This document is the City of Turlock Activity Update for the week of April 04 – 10, 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: April 17, 2009
RE: ACTIVITY UPDATE – WEEK OF April 4-10, 2009
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
Economic Development/Redevelopment:
· Staff from various departments met in a pre development meeting with a plastics manufacturer looking to acquire the Varco Pruden site. The company is now conducting their due diligence study. If the company moves here they will generate approximately 50 jobs in the first phase.
· Mayor, City Councilmember Bublak, City Manager, City Attorney and Economic Development/Redevelopment Manager attended the ribbon cutting for the new Fairfield Inn and Suites.
· Building, Fire, Planning and Redevelopment staff, along with representatives of the Downtown Property Owner’s Association interviewed consultant teams that have submitted proposals for the Downtown 2nd Floor Analysis and Use Study.
· Economic Development/Redevelopment Manager provided an update on City activities to the Chamber Government Relations Committee.
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
· Development Services staff met with Rod Scott and John Williams to discuss development of the “Portifino” subdivision at the corner of Taylor Road and N. Berkeley Ave. This subdivision, consisting of small and large single-family residential lots, was finalized in 2005, but no homes have been constructed. Mr. Williams informed staff that the cost of pulling a permit vs. today’s sale price for some of the homes makes them virtually undevelopable. He wanted to discuss the possibilities of reduced or deferred fees to make construction “pencil out.” Staff encouraged Mr. Williams to meet with the Director of Development Services to further discuss his ideas.
· Predevelopment staff met with Merlin Plastics Company President Tony Moucachen and his team to discuss utilizing the old Varco Pruden building and site for the operation of their plastics recycling business. Some changes to the site are proposed but the majority of the site will be kept as is. Staff communicated extensive comments related to water and sewer rates/capacity as well as building, fire and engineering requirements. Staff advised the applicant that new structures would require permits. Staff is going to work with the applicants in the coming weeks to review preliminary site plans and provide information as needed.
Capital Improvement Projects
Projects in Construction
· Golden State and Tuolumne Road Signal, Contract Amount $1,786,903.95: Teichert and their subcontractors are on site completing the landscaping and installing the wireless detectors. The “turn-on” is scheduled for Monday, April 13th and on Tuesday Teichert will remove the barricades and open up the intersection.
· South Avenue and South Orange Street Signal, Contract Amount $178,213.00: This signal was turned on Wednesday, April 1st.
Traffic & Transit
· Staff was notified that the new bus is ready for a final inspection before delivery.
Building & Safety
· Among the 30 building permits applied for this week:
ü 2669 Geer Rd – Tenant improvement to add a service bar at “Mariachi’s” restaurant.
ü 3200 Countryside Dr – Vanilla shell improvements.
§ Among the 30 building permits issued this week:
ü 3045 N Tegner Rd – Tenant improvement for “Dollar Tree”
· Certificates of Occupancy were issued for the following projects:
ü 3004 Humphrey Ct – New warehouse building with office space
Public Works Inspectors
· The Railroad has been busy making repairs at South Tully and South Walnut, and they are now complete.
MUNICIPAL SERVICES
Recreation Division:
· Recreation Activity Guides were received and distributed to the community. The “Guide” may also be accessed on line from the City’s Website. In an effort to offset costs staff partnered with Cool Hand Luke’s Restaurant and Medic Alert, to place ads in the Guide. As a result $1,000 was received to offset costs of printing the Activity Guide.
· Pedretti Park was the host facility for the annual CSU, Stanislaus women’s fast-pitch Best of the West Tournament. Twenty teams from the Western Region (Utah, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii and California) utilized the city facilities for the three day tournament.
· Staff met with Turlock Youth Soccer Association representatives to discuss the future use of the Regional Sports Complex and the potential of re-negotiating an MOU. TYSA would like to renew their agreement prior to the end of the season.
· Staff participated in the implementation of the Every 15 Minutes program which took place at Pitman High School.
· Staff sent a letter to save Mart/Foodmaxx Community Relations Office requesting funding assistance to offset city costs of implementing recreation swim programs.
· Staff met with TUSD staff to discuss summer program options at various school sites.
· On Friday April 3rd, the Dance Etc. program ended their winter session with a Recital. There were 156 participants in the session, an increase of approximately 30 children from the last session. Due to the success of the program, two performances were held with approximately 400 people in attendance at each.
FIRE SERVICES
Training Division:
· The Probationary Firefighters are performing their 4 Month Probationary testing this week. The testing consists of a cumulative written exam on previous fire training subjects, a manipulative EMS patient assessment exam, manipulative hose evolutions and properly donning of their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) within the departments performance standard timeframes.
· Additionally, EMS skills assessments were conducted for all Fire Department members in house as part of annual refresher training and EMT recertification requirements. The Fire Division Chief, Training attended the Stanislaus County Advisory Committee meeting for Training Officers to pre-plan the County’s Wildland 2009 training exercise and receive information on recertification guidelines and documentation requirements.
POLICE SERVICES
Service Demands:
Calls for Service 2176
Criminal Investigations 255
Arrests 105
Staffing Levels:
Sworn Personnel- 86
Deployed 82 (6 Officers: Field Training)
Vacancies 5
Non-Sworn Personnel 46
Deployed 44
Vacancies 2
Field Operations Division:
Significant Events and Trends
Traffic Unit
· The Traffic Unit assisted with the 2-day “Every 15 Minutes” program at Turlock High School, educating teens on the dangers of drinking and driving. This is a multi-agency/organization effort wherein students, parents, educators, law enforcement and other public safety professionals re-enact a teen alcohol related traffic collision, with fatalities, to show the significant impact that alcohol related collisions have on families, friends and loved ones.
Uniformed Patrol
· Four officers went to Tracy, CA to assist Tracy PD and the FBI in the ground search for Sandra Cantu, the girl that has been missing for nearly a week. They did not return until 5:00 P.M.
· Callers reported several males, with guns, leaving a complex in the 100 block of Pedras in a brown Hummer. Officers locate the vehicle on Pedras. They conduct a high risk stop and take four suspects into custody. Two loaded handguns, ski masks, and latex gloves were located in the vehicle. The subjects had ties to the “Azian Boys,” an Asian criminal street gang from the Bay area. All four were booked on various charges.
· A suspect was arrested for burglary and forgery. He used false W-2 forms in an attempt to gain refunds from Liberty Tax Service. LTS had suspected him from previous frauds. They were able to get confirmation from the business and the refund was denied by the IRS. He admitted to the scam during the interview.
Special Operations Division:
Investigations
· Several investigators assisted the Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency in the latter part of the week. SDEA concluded a major investigation that culminated in the service of several search warrants in Turlock and several other communities in southern Stanislaus County and Northern Merced County. Other local, state and federal agencies were also involved. Other investigators spent the week preparing for court in the Band-Aid Bandit case which is scheduled to start next week.
