Sanger Herald 4-11-19 E-edition

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WeeklyNewspaper Sanger(FresnoCounty)CA93657
State ordered project will raise water bills
Residents could see a more than $15 increase over five years
50¢ (taxincluded)
Space Travelers
Dick Sheppard/Sanger Herald
Above, Crystal Cantero explains the Wilson Elementary School "Space Travelers" project to the 2019 Sanger Robotics Showcase judges. The Wilson team won the Junior (Milky Way Galaxy) Build Award. Left, Ce- lene Reyes from Del Rey Elementary School was named coach of the year by the event coordinator Sokun- veary (Soki) Siv.
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
While the city struggles with the final phase of a state ordered rezone for afford- able housing, it's tackling
the first phase of a possibly more complicated state ordered project based on the "Sustainable Groundwater Management Act."
City Engineer Josh Rogers explained the new project at the April 4 city council meet- ing.
"There are a lot of moving parts and the costs have not really been worked out yet," seemed to be the theme of the explanation.
Even though the "costs have not really been worked out yet," Rogers showed the council a chart that indicated one of the options would raise the cost of water to Sanger residents by more that $15 over the first five years of the project.
Part of the increased cost would be for the purchase of water from Consolidated Irrigation District and part would go toward servicing a debt incurred for building the infrastructure and other
capital costs associated with getting the project ready to go.
"The idea was to give the council and the attending public an overview of the situation and a ballpark
of the potential financial impacts given what we know now," Rogers told the Herald.
"The final impacts and figures will come from the 'Groundwater Sustainability Plan' and any associated util- ity rate study that would fol- low. Both of those processes will include public outreach and noticed public hearings," said Rogers.
Then governor Jerry Brown signed the Sustain- able Groundwater Manage- ment Act of 2014 (SGMA) during one of California's drought years.
Its intent is to create
and implement plans to put as much water back into
the ground as California residents take out in medium and high-priority ground- water basins identified by the Department of Water Resources.
Sanger is part of a ground- water sustainability agency
that must adopt a ground- water sustainability plan by 2020.
Once the plan is in
place, Sanger and the other members of the agency will have 20 years, until 2040, to fully implement the plan and achieve the sustainability goal.
The State Water Re- sources Control Board could intervene if the agency fails to adopt and implement a groundwater sustainability plan.
Unlike the way the city dealt with the state's afford- able housing rezoning project and wound up having to play catch up, Rogers and the city are trying to get the jump on complying with SGMA goals.
That probably means that about the time the public hearings for the state's rezoning project have been completed the public hear- ings for the state's groundwa- ter sustainability project will begin.
The reporter can be con- tacted by email at sangerher- ald@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
Railroad crew attempt to improve rail crossing falls short of success
Dick Sheppard/Sanger Herald
Hopes soared when a railroad crew showed up to work on the notorious 7th Street RR crossing on Tuesday morning. But if the reaction of those who have experienced the new speed bump count for anything, the crossing may be even more of a reason for getting a car's front end re-aligned than it was before.
A night of honors at the school board
A summer weekend ahead? See the forecast on page 6A
• April 15 - Rescheduled Measure S Oversight meeting, 6 p.m. at city hall, 1700 7th St.
Contributed
Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger), will be meet- ing with the Senate Budget Subcommittee 3 on Health and Human Services today.
Among the issues is a onetime appropriation ask by Hurtado.
The request includes a $12 million appropriation in the 2019 Budget Act for the Dolores Huerta Foundation and Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center’s Youth and Family Civic Engagement Initiative.
“Born and raised in the
heart of Sanger, I’ve always been a firm believer in the great work that the Dolores Huerta Foundation and Mar- tin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center does within the com- munity.
"As daughter of immigrant parents from Mexico, I’ve ex- perienced firsthand the chal- lenges that many other first generation American youth face,” said Hurtado. “The tools that these programs provide to youth within dis- advantaged communities last a lifetime and provides them with a pathway to upward mobility.”
The letter of support, submitted by Hurtado last month, calls for the approval of the $12 million investment in the Youth and Family Civic Engagement Initiative.
The Initiative’s mission
is to increase civic partici- pation among low-income, disenfranchised youth and their families in targeted re- gions throughout California. Moreover, the Initiative aims to reduce civic engagement disparities.
“We know that those who are civically engaged have reduced recidivism rates, higher employment rates
with favorable mental and physical health status bene- fits. They also have stronger social connections, leading to a greater quality of life and longevity,” said Hurtado.
“In the Central Valley, vulnerable communities have been underrepresented. As a result, in the last few years, we have experienced extreme poverty rates. For that reason, I urge our lead- ers to support investments in programs like these so that our youth in disadvantaged communities are given an opportunity to reach their fullest potential.”
• April 25 - Planning commission meeting, 6 p.m. at city hall, 1700 7th St
Rick Church
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
Sanger's Kings River High School has been recognized as a "Model Continuation High School" and its principal, Rick Church, has been named the California Continuation High School Region 3 Administrator of the Year.
Church and Kings River High School were among several schools and administrators honored at the April 9 school board meeting.
Other schools recognized at the meeting were: WAMS for receiving a Fresno State Bonner Center Virtues and CharacterRecognitionAward; FairmontElementary, Sanger Academy Charter and Quail Lake Environmen- tal Charter schools for their redesignations as "Schools to Watch"; and Quail Lake for its Green Ribbon Schools Award.
See photos on page 7A.
Senator Hurtado asks for a $12 million investment in Dolores Huerta Foundation and Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center
SANGER HERALD: A MID VALLEY PUBLISHING NEWSPAPER • (559) 875-2511 • www.thsangerherald.com
THURSDAY
April 11, 2019
VOL 130 NO. 15
2 sections, 14 pages
CLASSIFIED 5B LEGALS 6,7B BUSINESS DIRECTORY 8B LIFE STYLES 2B OBITUARIES 2A OPINION 3A SPORTS 1B POLICE LOG 2A WEATHER 6A