Page 1 - Reedley Exponent 3-22-18 E-edition

Reedley Boy Scouts Troop 282 celebrates 90th anniversary
Highlights from the annual Rotary/KCUSD meet
Vol. 129, No. 12 | Thursday, March 22, 2018 www.reedleyexponent.com Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654 | 50 cents Shelter vote delayed until at least April 10
Mayor Betancourt will miss March 27 meeting
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
A potential City Council vote on the con- troversial Faith House emergency shelter
won’t come until Tuesday, April 10, at the soonest.
City Clerk Sylvia Plata said March 20 that an action item on the proposed facility — long opposed by neighboring southwest Reedley resi- dents — won’t be on the agenda for the Tuesday, March 27, regular meeting. Plata said Mayor Anita Betancourt will be absent from the meet- ing, and a shorthanded council was the reason a
vote on the proposed facility was delayed at the request of Council Member Bob Beck.
At the March 13 council meeting, Beck asked to table the item because Council Mem- ber Mary Fast was absent that evening. Mayor Pro Tem Frank Pinon recused himself from voting, which only left three council members present to decide the issue. Beck also said he wanted to get more questions answered on the
initial state grant funding.
The emergency shelter would be funded
by a $560,000 grant from the California De- partment of Finance. That money would go to operate the shelter and also provide funding involving law enforcement and other public safety concerns.
See SHELTER on page A3
Planning
board OKs
subdivision
permitting
Staff Report
The Reedley Planning Com- mission on March 15 unanimously approved a tentative parcel map application and environmental as- sessment to subdivide a proposed development in south Reedley into two parcels.
The parcel map application‚ if approved by the City Council, would allow the city to subdivide the sin- gle parcel on the west side of South Frankwood Avenue — north of the intersection with West Lilac Avenue — into two parcels of land for single family residential purposes.
The subdivision would leave two lot parcels, each measuring 19,848 square feet. The project site is zoned for one family residential units and is consistent with the city’s general plan and municipal code.
The project would incorporate design standards intended to tie new homes built on the site into the ex- isting neighborhood in both design and style, according to project de- scription. The proposed lots already would have adequate street front- age; one parcel would access onto South Cyrier Avenue while the other has frontage onto South Frankwood Avenue.
The project description states that a future home built on the par- cel is required to have a circular driveway to prevent anyone from backing a vehicle out from the pro- posed lot onto the street.
Last December, the Planning Commission approved permits to start residential developments in northwest and southwest Reed- ley. The larger project is up to 161 single-family homes that would be built at the northeast corner of Reed and Aspen Avenues. That would be the first large subdivision to come to town in more than a decade, ac- cording to Rob Terry, Community Development director.
Walkout protest at RHS
Chris Aguirre / The Exponent
Some of an estimated 100-plus Reedley High School students walked out of class and off campus March 14 as part of the nationwide student walkouts that call for tighter gun control laws and efforts to curtail school violence. The walkouts were done in the wake of the Feb. 14 high school shootings in Parkland, Fla., that killed 17 students and staff members. About 60 of the students walked to the Reedley Police department and City Hall, with about 40 staying to observe 17 minutes of remembrance for the victims. The rest immediately returned to campus.
Electric planes shared by Reedley arrive in Valley
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
State-of-the-art electric aircraft has moved closer to being based in Reedley.
City Manager Nicole Zieba announced at the March 13 City Council meeting that the four planes built in Europe arrived in the United States the first week in March and arrived at Fresno’s Chandler Air Field on March 12.
Zieba said the four planes have been assembled and are in hangars at Chandler Field. Eventually, the cities of Reedley and Mendota each will house two of the planes as part of a partnership with Reedley Col- lege’s aviation program.
“I am very proud to say that at this point in time, the city of Reedley and the city of Mendota own the only electric aircraft in the United States of America right now,” Zieba told the council. “I don’t know how much lon- ger this will be because I think we’re on the front end of a trend that’s going to come fast
and hard. But it’s very exciting.”
Zieba said the Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration certified the planes to fly on March 14, shortly after they were assem- bled in Fresno. That same day, Zieba spoke about the electric aircraft at a Fresno State clean air summit.
Zieba told the council March 13 that members from the Department of Energy — both at state and federal levels — and members of the private sector have shown interest in the aircraft. She said a fundrais- ing dinner had been scheduled for March 29 in Fresno.
On Monday, March 26, officials from Reedley and Mendota will conduct a joint meeting at Chandler Field in Fresno. The meeting will include a workshop and up- date on the joint project. Also, council members will be able to tour the facility.
Once the program is established, stu- dents in the Reedley College aviation pro- gram will be able to train and fly the elec- tric aircraft.
Reedley High School senior Lorena Orozco asked school administration if students could have a ceremony in the school gym to honor
the 17 victims of the Feb. 14 school shooting in Lakeland, Fla. Orozco and 16 other stu- dents read brief biographies and observed a moment of silence for each victim dur- ing the ceremony that was attended by an estimated 200 students. “I don’t like potential change makers dy- ing,” Orozco said. “I feel like my generation has grown tired of it, and we just want to make our voices heard.” Nationwide walkouts by high school students were
a protest against gun vio- lence.
Jon Earnest / The Exponent
More than 100 leave campus, 200 attend ceremony in gym
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
More than 100 Reedley High School students left classes and walked off campus March 14 in support of nationwide student walk- outs calling for tighter gun control laws.
The walkout came on the one- month anniversary of the Feb. 14 high school shooting in Parkland, Fla., that killed 17 students and staff members. Nationwide pro- tests included moments of silence to remember each shooting victim from the Florida attack.
“I’m kind of tired of [the vio- lence]. I really don’t like seeing it,” said senior Lorena Orozco, who didn’t walk off campus but helped conduct a 10 a.m. ceremony in the main gymnasium. “I don’t like po- tential change-makers dying. I feel
like my generation has grown tired of it, and we just want to make our voices heard.”
Principal John Ahlin estimated that about 110 students actually left the campus.
“Some students chose to leave. Some students walked off campus out the gate, and walked right back on. And then they went to class,” he said. “You had about 40 in front of the police station for the full time and then they came back.
“It really was just taking a mo- ment to recognize students’ lives that were lost.”
Ahlin said that students who walked off campus would be subject to the same discipline as if it hap- pened any other day. Punishment would range from detention to pos- sibly a day at Saturday school.
See WALKOUT on page A8
‘Artist Alley’ at RC
Jon Earnest / The Exponent
Tracy Carrera, left, instructor in painting and drawing at Reedley College, looks on as art students at the col- lege paint and draw on March 20 in “Artist Alley” next to the student center during the opening day of the college’s Safari Days. More photos of first day Safari Day activities are on Page A8.
Classified - A6-7 Directory - A5 Legals - B5-6 Sports - B3-4 Lights & Sirens - A3 Obituaries - A2 Opinion - A4