Reedley Exponent 1-31-19 E-edition

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Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654 | 50 cents No decision yet on Orange Cove animal shelter
Vol. 130, No. 5 | Thursday, January 31, 2019
Tentative agreement to
reopen facility falls apart
at Jan. 23 council meeting
By Juanita Adame
Juanita@midvalleypublishing.com
Both Orange Cove city staff and members of the Friends of Orange Cove Animal Shelter (FO- CAS), stepped into council chambers the evening of Jan. 23 thinking they had reached a revised agreement to reopen the shelter that had been closed by the city in late December.
But after a short presentation by Rudy Hernandez, interim city manager, followed by comments from FOCA representative Adriana Figueroa, both groups again were unable to reach a compromise. There is no set plan to ne- gotiate further before the council’s next sched- uled meeting in two weeks.
Hernandez told council members at the start of his presentation that they’d taken council’s instructions and the two groups had come to an agreement.
“We [FOCAS and city staff] brainstormed and I’d like to believe that we have presented
See ANIMALS on page A6
Adriana Figueroa, left, representative with the Friends of Orange Cove Animal Shelter, spoke to to the Orange Cove City Council on Jan. 23 as Rudy Hernandez, interim city manager at far right, and attorney Dan McCloskey listen.
Juanita Adame / The Exponent
Council to extend, grow impact fee discount plan By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
Reedley will continue, and even slightly increase, its De- velopment Impact Fee reduction incentive program that has been in place since 2015.
The council voted 4-0 – mem- ber Anita Betancourt was ab- sent — to approve a resolution continuing and expanding the program for an additional two years.
That means all current de- velopment impact fees, struc- ture, definitions and other re- lated items remain in place and includes the following enhance- ments:
• Two geographic areas for the program exist‚ the “City Center” and “Infill Area”
• The City Center reduction incentive would increase to 50 percent, and
• The 25 percent reduction incentive area would expand to include all infill areas within the city’s incorporated boundar- ies as of Jan. 1 of this year. For the program, the area is defined as “a project area that is sur- rounded by urban development on three or more sides.”
Rob Terry, the city’s commu- nity development director, said the program has logistical chal- lenges when it comes to the im- pact on existing neighborhoods but addresses the community’s help from every single angle.
“There’s the term or theory that commercial activity follows rooftops. I also believe that to be the reverse,” he said. “You get more interest in additional rooftops.
See IMPACT FEES on page A3
Discussing homelessness
ABOVE: Some of the more than 60 community members awaited the start of the first of six monthly Reedley Town Hall meetings, this one on Jan. 28 in the Reedley Community Center’s Senior Room.
LEFT: Sgt. Gary Kincaid with the Reedley Police Department spoke about the city’s homeless situation at the Town Hall meeting. Looking on is Reedley police Chief Joe Garza.
Photos by Jon Earnest / The Exponent
First scheduled Town Hall event attracts 60-plus
By Juanita Adame
juanita@midvalleypublishinbg.com
More than 60 people — includ- ing residents, city leaders as well as police and fire personnel — at- tended the first town hall meeting in Reedley on the evening of Jan. 28.
The topic of the meeting was “So Many Homeless People in Reedley Now!” and is the first of a series of town hall meetings that will be scheduled through- out the next several months. All meetings are in the Senior Room at the Reedley Community Cen- ter.
“Let me start off by say- ing that for the last year or so, maybe a little longer, about once a week, I will get an email, or a text, or someone will stop me and tell me they just saw a homeless person in the park,” said Nicole Zieba, City Manager for the City of Reedley. “I have to chuckle to myself and at the same time think, yes I know we have home- less people in Reedley.”
Zieba added that currently there are anywhere from 25 to 35 homeless people living in Reed- ley, and most are suffering from some type of mental illness or substance abuse problem.
“We know their names, we know their addictions, we know why they’re homeless generally, we know their family situations,” she said. “Some of them get aid, we know where they get their aid, some of them get services we
See TOWN HALL on page A6
Reedley’s Tasy meets vice president at March for Life
By Eddie Jimenez
For The Exponent
Bernadette Tasy has tirelessly devoted much of the past three years to the pro-life movement. That pas- sionate work recently led her to the White House and an audience with Vice President Mike Pence and a chance to speak with him about the sanctity of life.
The Reedley High School gradu- ate and seven other Students for Life leaders from across the coun- try were chosen to meet with Pence during the weekend of the March for Life against abortion on Jan. 18 at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
“The vice president said that he was excited to see all of the young faces who are already pro-life lead- ers in our communities standing up for the lives of the unborn,” said Tasy, a parishioner at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church. “We were all inspired by him because he is such a powerful voice, speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves.”
Reedley residents participate at Walk for Life West Coast on Jan. 26
By Eddie Jimenez
For The Exponent
Adopted as a newborn infant, Irma Garcia truly treasures the gift of life.
Her appreciation of the simple blessing of being born is the prin- cipal reason she was among the 240 people who traveled from St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Reedley to the Walk for Life
West Coast in San Francisco on Jan. 26.
“Those of us who are adopted are grateful to our mothers who did not abort us,” Garcia said. “I tell my kids I’m here and you’re here because my mom didn’t abort me.”
She wishes that more women facing unplanned pregnancies
See WALK on page A2
Photo Contributed
Bernadette Tasy is pictured on the right alongside Vice President Mike Pence during a visit to the White House the weekend of the Jan. 18 March for Life.
Classifieds - B5 Directory - A5 Legals - B6-7
small Central Valley contingent who attended the march and other anti- abortion events. Hundreds of thou- sands of people attend the March for Life in Washington every year, mak- ing it the largest event of its kind in the world.
“This experience intensified our passion for the pro-life movement and allowed us to educate ourselves so that we can continue to educate our campus and community about abortion here in California,” the 23-year-old said. “This helps us to continue to help women to choose
See TASY on page A2 Sports - B3-4 Lights & Sirens - A3 Obituaries - A2-3 Opinion - A4
Tasy, president of Students for Life at Fresno State, was part of a
Participating in the 46th annual march was powerful and moving for Tasy.