Reedley Exponent 12-14-17 e-edition

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Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654 | 50 cents Downtown housing complex has grand opening
Reedley High holiday door contest brightens campus
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Vol. 128, No. 50 | Thursday, December 14, 2017
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Jon Earnest / The Exponent
Four-year-old Daniela Lomas, lower left, and 7-year- old Keira Bell help Reedley Mayor Anita Betancourt cut the ribbon to dedicate the new Paseo 55 afford- able living residences at a Dec. 7 ceremony.
City leaders participate
in Paseo 55 dedication
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
Less than two years after breaking ground, Paseo 55 officially is a part of downtown Reed-
ley.
The $15 million, 55-unit affordable housing
development was dedicated in a grand open- ing ceremony Dec. 7 in front of its commercial entrance along G Street. More than 50 people — including city leaders and members of the Fresno Housing Authority — attended the event for the complex that already has rent-
ed out its one- and two-bedroom apartments to qualifying residents, according to Jeanette Cesenda, unit leasing manager.
Two of those residents spoke at the grand opening. Elizabeth Koop, a senior who previ- ously lived near Reedley Cemetery, said Paseo 55 literally is a physical relief for her.
“I feel like God sent me here,” she said. “I don’t have a car. I was paying high rent, and the majority of money I receive went to rent. And now I have extra money to spend on food and groceries and what I need. I live on the ground floor, and I really enjoy the trail.
“I need to be downtown because I don’t have a car, and I was walking way too much. Now I don’t have to walk so much.”
Resident Rosalia Chavez, speaking in Span-
ish, said she was grateful for the opportunity to move into an apartment near the city’s center. Through an interpreter, she said she’s “very thankful and happy.”
City Manager Nicole Zieba said Paseo 55 is reverting back to what she said communities were supposed to be.
“It goes back to when communities felt vi- brant,” she said. “When the butcher lived on top of the butcher shop and knew everybody who lived around him.”
Zieba told visiting dignitaries about the empty chairs lining G Street as people were reserving spots for the Dec. 7 Electrical Farm Equipment Parade that night. She said it was
See PASEO 55 on page A6
Planning Commission to vote on subdivision Staff Report
The Reedley Planning Com- mission will consider a proposed 161-home single family develop- ment in north Reedley during a special meeting on Thursday, Dec. 14.
The special meeting will begin at 5 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 845 G St.
The proposed development is located at the northeast cor- ner of Reed and Aspen avenues, and is just more than 31 acres. The Planning Commission will consider a resolution that would adopt a mitigated negative dec- laration, approve a tentative subdivision map authorizing the subdivision of land and approve a conditional use permit.
Rob Terry, Community De- velopment director, said in the recommendation that the proj- ect is consistent with the Reed- ley General Plan and the city’s municipal code.
The parcel just north of As- pen Avenue currently is being used for agriculture. But Terry said the location is substantially surrounded on two sides and mostly surrounded on one side by what’s called “urban and build- up land.” The parcel is within the Reedley city limits.
The project would allow for a mix of lot sizes ranging from 5,000 to 10,242 square feet. The subdivision would feature an en- trance road from Reed Avenue north of Aspen and include two cul de sacs.
If the commission approves the resolutions, the project then would go to the City Council for final approval.
The public is invited to com- ment on the project at the Dec. 14 meeting.
Lighting up the night
Crowds line G Street for annual Electrical Farm Equipment Parade on Dec. 7
Staff Report
It’s an early December tradition of colorful lights on tractors, wagons, buses and other ve- hicles rolling down the main street in downtown Reedley.
People lined G Street for the annual Electrical Farm Equipment Parade on Dec. 7. This year’s pa- rade featured 45 entries including multiple floats adorned in the 2017 theme of “Super Heroes at Christmas (Real or Fictional)” traveling south on G Street from 8th Street to 13th Street. On the way, they passed the judging stand at the east in- tersection of G and 11th streets.
Spectators were rewarded early and late in
See ELECTRICAL on page A6
KCUSD bolsters its fleet of clean air buses
ABOVE: The Kings River Tractor float paces a group of floats down G Street on Dec. 7 during the annual Electrical Farm Equipment Parade. This year’s parade had 45 entries, and floats exhibited the 2017 theme of “Super Heroes at Christmas (Real or Fictional).”
Santa Claus, the parade’s final entry, waves to parade attendees lining G Street. Children and adults trailed the final float as candy and other treats were tossed to the crowd. The Exponent will run more photos from the parade in the Dec. 21 edition.
Photos by Jon Earnest / The Exponent
More Electrical Farm Equipment Parade photos, Page B1, B10
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
The Kings Canyon Unified School District is on the verge of a 100 percent fleet of clean- air buses.
The district has received nine of 16 buses to replace old models described as “gross pol- luters,” according to Jason Flores, transporta- tion director for KCUSD. Two of the buses that run on compressed natural gas are arriving in December, with the final five added to the fleet in January.
“It’s where we’re moving to more green transportation and putting less pollutants in the air,” Flores said. “It’s easier for our students to breathe cleaner air these days than 10 or 15 years ago.”
The cost of replacing the buses is $3.157
Classified - B6-7 Directory - A5
million, Flores said, with more than $2.3 million coming from grants. The district is funding the remaining $850,000-plus.
Flores said the funding sources are the Fres- no Transportation Authority (Measure C funds); congestion, mitigation and air quality funds from the Fresno Council of Governments; and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control.
“[Getting all the money] couldn’t have been possible without those three entities,” he said.
The California Air Resources Board re- quires that school districts and cities get all “gross polluting” buses off the roads by Janu- ary 2018. The initial deadline was 2014, but the board has instituted delays to allow school dis- tricts and cities to come into compliance.
Flores said that the conversion has been at
Legals - B8-9
Jon Earnest / The Exponent
Jason Flores, transportation director for the Kings Canyon Unified School District, stands next to one of the new clean air buses the district has received. Seven more buses are coming to complete the fleet.
See BUSES on page A2
Sports - B3-4 Lights & Sirens - A3 Obituaries - A2-3 Opinion - A4