TO: Mayor and CouncilFROM: Executive Team
DATE: October 27, 2008
RE: ACTIVITY UPDATE – WEEK OF October 18- 24, 2008
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
· The Assistant City Manager attended the quarterly meeting of the Central San Joaquin Valley Risk Management Authority. The self insurance pool announced that Turlock will receive a refund of $159,980 from the liability insurance program after claims were closed for the period of 1999 – 2003.
Economic Development/Redevelopment:
· Economic Development / Redevelopment Manager attended the Alliance Board meeting.
· Economic Development / Redevelopment attended the Chamber Mixer at Costco.
· Economic Development / Redevelopment spoke at the Kick Off meeting for the Try Turlock First campaign – a marketing and public awareness campaign to stress the benefits of shopping locally and keeping our sales tax dollars in our community. The City of Turlock, Turlock Chamber, Downtown Property Owners Association and Turlock Journal are working together in this effort.
· Economic Development / Redevelopment participated in the Turlock Chamber and Visitors Bureau Board Retreat held at the Chamber office.
Housing Program Services:
· The Housing Division held the first community foreclosure prevention forum at Turlock Junior High School on October 22, 2008. This event allowed foreclosure counselors the ability to meet one-on-one with the families and prepare them for a work-out event scheduled in Modesto on October 25, 2008. A work-out event is attended by bank representatives where families are able to sit directly across the table and discuss their loan modification request with their prospective lender.
· The Housing Division will also look into the possibility of scheduling a work-out event in Turlock. The Turlock Journal was present during this event and will be presenting the information in their upcoming issue.
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
Planning Division:
· Predevelopment staff met with Mr. Robert Kolio to discuss converting an existing single family residence at 3606 N. Golden State Blvd. to a Donut Shop. The majority of the comments were related to the numerous on and off-site improvements (landscaping, parking, and frontage improvements) that would be required. Mr. Kolio was encouraged to consult with a design professional regarding the costs of these improvements and then decide on whether or not to move forward with the project.
· The property owner of 125 E. Taylor Road (northeast corner of Taylor Rd. and Geer Rd.) was sent a letter a few weeks ago regarding a complaint received by the Planning Division regarding the subdivision signs located adjacent to his property. The parcel is located in the County; however, based on surveys conducted by the Engineering Division, a majority of the signs are currently located in the City of Turlock right-of-way. Private signs are not permitted to be located in private right-of-way, whether used for advertising or political purposes, for safety reasons. Signs also may not be constructed within the clear vision triangle. The property owner has been notified that the signs must be removed from the public right-of-way and may be relocated on his private property, if permitted under the County zoning regulations.
· The Finance Department, Planning Division, and Building & Safety Division worked diligently over the past eight months to reduce the number of businesses on the “Businesses with Non-Compliant” business licenses list. The businesses and business owners applied for and received a business license but did not complete the process with the other responsible City departments. Approximately 35 business owners will be receiving a letter in the mail reminding them that they have not completed the process for operating their business in Turlock and requesting that they contact the Planning and/or Building & Safety Division so staff can help them complete the process and remove their business from the non-compliant List. The extensive research that staff has done has reduced the number of non-compliant business license list from approximately 400 businesses to 35 businesses.
Land Development Division:
· Active Submittals in process
√ – 14 – Improvement Plans
√ – 7 – Parcel Maps
√ – 15 – Subdivision Maps
√ – 1 – Lot Line Adjustment
√ – 5 – Road Dedications / Public Utility Easements
√ – 3 – Abandonment
√ – 15- Approved Plans waiting for permits to be issued
Land Surveying
· The survey crew continues to work on boundary research for City Project #0764 – Traffic Signal at Orange & South Avenue. They are currently plotting the topography for a base drawing to be utilized for the design for City Project #0847 – Sewer Line Replacement FY 08-09 and City Project #0848 Water Line Replacement 08-09.
· They are also working on staking for City Projects #0719, Fire Station #1 parking lot, and City Project #0604, Fairgrounds Sidewalk on N. Broadway.
Public Works Inspectors
· The Public Works Inspectors are constantly challenged with the latest regulations. They not only have to be familiar with the City of Turlock codes, standards and specifications, they also need to be familiar with the regulations from other agencies. Our construction within the City of Turlock frequently has to meet the requirements of agencies such as the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control Board and the Regional Water Quality Control Board. Environmental protection is certainly becoming more into focus everyday. As the desire for environmental protection increases, the regulations from these agencies are increased and modified as well.
MUNICIPAL SERVICES
Public Facilities Maintenance Division
Parks
· Broadway Park – The park was hit hard with graffiti in the bathrooms, water fountain, benches and tables. This has been an ongoing problem that requires hours of staff time to clean up.
· Central Park – The bronze donor plaque for the new Central Park Christmas Tree has been received and will be placed at the base of the new 72” box Cedrus Deodara-Deodar Cedar “California Christmas Tree”. The tree will be planted when the weather cools down and will be ready for the City’s Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on November 28th at 6:45 p.m.
· Cimarron Park – Crews will begin the installation of the new modular play equipment at the new park next week.
· Denair Park – Several locations of sidewalk had to be removed and replaced due to tree roots lifting the sidewalk in various locations around the park. Crews removed the old sidewalk, performed root pruning, and poured back the new sidewalk.
· Donnelly Park – The park was hit hard with graffiti on the wooden playpark structure. Crews had to use a sandblaster and grinder in the removal process. The cleanup took approximately 6 hours.
· Sunnyview Park – Worked on planter and installed irrigation around the new park identification sign. Installed a water service and drain for the dog/people drinking fountain at the Dog Park that was purchased through donations.
· Pedretti Sports Complex – Painted and prepared fields for Men’s slow pitch tournament and youth baseball tournament held this past weekend. Crews are working on fence repairs tying up fabric throughout the complex.
· 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 completing the fertilization of all parks, storm basins, and the Assessment Districts.
Streets
· Painted “Stop Ahead” and “Slow School Xing” in Zone 3. The patch truck ran for 1 day and used 1 ton of hot mix, replaced 8 miscellaneous street signs, trimmed branches away from stop sign at E. Canal and E. Main, removed hay in the road at Taylor and Walnut, and debris from an accident at Christoffersen and Berkeley, cleaned, painted and removed graffiti in 5 miscellaneous locations, and removed 56 yard signs from miscellaneous locations around Turlock.
Assessment District
· Laid sod that was donated to the City in the Northeast Basin, along the Bike Path, repaired irrigation, replaced tree stakes, pruned trees, and planted trees.
Recreation Division:
· During the month of September there were 1,439 registrations processed for total revenue of $104,692.89. A total of 120 rentals were processed with attendance of 5,035 and revenue total of $4,889.00. Facilities were rented for a total of 1821.75 hours with approximately 38,422 participants and total revenue of $11,644.00.
· The Recreation Guide which is normally distributed through the Turlock Bee will now be available at various community locations and at the Recreation Division Office. The next publication will be available the first week of December. Staff met with personnel from the Turlock Journal to provide information on future Afterschool and Summer programs.
· Staff coordinated and participated in a fundraising dinner at Chili’s Restaurant. 10% of the proceeds will go towards youth scholarships. Recreation Division staff are selling T-Shirts to youth in the Afterschool Program for $8.00 each; proceeds will go towards programs and scholarships. Thus far, $400.00 in donations has been received as a result of the fund-raising letter sent at the end of September.
· A presentation featuring Recreation programs and activities was presented to the Exchange Club members at Latif’s Restaurant. Staff attended the Convention and Visitors Bureau Retreat.
· Staff worked with I.T. to place a “Customer Service Survey on-line”. The survey will be utilized to evaluate and receive customer feedback on programs and activities.
· Two separate tournaments were played at Pedretti Park this past weekend. A one-day men’s slo-pitch tournament with 8 teams used two fields all day Saturday at the ball fields. While this tournament was being played, a youth baseball tournament was also utilizing two fields for a twelve team tournament for both Saturday and Sunday. This tournament was hosted by National Softball Association and Baseball Players of America. These two groups are both with the same organization; one is for softball needs while the other hosts baseball needs. This is the thirteenth tournament of the year for this group.
Utility Maintenance Division:
Telemetry
· Ongoing SCADA System Management.
· HSQ provided modified version of XviewNT.exe to David Keyser which was installed on Del’s desktop PC for operational testing. Several hours of testing proved to be successful to this point. Continued testing will include installation on Dan Frisch’s PC and Del’s Laptop for remote work
· Updating master SCADA point list, definitions, slide locations and related date for latest plant upgrade. Note: this file has 6101 lines of points, descriptions and other technical data. (very detailed and time intensive work). This is the master point inventory for the entire SCADA system.
· Continuing upgrading of Slides on SCADA system for standardization.
· Reviewing points list for points to be added to MISERtext alarm system.
· 22 daily reports for Operations and Laboratory.
Instrumentation
· Tested, cleaned and calibrated 24 WQC analyzers
Well Security
· Added four new cards to all 24 Well locations (Two for TID & Two for Municipal Services)
San Joaquin Training Room
· Set up for four meetings, Quarterly Meetings/Asbestos Training (2 days)
Water System Projects
· Replaced the fire hydrant in front of 1000 Pedras
· Repaired the sprinkler line, that was damaged during installation of the water meter, at 631 W. Minnesota
· Abandoned 2 unused 1” water services at Denair Park on Lyons St
· Replaced 3” gate valve at 185 N Tully, that was damaged by a private Contractor
· Replaced the damaged meter End Point at 921 E. Minnesota
· Abandoned a G-5 water box at Geer and Canal Dr
· Abandoned a 4’ monitor well at Sunnyview park
Sewer and Storm System Projects
· Repaired the sewer service for 421 and 423 Flower
· Installed a sewer cleanout at 694 Mitchell
· Cleaned a small amount of oil in the gutter at 2405 Dels Ln
· Cleaned and televised the sewer lateral at 405 Elmwood
· Repaired a manhole at N. Tully and Homer Way
· Cut roots & grease with Rodder – 750 feet
· Cleaned 9,517 feet of existing sewer mains in Grid D-6 (monthly & 6 month runs)
· Televised 3,533 feet of existing sewer mains in Grid D-6
· Poured back the concrete sidewalk at 2509 Yale Ct
· Replaced the 4” sewer service at 530 E. Minnesota
· Cleaned 2 catch basins and 4 sewer lift stations
Misc. And Special Projects
· Water Meter locates & information for up coming Water Meter Project.
· Attended a training on the safe handling of Asbestos Cement Pipe, given by HMS, Inc.
· Monty Miller, Derek Perry, and Brian Faria attended a safety seminar in Woodland.
· 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.
Fleet Maintenance
· Diagnosed and repaired vehicles/equipment for the following divisions and departments
ü Police – 22 work requests
ü Transit bus – 28 work requests
ü Public Facilities – 21 work requests
ü Utility Maintenance – 16 work requests ((Electrical, Collections and Water)
ü Operations – 6 work requests
ü Fire Department – 2 work requests
ü PM’s Preventive Maintenance work requests -17 which include A’s, B’s, CHP’s, Mini’s, etc.
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 Monday, October 13, 2008 staff collected the Effluent Priority Pollutant and Quarterly Outfall samples. On Wednesday October 15, 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 the yearly Nutrilock production.
· The Contractor continued working on the Fuel Cell Project.
· Staff attended the Quarterly staff meeting held by the Municipal Services Director.
· Representatives of the City of Modesto were on site to discuss the TID Fuel Cell agreement and tour the Project site.
· The WQC Facility has encountered 308 days without a lost time accident. Staff conducted the monthly Safety meeting.
FIRE SERVICES
Operations Division:
· Fire Services responded to 78 calls for service for the week of 10/17 through 10/23.
ü 49 – EMS
ü 5 – MVA’S
ü 3 – Fire Others
ü 3 – Dumpster Fires
ü 3 – Canceled Enroute
ü 2 – Smoke Detectors
ü 2 – Public Service Calls
ü 2 – False Alarms
ü 1 – Wires Down
ü 1 – Vehicle Fire
ü 1 – Assist Invalid
ü 1 – Police Assist
ü 1 – No Patient
ü 1 – Checkout
ü 1 – Grass Fire
ü 1 – Structure Fire*
* The structure fire was a single family dwelling at 1312 Myrtle Ave. The point of origin for the fire was on the outside of a converted garage into a bedroom. Fire crews were able to stop the fire from spreading to any other part of the house. There was an estimated loss of $10,000 dollars to the structure, and $2,000 dollars in loss to contents. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Electricity to the house was shut down by TID, and our Fire Marshal was able to work closely with the homeowners and an electrical contractor to get the permits to make necessary repairs to the building.
Training Division:
· Engine 22 was sent as part of a County strike team to Southern California last Monday. They returned late last Thursday, and were held in staging and unassigned for the duration of their assignment.
· The department is working with both Stanislaus County Fire Wardens office and Keyes Fire Department to assist with an “Emergency Response Plan” for the Cilion ethanol processing plant. All fire crews are completing department wide auto extrication training. This training is held at our drill grounds with the primary instructors from within our department.
Administration Divisions:
· On October 23, 2008, the department held an assessment center testing for an open Division Chief position.
Prevention Division:
· There have been numerous fires in alleys in the area of fire station 1 and the alley between Angelus and Vermont Streets. Engine companies and TPD doing extra patrol in areas.
· Commercial building is steady and staff is keeping current with plan reviews.
POLICE SERVICES
Service Demands:
Calls for Service 1843
Criminal Investigations 236
Arrests 75
Staffing Levels:
Sworn Personnel- 87
Deployed 77 (11 Officers: Field Training)
Vacancies 3
Non-Sworn Personnel- 47
Deployed 42
Vacancies 3
Special Operations Division:
Investigations
· Investigators were called out to assist patrol with an apparent gang-related shooting incident at Costco. The shooting suspects were in custody at the scene, but the victim fled prior to being contacted by the police. Investigators also responded to assist with another armed robbery involving the “Band-Aid Bandit” who has committed 20 other robberies throughout the Central Valley and Bay Area. Our investigators are working in conjunction with investigators from those areas to identify/apprehend the responsible person.
Animal Services
· Animal Services is investigating a possible animal abuse case that they were notified of this week, however they have yet to determine if the incident occurred within our city.
Neighborhood Services
· Neighborhood Services staff worked two days on the clean-up of the Forced Abatement at 410 S. Soderquist. Staff was able to dispose of a total of 25 tons of waste from the location.
Field Operations Division:
Significant Events and Trends
· Traffic Unit – The Traffic Unit completed a Red Light Enforcement detail focusing on violations at electronically controlled intersections. All Traffic Officers participated, concentrating on 3 intersections. Everyone was well behaved with only 15 citations issued. The event went from 1:30 to 4:30 P.M. and covered Lander at Glenwood, Golden State at Fulkerth and Tuolumne at Geer.
****WATCH FOR THE TRAFFIC CHANGE AT Golden State and ATHERSTONE. The light will flash red, through 10/23 and then begin cycling on Friday 10-24.
· Patrol Unit -Turlock/Pitman Football Game. During the Turlock vs. Pitman Football Game, there were approximately five different fights. Officers broke up one of the fights and detained a 17-year old female, after she was pulled off of another girl. Staff was encouraged by the recent comments of the new TUSD superintendent. He took responsibility for ensuring that next year’s event will not be a repeat of the poor behavior exhibited during this year’s Harvest Bowl by a few citizens.
· Driving Under Influence Arrests – While driving through the parking lot of a downtown drinking establishment in the 100 block of E. Main Street, an officer noticed a car backing out with the door open. One of the passengers was trying to get out and the driver did not realize it. The passenger was almost pinned by the vehicle. The driver was contacted and determined to be driving under the influence of alcohol, resulting in her arrest. The driver was a few days shy of her 21st birthday. The investigation is trying to determine how the driver was served alcohol.
· Robbery Investigation – A suspect robbed a convenience store at Golden State and Monte Vista and fled in an unknown vehicle. Approximately 15 minutes later, the same suspect robbed another convenience store on Geer near Wayside. This time, a citizen saw the suspect enter a vehicle and reported the information to Turlock Police. Officers discovered the vehicle a short distance away and made an enforcement stop. A firearm, stolen cash and merchandise are recovered. An adult male and juvenile were arrested for both robberies.