This document is the City of Turlock Activity Update for the week of February 7 – 13, 2009. The activity update is meant to keep the Turlock City Council and all areas of the government organization on the same page. The community may also view the complete document here at TurlockCityNews.com as it was sent out by the City of Turlock.
TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: Executive Team
DATE: February 14, 2009
RE: ACTIVITY UPDATE – WEEK OF FEBRUARY 7-13, 2009
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
· The Assistant City Manager met with staff from IT and Municipal Services on using the PEG (public, education, government) capital facilities revenue to improve the video and audio broadcast of the City Council meetings.
· The Assistant City Manager and Housing staff inspected foreclosed houses and met with the Central Valley Coalition for Affordable Housing to discuss possible sales.
Economic Development/Redevelopment:
· Economic Development/Redevelopment Manager met with Downtown Property Owner’s Association Executive Director and CSUS representatives to discuss development of a downtown second floor inventory compiled by urban geography students.
Housing Program Services:
· No new items to report.
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
Planning Division:
· The City Council and Planning Commission will hold a joint meeting on February 19 to kick-off the general plan update process. The agenda and staff report, including an outline for the discussion, will be available online at the General Plan Update web page: http://www.gpupdate.turlock.ca.us. The web site is now up and running, as well as a special e-mail address for members of the public to transmit comments: gpupdate@turlock.ca.us. To minimize City costs, the staff will use the website and e-mail as much as possible to notify members of the public of upcoming events and new information. An automatic e-mail notification system has been set up to notify subscribers any time the web page is updated with new information. The first General Plan Update Community Meeting is scheduled at the Turlock Senior Center starting at 6 pm on Thursday, March 26. We encourage everyone to attend!
· The Hwy 165 Project Study Report is starting back up again. Agreements have been reached with all of the affected agencies- the City of Turlock, Merced County, Stanislaus County and Caltrans regarding the growth forecasts to be utilized in the study. A meeting was held last week with the technical “project development team” to review the preliminary draft purpose and need statement, and the preliminary “no project” traffic analysis. The Policy and Citizens’ advisory committees will be reconvened in March to consider the purpose and need statement. If everything goes well, the first public meeting to seek input on potential alignments should be scheduled in the late spring or early summer.
· Mike King of A & A Portables attended a predevelopment meeting regarding a possible mini storage (using cargo containers) operation at 1351 Fulkerth Rd. Staff’s primary comments on the project were related to the necessity for significant on-site improvements including landscaping, screening, paving, parking, fire and accessibility access. The applicant was advised of the different planning, building and engineering permits that would be required for this project to go forward.
· Staff met with a potential buyer for 400 B Street who is interested in using the warehouse for ancillary storage for his existing business. He is interested in making small modifications to the doors and ramps. There will be no employees on-site but they are interested in installing a toilet in the building that would hook-up to the outdoor storage tank. The tank would be the responsibility of the property owner to maintain and ensure it does not develop any leaks. The tank does need to be screened from the public right of way.
Capital Improvement Projects:
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Capital Projects under construction
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$ 27,880,226.91
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Completed Capital Projects
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$6,244,464.51
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Number of Capital Projects currently under construction
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17
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Number of Completed Capital Projects
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10
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Total of Capital Projects budgeted for FY 08/09
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$77,821,836.00
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Projects in Construction
· Golden State and Tuolumne Road Signal, Contract Amount $1,786,903.95: Teichert is still planning on paving February 19th and 20th, weather permitting.
· Water Reservoirs and Pump Stations, Contract Amount $6,144,300.00: Waiting for the coating to be applied to the tanks.
· CNG Slow Fill Station, Contract Amount $216,542.00: Plans have been submitted to the Building Department for their review.
· Fire Station #1 Parking Lot, Contract Amount $436,327.85: Contractor started removing the storm water chambers on site.
· Traffic Signal at Orange & South Avenue, Contract Amount $178,213.00: All four ramps have been poured and the controller cabinet has been installed.
· Interim Police Evidence Facility, Contract Amount $1,004,810.00: Landscaping has started and the contractor is working on the finish details. Occupancy is expected to be by the end of the month.
· Commercial Water Meters, Contract Amount $1,031,945.00: In the contract stage.
· Trench Repair 08/09, Contract Amount $142,489.00: The contractor has finished the trench work on West Main Street and the road is now open.
· Antenna at Fire Station No. 1, Contract Amount $77,876.64: Submitted plans to the building department.
· RFP’s – Landscape/Signage Beautification Project: Staff has selected Gates & Associates out of San Ramon, California and will take to council for their approval.
· Tennis Court Resurfacing at Columbia Park, Contract Amount $17,505.00: In the contract stage.
· Renovations at Columbia Park: The engineer’s estimate for this project was $330,000. The apparent low bidder is Harris Builders of Hilmar with a bid of $207,500.00. This will go to council for approval on March 10th.
· Broadway Sidewalk, Contract Amount $158,593.00: The contractor has a minor punch list to complete.
· Fire Station #4 Roof Repair: In the contract stage.
· Kilroy and N Walnut Road Pump Stations: Out to bid, opening on February 26th.
· Columbia Park Play Area: Out to bid, opening on March 5th.
Projects in Design
· West Main Street and Fransil Signal: Working on acquiring right of way.
· Colorado and Monte Vista Signal Interconnect: Waiting for authorization from Cal Trans, which is expected to be in March.
· City Hall Projects: Staff is creating a Request for Proposal.
· Water Line Replacement: Working on the improvement plans.
· Sewer Line Replacement: Working on the improvement plans.
· Well #40: The well drilling is complete and the contractor will be ordering the pump.
· Prop 1B Overlays: Surveying has been completed; now staff is preparing the plans.
· Slurry Seal for Assessment Districts
Traffic & Transit
· The Federal Transit Administration review will be held at the end of April. Staff is gathering pertinent paperwork that is required for the audit.
· Staff is attending meetings with STANCOG pertaining to the amount of funds the city will be receiving once the Stimulus budget is passed.
Land Development
· The Senior Civil Engineer has approved the Lander Crossing’s and Emanuel Medical Center parking lot expansion improvement plans.
· A member of the Development Team has completed updating the Land Development page of the City’s web site.
Active Submittals in process
· 13 – Improvement Plans
· 7 – Parcel Maps
· 16 – Subdivision Maps
· 3 – Lot Line Adjustment
· 6 – Road Dedications / Public Utility Easements
· 1- Abandonment
· 16 – Approved Plans waiting for permits to be issued
· 1 – Capital Project
Land Surveying
· The survey crew has been working on the following projects.
ü Construction staking for City Project #6974, Water Reservoirs and Pump Stations.
ü Completed working on boundaries for City Project #0764, Traffic Signal at South Avenue and Orange intersection.
ü Re-verified monuments for Turlock Park Villas Subdivision.
ü Additional topography for City Project #0869 – Canal Drive Reconstruction.
Public Works Inspectors
· City Project # 0850 – “Various Trench Repairs” project has begun this week along West Main Street.
MUNICIPAL SERVICES
Utility Maintenance Division:
Water System Projects
· Repaired the fire hydrant, damaged in a car accident, at 886 Alpha and at the intersection of Roberts & Adams.
· Excavated and prepared area at 3301 Fosberg for a 4” meter replacement.
· Upgraded the water service and installed a new meter at 401 E. Olive and removed and replaced sidewalk.
· Closed a private well at 1255 Geer Rd.
· Read commercial meters.
· Assisted West Valley in testing and replacing non-working End Points.
· Replaced the leaking water service at 860 Edwards.
· Repaired a leaking water service and installed a new 2” meter at 121 S. Center.
· Removed the temporary DC and made the tie-in at 1100 W. Glenwood.
· Raised the G-5 Street boxes on the water main line at 3131 W. Main St.
· Flushed 9 Wells.
· Collected 4 bacti samples at various locations.
· Installed 2- 1 ½” meters at 3004 & 3054 Humphrey Ct.
· Installed a RP device for the new Slow Fill CNG Station.
· Repaired a water leak at 2660 Marlee Dr and 1131 Angelus.
Sewer and Storm System Projects
· Repaired the sewer service at 2695 E. Canal, 4 ft.
· Ran water during storm.
· Installed a sewer clean-out at 2281 Arbor.
· Cleared sewer stoppage at 440 Locust.
· Cleaned 6211 ft of existing sewer main line , Monthly Maint list.
· Cleaned 12 Catch Basin and 2 Sewer lift stations.
· Televised the sewer service at 702 Flower, scheduled to replace.
· Repaired the vent pipe for the TID irrigation line at Linwood and Kilroy, City owned property.
Electrical/Mechanical Projects
· Removed pump 1 at sewer 4 due to leaking seal. Replaced with spare rotating assembly.
· Installed ph probe at Angelica Industry.
· Assisted T.I.D. with the removal and replacement of a street light on South First between D and F streets.
· Completed annual inspection on Flygt pumps 3 and 4 at secondary effluent, and pumps 1 thru 5 at the Bio-tower station.
· Replaced the low-low float at the secondary effluent station in wet well for pump 4.
· Completed weekly WQC calibrations and cleaning.
· Completed weekly sewer lift checks. Pulled pumps at sewer 54and sewer 9.
· Completed USA’s and street light work orders.
· Replaced the overload block for pump 2 at sewer 61.
· Replaced damaged copper line for clay valve at North East Backbone irrigation pump.
Telemetry
· Ongoing SCADA System Management and office duties.
· Wrote VCL program to output end of day NTU Data.
· 3 important points are now available on slide 17.
· Requested by Operations Staff.
· Storm SCADA monitoring.
· Redesign of Storm slide 187 and 188 to conform to standardization project of all slides.
· Designed 6 new bar graph data slides for Storm Stations.
· Slides 3800 thru 3805.
· Changed all Storm points that provided data for counter points from Analog to Accumulator.
· Wrote VCL program for start counts for Storm Pump Stations with ponds. (6 stations with 21 pumps)
· Better (additional) data presentation using horizontal bar graphs.
· 118 SCADA points changed from analog to accumulator.
· Made slides for Dan Frisch to use in his presentation at the Conference that he will be a Guest Speaker at.
· Modified 10 slides on Photoshop to remove any Industries names.
· Blurred out names and any contact names and numbers.
· Repaired problem with Chlorine Building PC running SCADA Excursion.
· 22 daily reports for Operations and Laboratory.
· Training Andrew Mikkelsen on advanced areas of the SCADA System.
Storage Tank Project
· Reviewed documents regarding instrumentation and SCADA interface to the controls and status of equipment.
· Began creating the naming convention for all points that will be used at each of these storage tank locations.
· Began some preliminary slide designs using the drawings provided in specifications.
Instrumentation
· Tested, cleaned and calibrated 24 WQC analyzers(Andrew Mikkelsen)
Trunked Radio System
· Attended meeting at Police regarding planning of new P25 Radio system.
· This will be the next major upgrade to the 800MHz Trunked radio System.
· Project 25 (P25) or APCO-25 refer to a suite of standards for digital radio communications for use by federal, state/province and local public safety agencies. P25 refers to Project
Security for Municipal Services
· Continuing preparation for Meeting on 26 Feb 09 @ 10:00
NIMS Training
· Prepared 6 computers at the OPSCON Console for use during NIMS training.
· I.T. made changes to access FEMA website.
· Preparing for NIMS Training for all of Municipal Services Staff that has not yet taken the online training.
· Wrote procedure for staff to follow when first sitting at computer in the OPSCON Center.
· Preparing downloads to assist in this training experience.
· Expecting over 60 City Staff members.
· The first employee has taken the course and successfully passed the final examination. (Andrew Mikkelsen)
· This will probably take an average of 3 hours per employee.
· Scheduling of the entire Municipal Services can now begin.
· 6 stations are available for use
· The use of headsets will be used as there are audio / video presentations.
§ The speakers on these computers are not useable (very low audio) and with students learning at individual paces, it would not be practical.
Miscellaneous
· Downloaded additional photos taken by Utilities staff of problem water meter locations and sent to Larry Gilley.
· Renamed 147 Photos from picture number 1,2,3, etc to address associated with each photo of water meter installation.
· Approximately 40 photos per day.
· This will be ongoing for quite some time as it
Fleet Maintenance:
Diagnosed and repaired vehicles/equipment for the following divisions and departments:
· Police – 7 work requests
· Transit bus – 19 work requests
· Public Facilities – 22 work requests
· Utility Maintenance – 14 work requests – included, Electrical, Collection and Water
· Fleet – 1 work request
· Engineering Dept. – 1 work request
· PM’s Preventive Maintenance work requests – 11 which include, A’s, B’s, CHP’s, Mini’s, etc.
Public Facilities Maintenance Division:
· On Feb. 5th, two staff members attended the free one day San Jose ’Convention and Traffic Expo’ presented by the ‘American Traffic Safety Services Association’. Staff attended the workshop covering compliance dates for retro reflectivity signage and its length of potential/expected lifespan. Exhibits consisted of Work Zone Safety items and employee protective equipment. Staff received information on possible cost-cutting methods such as traffic sign making machines and more efficient traffic line grinding machines along with information on thermo plastic machines that lay down longer lasting traffic lines thus reducing yearly painting applications. The convention was very informative and free of charge.
· On Wednesday, Feb. 11th, management staff attended the Parks and Recreation Community Services Commission meeting to give a monthly update on all projects and address any questions or concerns the Commission might have.
Parks
· Pedretti Sports Complex – The CSUS girls softball tournament this past weekend was a huge success. The games were rained out on Friday, but tournament play started up on Saturday and continued through Sunday. Crews worked very hard to dry the fields, making them safe and playable between rain showers.
· Central Park – Crews removed a broken curb that had been ‘pushed out’ from the roots of a large Modesto Ash tree. The dead tree was removed and the curb was repoured. Crews will relandscape the planter behind the Chamber building next week.
· Pruned trees at Donnelly Park, Ferreria Ranch Park, and Four Seasons Park.
· Graffiti continues to be a problem at all parks and throughout the City.
· Crews gopher baited the parks and continue to do general maintenance, mowing, blowing, edging, weeding, irrigation repairs, cleaning, rake soft fall and playground safety inspections daily at all City Parks and ponds.
Streets
· Crews sprayed Herbicide in the right of ways and street medians and repaired 25 potholes using 1 ton of cold mix.
· Fifteen tons of leaves were picked up in Zones 5, 6, 8 and 9. Another successful season came to an end on Feb. 9th. Great job staff!
· Crews replaced 6 miscellaneous street signs, picked up debris from accident in the 1100 block of E. Main, removed small rocks in the roadway at E. Glenwood near Greenhills, installed bus stop shelter at N. Olive and Wayside for ‘B’ Route, and re-painted yellow curbing surrounding business on south-east corner of Minerva and S. Center.
Assessments
· Crews placed decorative bark in the planters areas by the Towers on Colorado, Legends on Monte Vista, the Bike Path on Sunday Drive, and on Springer. Crews continue to prune all the trees in the Assessments and right-of-ways.
Buildings
· Fixed electric drain snake, cleaned graffiti at the Columbia Center, fixed door closure on the A Street side of City Hall, replaced toilet vacuum seal, and fixed valves on drinking fountains.
Recreation Division:
· Division Manager participated in meetings with Stanislaus Children’s Council. The purpose of the Council is to network and coordinate youth services within Stanislaus County.
· Parks and Recreation Commission held their monthly meeting. Commissioners were given a 2008 calendar financial and program report. Report highlights the following: in calendar year 2008, the Recreation Division brought in a total of $485,950 in grants, sponsorships and community donations. Revenue obtained from funds 110 and 309 totaled $2,072.318. Gross revenue General Fund alone was $1,076.030.
· Recreation Division Manager continues to work with TUSD in discussing the transition from year-round schools to traditional schools and the impacts this change will have on summer youth programs.
· Staff attended a meeting with the Mayor regarding a proposal by New Life Christian Center to hold a “Servolution Day” in the spring. Activities being discussed include: Community clean-up, food giveaway, community health information and activities for youth and families.
· Recreation has processed 219 “Fun for All” scholarship applications since July 1, 2008 for an expenditure of $11,541.00. Funding for scholarships is received through funds received from the CDBG grant. Scholarships are provided to underprivileged youth who qualify for the program.
· Teens in Action: On February 11th, the Teens in Action members held their monthly meeting. The participants met at Emanuel Medical Center, where they toured operating room and other facilities. In the afternoon, the participants walked to the Tower Health and Wellness Center and were treated to a lunch sponsored by Toscano’s Ristorante. Teens were given a tour of the Tower and learned about the services that are provided. Applications for the 2009/2010 year will be available mid-March.
· Jr. High School Dance: On Friday February 27th, there will be a Jr. High School Dance at the War Memorial. This dance is open to all 7th & 8th graders in the Turlock Service Area. The dance will run from 6:30 – 9:00pm.
Water Quality Control Division:
· The Regional Water Quality Control Facility is operating well. Preventative maintenance activities during this period were conducted by staff.
· Staff collected Influent Priority pollutant samples on Monday February 2, 2009. On Wednesday February 4, 2009 Staff collected the required weekly R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5 samples along with the Quarterly outfall samples.
· Staff drained, cleaned, and inspected the north section of the Chlorine contact tank. This process is used to allow a longer period of contact time between the Facilities Final Effluent and a desired Chlorine Solution to ensure proper disinfection and protect the environment downstream of the Facility. The Final effluent is dechlorinated after this process to remove any Chlorine residual that could affect the environment downstream.
· Staff responded to a report of a “chalky, white substance” being discharged into the Harding Drain via our outfall line. Upon inspection it was determined that unknown persons had “dumped” a slug load of milk into our outfall line at an unknown location. Staff took samples of the liquid and notified the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
· Contractors continued working on the Fuel Cell Project. Representatives continued testing equipment.
· The WQC Facility has encountered 398 days without a lost time accident.
Regulatory Affairs Division:
· Stanislaus County Fair: Staff met with Turlock Scavenger and the Stanislaus County Fair CEO regarding recycling opportunities at this year’s fair. The theme of this year’s fair is “Renewable Fun.”
· Water Rate Update: We have been reviewing all residential and commercial accounts to ensure that we have accurate information to input into the financial model for the water rate update.
· Take Pride in Turlock: This year’s Take Pride in Turlock is scheduled for Saturday, May 16, 2009.
· Household Hazardous Waste: Stanislaus County will be collecting household hazardous waste this week-end at the Regional Water Quality Control Facility, 901 South Walnut Rd.
· Hazardous Materials Response: A meeting between fire and water quality control staff was held to better coordinate response procedures in the event of a hazardous materials spill. If hazardous materials enter the storm or sewer system, water quality control staff will be notified to help avoid an upset of the treatment process at the water quality control facility.
· Industrial Food Processor: We have been working with one of our industrial customers who has recently increased production at their Turlock facility to address an increase demand for their product.
FIRE SERVICES
Operations:
· Fire Services responded to a total of 86 emergency calls for service between 2/6/09 and 2/12/09. The break-down of calls were as follows:
ü 53 EMS
ü 7 Canceled Enroute
ü 5 No Patient Contact
ü 3 Good Intent Calls
ü 3 Smoke Detector Calls
ü 3 MVA’S
ü 2 False Alarms
ü 2 Checkouts
ü 2 Vehicle Fires
ü 1 Cooking Fire
ü 1 Building Fire
ü 1 Outside Equipment Fire
ü 1 Dumpster Fire
ü 2 Station Tours
· The structure fire was a mutual aid assist to Turlock Rural Fire Department to a mobile home that was involved as a drug lab.
· Performed a Fire Department and Emergency Operations presentation for the Turlock Amateur Radio Club. We are working on integrating this group into our Emergency Operations Plan
Training:
· All Engine Companies are training with the firefighters on the following subjects: Hose evolutions, dumpster and vehicle fires, EMT skills, CPR and Defib, Elder Abuse, ladder evolutions, Ladder Truck operations and extrication tools and extrication methods.
· Additionally, ongoing skills maintenance for probationary and newly promoted Firefighters, Engineers, Captains and Relief Battalion Chiefs includes task book and course book assignments, as well as, manipulative skills and exercises.
POLICE SERVICES
Service Demands:
Calls for Service 2268
Criminal Investigations 239
Arrests 88
Land Calls 201
Wireless Calls 144
Incoming Admin Calls 345
Outgoing Calls 1,016
Grand Total of All Calls 3,757
Staffing Levels:
Sworn Personnel- 86
Deployed 75 (11 Officers: Field Training)
Vacancies 6
Non-Sworn Personnel- 47
Deployed 45
Vacancies 2
Special Operations Division:
Investigations
· Investigators worked throughout the week on court preparation for upcoming trials as well as follow-up on their assigned caseloads.
· Several Investigators attended a county-wide robbery/homicide meeting in Modesto. These meetings will be on-going and allow Investigators to share information about outstanding cases and crime trends occurring throughout the county.
Neighborhood Services
· Staff continued to work on education and enforcement throughout the city regarding the shopping cart ordinance. Staff will be monitoring the Valentine’s Day street vendors around the city to ensure they have the appropriate permits.
Field Operations Division:
Significant Events and Trends
Traffic Unit
· The Traffic unit continued with efforts on commercial vehicle enforcement, citing several and locating one driver who had no license, three felony warrants (narcotics), and no current log book. He was arrested and the vehicle was impounded.
· As a result of stepped up commercial enforcement, there have been some complaints from trucking companies. They were referred to City Engineering for proper routing information.
Patrol Unit
Prowler Investigation
· An adult malewas arrested for prowling and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The minor was arrested for attempted burglary. The reporting party heard a knock at his door and did not answer it. He saw the above subjects walk to his neighbor’s house and knock on the door before they returned and knocked on his door again. He saw them walk into his backyard; walk out and down a pedestrian path towards the house to the rear of him. He saw the younger male in the backyard attempting to slide open the sliding back door. They left the yard and did not make any entry to the houses. Units located the two walking on Tully near Sorrel. They claimed they were attempting to distribute alarm system info. They denied being in any backyards.
Auto Theft Investigations
· A call was received of a stolen vehicle in the garage of a residence in the 200 block of Eagle Glen. The initial address was bad, but officers were able to locate the correct address. The reporting party saw suspects working on a vehicle, which she believed to be stolen. The reporting party also heard that the resident had stolen a Jetta from a dealership in Modesto. This information was passed on to a detective and the Stancatt agents conducted surveillance of the residence and witnessed a stolen vehicle leaving. They made the stop and took two suspects into custody. They also recovered a handgun in the vehicle and methamphetamine, which the suspects tried to throw, during the high risk stop. The agents recovered another stolen vehicle inside the garage. Arrests are pending for the operation of a chop shop for the resident who is currently in jail.