Sanger Herald 2-1-18 E-edition

Sanger girls light up Bullard
Looking for a home
page 8A
Sanger has a rooftop grand opening
Sports 1B
Lifestyles 3B
Weekly Newspaper
Blossom
Trail opening
is Friday in
Sanger
By Kristi Johnson
Fresno County Tourism Manager
Reaching a historic milestone this year, the 30th Annual Fresno County Blossom Trail Opening Ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 2 at the Sanger Woman’s Club, 1602 7th Street in Sanger.
The City of Sanger and the Sanger District Chamber of Commerce are partnering to host this annual event.
This year’s ceremony will include the unveiling of the 2018 Blossom Trail Poster, by lo- calartistJuneLivingston. The 2018 Poster will be available for sale at the opening ceremony and at several Blossom Trail Partners including the Cham- bers of Commerce in Sanger, Kingsburg, Reedley, Selma, and the County Office of Tourism.
With sunshine in the forecast for early February, trail visitors may see a blossom season that starts a little earlier than usual this year.
Projected to be in bloom by the mid-late February (weather permitting) the Blossom Trail is a self-guided tour through east- ern Fresno County featuring a panorama of blossoming stone fruit orchards and citrus groves alive with fragrance and burst- ing with color (orange blossoms usuallybloomintoApril). Col- orful orchards are set against the picturesque backdrop of
the snow-capped Sierra Nevada Mountains giving travelers the opportunity to enjoy the visual and aromatic experience of Fresno County's rich agricul- tural bounty.
The non-profit Fresno Coun- ty Blossom Trail is a collabora- tive effort with Fresno County joining with the trail’s partner cities (Sanger, Selma, Orange Cove, Reedley, Fowler, and Kingsburg) in eastern Fresno County to welcome springtime visitors to the region.
The Fresno County Blossom Trail is pleased to partner with officialTitleSponsor, PG&E, which continues to support the Trail’s offerings including the Blossom Trail Art Contest held in conjunction with the Fresno Fair. TheBlossomTrailalso recognizes the Sanger Rotary Foundation for its ongoing sup- port.
To find the latest Blossom information, the Blossom Trail webpage (www.goblossomtrail. com) has an “Update” feature that will provide eyewitness reports of when blooms are first spotted on the Trail.
The updates are also commu- nicated by twitter “@goblossom- trail."
Sanger (Fresno County) CA 93657
State of the City
Crime was down and construction and tax revenue were up in 2017 - but there is still a lot to be done
50¢ (tax included) Forgotten resolution
Dick Sheppard/Sanger Herald
City attorney Hilda Cantu Montoy summarizes directions given to her by the Measure S Citizens Oversight Committee for crafting an ordinance clarifying the measure's language.
2009 resolution may be a Rosetta stone
Dick Sheppard/Sanger Herald
Mayor Frank Gonzalez delivered his first State of the City presentation Monday at city hall.
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
The ancient Rosetta stone had a message carved into it in three types of writings. It was an important clue that helped experts learn to un- derstand Egyptian hiero- glyphs.
A resolution approved by the city council in 2009 and apparently forgotten until city staff reportedly discovered it while prepar- ing material for the special Measure S Citizens Over- sight Committee meeting on Tuesday, may be just as im- portant when it comes to un- derstanding the "supplement versus supplant" language and intent of city ordinance 1094 which defines the pub- lic safety tax measure.
The 2009 resolution No. 4122, was obviously an at- tempt by the city council at that time to clarify the 2008 ordinance 1094 language that has confused a succes- sion of oversight committee and city council members.
"It was thought, until now, that no formal city council [action] had been taken to clarify the issue. However, as early as 2009 two resolu- tions were considered that sought to address this is- sue," said city manager Tim Chapa. "The first, resolution 4122, established a method- ology based on a minimum
dollar amount and percent- ages in the 2007-08 baseline budget; it was approved in January of 2009. The second, resolution 4194 was consid- ered a year and two months later in March of 2010. Reso- lution 4194 sought to remove the minimum dollar amount, however it was not approved by the city council."
So, the rules established in resolution 4122, which was adopted by the 2009 council, remain in effect.
The purpose of the spe- cial oversight meeting was to seek input from the com- mittee about language that would further clarify the intent of Measure S.
The committee shared suggestions with city attor- ney Hilda Cantu Montoy for replacing ordinance 1094 with a new ordinance that has easier to understand language and incorporates portions of the 2009 resolu- tion 4122.
Montoy said she will also talk with Chapa before craft- ing the language of at least one, maybe two proposals for a new ordinance.
The city council would choose between the two if Chapa and the committee still cannot agree.
The reporter can be con- tacted by email at sanger- herald@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
meeting at 6 p.m. at city hall,
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
Mayor Frank Gonzalez packed a lot into a 25 minute "State of the City" pep talk Monday evening at city hall.
The only downside to his review of what the city accomplished in 2017 and what's on the agenda for 2018 was how few Sanger resi- dents showed up to hear it.
Thirteen of the approximately 50 people in the council chamber were city employees or officials, five were media and two were there representing other politicians - and two were Gonzalez's mom and dad Rene and Delores. So, only 28 of Sanger's approximately 25,000 residents who are not the mayor's parents
or associated with politicians, city hall or the media were there to hear how the city is do- ing.
Gonzalez told them, "It's doing very well."
Judging from the friendly nature of the very few questions following his presenta- tion, those who attended agreed with him.
The whole event, presentation and ques- tions and answers, was over in about 40 min- utes and everyone was in the lobby enjoying conversation and cookies.
"This is the way to do a State of the City presentation," an enthusiastic resident was heard to say. "Tell me what the city did and what it's going to do, give me cookies and get me home at a reasonable hour."
"What the city did in 2017," said Gonzalez, was to enjoy a 48 percent increase over the previous year in building permits while sales tax revenue to the city was up $156,431, a more than 8 percent jump from 2016 and propertytaxrevenuewasup$81,696,amore than 5 percent increase.
"significantly" lower than the previous year, said Gonzalez.
While major crimes were down by 14 percent, arrests were up by 20 percent and citations by 26 percent. Gonzalez credited the improved public safety statistics to a fully staffed police department that, he said, was also responsible for a significant reduction in gang related crimes.
While revenue was going up and crime was going down in 2017 the city was catching up on several long delayed citywide street, sidewalk and streetlight projects. The North Avenue, O Street and P Street reconstruc- tions required a capital investment of ap- proximately $4.2 million, said Gonzalez.
He covered Sanger recreation activities and projects from A to Z, from the Apache water slide rehabilitation to the morning Zumba classes at the community center - and a project he personally made happen, ad- ditional basketball hoops at the community center.
Get ready for more detour signs in 2018. Another round of street repair and recon- struction is on the agenda for this summer, said Gonzalez. None of the projects, however, is downtown this year.
A streetlight project left over from last year won't be wrapped up until April and the traffic signal at the intersection of Bethel and Church avenues should start actually signal- ling sometime next month.
Four new projects for 2018 include: new sidewalks as part of the Safe Routes to School program; an overlay on Church Avenue,
from Bethel to Greenwood; reconstruction
of I Street from 5th to 10th street; and recon- structionofRawsonandDewittfrom14thto Hoag.
• 170•0 7th St.
The number of major crimes in 2017 - homicide, rape, robbery and assault - was
Feb. 2 - The Blossom Trail kickoff
ceremony hosted by the Sanger District Chamber of Commerce at 10 a.m. in the Sanger Woman's Club build- ing•at 1602 7th St. The public is invited.
Feb 3 - Community breakfast prepared by VFW Post 7168 from 9-11:30 a.m. at American Legion Hall, 150•2 O Street.
March3- 30thannualBlossomFestivalindown- town Sanger. It starts at 7 a.m. with runs and walks and winds up with a car show in the afternoon. If you'd like to get involved call the chamber at (559) 875-4575.
See STATE OF THE CITY on page 8A
SANGER HERALD: A MID VALLEY PUBLISHING NEWSPAPER • (559) 875-2511 • www.thesangerherald.com
Feb. 1 - City council
THURSDAY
FEBRUARY 1, 2018
VOL 129 NO. 5
2 sections, 16 pages
CLASSIFIED 5B LEGALS 6-7B BUSINESS DIRECTORY 8B LIFE STYLES 3B OBITUARIES 2A OPINION 3A SPORTS 1B POLICE LOG 2A WEATHER 8A