Page 1 - Sanger Herald 3-8-18 E-edition

Motorsports legends at car show
Looking for a home
Rain fires up Blossom Fest runners
page 8A
Lifestyles 2B
Sports 1B
THURSDAY
MARCH 8, 2018
VOL 129 NO. 10
2 sections, 14 pages
CLASSIFIED 3B LEGALS 4-5B BUSINESS DIRECTORY 6B LIFE STYLES 2B OBITUARIES 2A OPINION 3A SPORTS 1B POLICE LOG 2A WEATHER 8A
Weekly Newspaper
Sewer system in danger of "catastrophic failure"
Sanger (Fresno County) CA 93657
50¢ (tax included)
No medical marijuana dispensary in Sanger
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
A motion by councilmember Hum- berto Garza to initiate a process to consider amending a zoning ordinance to allow limited marijuana dispensa- ries in Sanger failed because it didn't get a second.
That ended any further consid- eration at this time about allowing a medical marijuana dispensary to oper- ate in Sanger.
Back in April 2017, in a reaction to the passage of California's Proposi- tion 64, the council adopted a very restrictive ordinance prohibiting the sale of marijuana for recreational or medicalpurposes. Garzasaidthen that he might later ask the council to reconsider allowing a medical mari- juana dispensary to operate in Sanger. The agenda item was in response to Garza's recent request and the coun- cil's agreement to take another look at the issue. It was a short look.
If the council had decided to continue the process, it would have adopted a resolution amending its earlier decision. Then, because the resolution would propose changing a zoning ordinance, the matter would go to the planning commission for a public hearing before coming back to the council.
That process ended with a lack of a second.
The council approved:
• a budget amendment to cover the cost of reconstruction of Hume Drive, Eastwood Avenue and Forest Lane;
• a three-year agreement with Pyro Spectaculars Inc. to do the fireworks display on the 4th of July;
• an ordinance to clarify whether organizations exempt from paying a business license fee still have to get a business license; and,
• a Measure S Citizens Oversight Committee recommendation to imme- diately change the policy of paying out grants in four payments over the term of the grant to one payment as soon as the grant is approved.
The reporter can be contacted by email at sangerherald@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875- 2511.
• March 11 - St. Mary's annual St. Patrick's Dinner from noon to 5 p.m. at St. Mary's Hall at North and Bethel avenues.
• March 12-23 - Women's History Month art display at city hall, 1700 7th Street.
• March 15 - City council meeting, starting at 6 p.m. at city hall, 1700 7th Street.
•March27- Coffeewiththepoliceandfirechief from 7:30-9:30 a.m. at Starbucks, 512 Academy Ave.
Remember to spring forward ...
... this Sunday morning because Daylight Saving Time begins ... like it or not!
Trophy winners
Dick Sheppard/Sanger Herald
While a lot of the attention at the Blossom Fest Car Show was focused on race cars and legendary race car drivers like Howard Kaeding, see today's Lifestyles section, there were lots of other great cars in the show. Top photo, Lois Phillips won a couple of trophies - Best Ford and Classic 1950s - with "Pinky," the car she received as a gift when she graduated from Sanger High in 1959. Bottom photo, Jerry Hunter was showing off his pristine1948 Buick Roadmaster that won Best in Show and Best Paint.
Crumbling domestic trunk line on North Avenue requires immediate emergency repairs
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
If emergency repairs to the domestic trunk line that runs under North Avenue aren't completed soon the entire sewer system is in danger of catastrophic fail- ure.
That's the bad news public works director John Mulligan shared with the city council at its March 1 meeting.
"We have a failing manhole because the concrete has de- graded on North Avenue and we have a similar problem at the headworks in the city yard," said Mulligan.
The location of the immi- nent failure is under the east bound lanes of North Avenue at the J Street intersection.
"We expected to start the construction already but the contractor got behind on another project due to last week’s weather. The project could last up to three weeks because of the complexity,"
said Mulligan. The "complex- ity" is caused by a PG&E gas line, a city water line and an industrial sewer main, all in close proximity to the area to be repaired.
"Excavation will be slow. The domestic sewer line is about 18 feet deep. During reconstruction, sewage will be pumped around the site by a bypass pump."
There will be no parking along North Avenue during reconstruction and traffic will be controlled with sig- nage.
"Once the North Avenue repair is completed the con- tractor will do similar work at the city corporation yard. There is also some failure there just before the head- works. This site will take up to two weeks and also require bypass pumping."
The reporter can be contacted by email at sang- erherald@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
Eight Sanger elementary schools will be honored
Measure S Compliance audit will be revisited
Herald staff report
Eight Sanger schools are among 33 Central Valley ele- mentary schools of character that will be honored at the 34th annual Conference on Character and Civic Educa- tion, hosted by Fresno State’s Kremen School of Education and Human Development tomorrow at the Fresno Con- vention Center’s Exhibit Hall.
The eight are Fairmont, Jackson, Jefferson, Lincoln, Lone Star, Madison, Quail Lake and Sanger Academy.
This is the longest run- ning character education conference in the U.S. and is designed for students in the teacher education credential
programs at both Fresno State and Fresno Pacific University.
Keynote speaker Dr. Hal Urban will be talking about his book, “Lessons from the Classroom: 20 Things Good Teachers Do.”
Following the keynote address is the Teacher of the Year and Exemplary Schools Recognition Awards Ceremony
The Fresno County Office of Education’s 2017 Teacher of the Year is Ellen Youssef of Miramonte Elementary School and the Kings County Office of Education’s 2017 Teacher of the Year is Mario Gonzalez of Lemoore High School.
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
The Measure S Citizens Oversight Committee de- cided Tuesday evening on a split vote to try again to have a compliance audit done on Measure S spending.
Committee members Melissa Griggs, JoAnn Mares and chairperson Sue Simpson voted in favor of trying again with the same firm, Brown Armstrong CPAs, that failed to produce the proper kind of audit the first time around.
Tony Gonzalez and James Miser were opposed. Gon- zalez did not want to use the same firm again and Miser was not confident the quoted price for the re-do would be
sufficient.
The committee unani-
mously agreed to recom- mend to the city council that $19,223 not accepted by re- cent grant award winners be reallocated to other grantees:
• SAMAcademy'ssci- ence workshop, $9,909; Boys and Girls Club, $2,827; Big Brothers and Sisters, Unity Estates, $991; and, Big Broth- ers Big Sisters, Bigs in Blue, $624.
The committee requested more information from Com- munity Resident Services.
The reporter can be contacted by email at sang- erherald@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
SANGER HERALD: A MID VALLEY PUBLISHING NEWSPAPER • (559) 875-2511 • www.thesangerherald.com