failed to yield and a pursuit ensued, lasting approximately 10 minutes. The vehicle finally yielded and four subjects were taken into custody without further incident. During the pursuit, the occupants threw out two .45 caliber handguns (both recovered). When officers searched the vehicle, they also found body armor in the trunk. The vehicle was determined to be an unreported stolen vehicle from Turlock. Detectives were called out to assist with interviews.
· Pursuit / Auto Theft Arrest – Officers located a reported stolen truck in the area of Fosberg & Fullerton. The vehicle failed to yield and a pursuit ensued, lasting approximately 3 minutes. A juvenile was taken into custody and booked into Juvenile Hall.
· Auto Theft Arrests – Although auto thefts continue to be a problem around the city, our officers were able to locate/recover approximately 15 of them this week – usually within hours of their being stolen. Additionally, of those recovered at least 6 of them resulted in arrests.