Reedley Exponent 11-22-18 E-edition

A Mid Valley Publishing Newspaper Serving “The World’s Fruit Basket” since 1891
Vol. 129, No. 47 | Thursday, November 22, 2018 www.reedleyexponent.com Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654 | 50 cents
Council OKs planned Royal Valley demolition
Contractor approved, budget amended for job
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
The Reedley City Council has taken the first major steps toward the demolition of the old Royal Valley packing shed building to the west of City Hall and the Reedley Police De- partment.
By a 4-0 vote (Mayor Pro Tem Frank Pinon was absent), the council approved a contract with a Fresno demolition contractor to knock down the old building, which in recent years had housed police offices along with parking and storage. In addition, the council OKd reso- lutions to use $407,500 in redevelopment agen- cy money to fully fund the demolition and to execute a new agreement to move solar power equipment from the facility.
By a 4-0 vote (Mayor Pro Tem Frank Pinon was absent), the council approved a contract
with a Fresno demolition contractor to knock down the old building, which in recent years had housed police offices along with parking and storage. In addition, the council OKd reso- lutions to use $407,500 in redevelopment agen- cy money to fully fund the demolition and to execute a new agreement to move solar power equipment from the facility.
John Robertson, city engineer, said addi- tional funding was needed to cover the removal of hazardous waste materials, including a con- crete floor removal. The formal bid had been
put out on Oct. 16. without the removal of the floor, but a bid did come in within range to al- low for the concrete floor’s removal.
The demolition will be done by David Knott, Inc. of Fresno. Knott was chosen from among eight bidders vying for the contract.
The city also is planning to extend its con- tract with Pacific Power Renewables, which in turn has agreed to remove the existing panels and store them for a year before reinstalling them on elevated parking structures at no up- front cost to the city.
Ky
concedes
in Council
District 4
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishibng.com
The official final vote count still is to come, but challenger Lee Ky has conceded the Dis- trict 4 race for Reedley City Council to incumbent Ray So- leno.
Ky, a local business figure and special
education in-
structional
aide, conceded the race in an email to The Exponent on Nov. 19.
“I would
like to say
congratula-
tions to Mr.
Ray Soleno,”
she posted. “I
also would like
to say ‘thank
you’ to all of
the active vot-
ers , especially
to those who
supported me
and were so
excited for me
to go out of my
comfort zone and show my inter- est in our community.”
Ky said running for office was a great experience, and thanked a number of business- es who showed support for her campaign.
“Thank you for posting my pictures at your place of busi- ness,” she posted to local busi- nesses.
Ky actually had made a small dent in Soleno’s lead as mail and provisional votes continued to be counted, but not enough to sway the result of the election. As of the Nov. 16 update by the Fresno County Elections Office, Soleno led with 2,381 votes (53.34 per- cent) to Ky’s 2,059 votes (46.12 percent). There were 24 write-in votes.
In another race of local inter- est, challenger Magdalena Gomez continues to cement her lead and expected victory over incumbent Ron Nishinaka in race for Area 4 trustee with the State Center Com- munity College District. The Nov. 16 update of votes from Fresno County enabled Gomez to build her lead to 52.88 percent (11,956 votes) to 46.84 percent (10,591) for Nishinaka.
Another update from Fresno County will come before the week- end.
Exponent office closed on Nov. 22
The business office of The Exponent is closed on Thurs- day, Nov. 22, in observance of Thanksgiving Day.
The Exponent’s office will reopen for business at 8 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 23.
Dramatic finish
De Anza College’s late comeback stuns Tigers and ends 10-1 campaign
ABOVE: Reedley College lineman Marcus Maness stands with his hands on his hips as De Anza College players begin to celebrate when the officials signal a touchdown with 12 seconds remaining in the American Championship Bowl at Sal Gonzalez Field on Nov. 17. The Dons (10-1) rallied from a 13-point deficit with 12 minutes remaining, aided by a pair of costly fumbles by the Tigers, to pull out a 42-41 victory while handing Reedley its first loss of the sea- son after 10 consecutive regular season wins.
LEFT: Reedley College safety Everest Jennings (20) celebrates with defensive teammates Raul Montalvo, left, and James Day (5) after the Tigers turned away a De Anza scoring threat early in the fourth quarter. Montalvo also temporarily preserved the RC lead with a goal-line interception midway through the quarter.
More details on the game and the Tigers’ season are in sports on Page B3.
Photos by Jon Earnest / The Exponent
New rec coordinator advises community to stay active
By Juanita Adame
juanita@midvalleypublishing.com
Madison Leighty, Reedley’s new- est recreation coordinator, said it’s always good to be active.
“It makes you live longer, you enjoy life,” said Leighty. “Also, when you’re having fun, you forget about things for a bit, you could be working all day and then come out to one of our events or programs that we have.”
And, for those who’ve attended one of the recent events in town like
the Reedley Fiesta Walk / Run, or the Halloween carni- val, Leighty and her team of vol- unteers likely had a hand in working on it, and helping it run smoothly.
“I feel like the
most rewarding
part of this job is
setting up an event and watching everyone enjoy it,” she said. “Being able to see all your hard work put
in, getting all the fliers done, just watching all that come together.”
Leighty is currently working with David Carter on the Virtual Swim Challenge, (see B1 for story) and said one of the more challenging parts of her job is time management.
“Some events are closer to an- other. Trying to get everything done is a bit difficult, but that’s what I went to school for and that’s what I know how to do,” she said.
Leighty is from the small town of Arbuckle in Northern Califor- nia. She attended Fresno State and
earned a degree in Recreation Ad- ministration.
“I have actually worked with the community services department be- fore, I started that in 2015 and fin- ished in 2017, from there I did vol- unteer work for special events,” she said. “I also worked at Washington Elementary for their after school program.”
She said she is happy to be a part of the Reedley community and is working to maintain the already great recreation department the city has to offer.
Classifieds - B5-6 Directory - A5 Legals - B7-8
Sports - B3-4 Lights & Sirens - A3 Obituaries - A2-3 Opinion - A4
Madison Leighty
Ray Soleno
Lee Ky