Sanger Herald 9-20-18 E-edition

Polo player gets noticed
Looking for a home
Permit problems prove costly
page 8A
Sports 1B Lifestyles 3B
Weekly Newspaper Sanger (Fresno County) CA 93657 50¢ (tax included)
It's been a long, HOT summer, so thank goodness ... this Saturday ...
... and so is ...
* The first Street Faire and Farmers' Market of Fall 5-9 p.m. in downtown Sanger
Last week's theme was Galaxy of Heroes and David Flores was honored as Veteran of the Year
Dick Sheppard/Sanger Herald
AMVETS Post 98 Commander George Wilhoitte, left, presented a commemorative plaque to U.S. Army veteran David Flores who was named Veteran of the Year by the Sanger District Chamber of Commerce. Flores, who served in Vietnam, is a purple heart recipient. (The red cape was part of the evening's "Heroes" theme.) See more photos on page 7A.
Power company seeks permit allowing more hours of operation
Another
Active Shooterdrill
Mike Nemeth/Sanger Herald
The "gunshots" you may hear coming from the Sanger High School campus Satur- day afternoon will be blanks fired as part of an Active Shooter Response exercise involving police officers, paramedics, parole officers, members of the Community Emergency Response Team and school district personnel. A morning session in the multipurpose room will give participates an opportunity to review scenarios that will be enacted on the campus in the afternoon. The photo, from an earlier exer- cise, shows police and paramedics working together to protect, triage, treat and transport victims while other officers neutralize an active shooter on the campus.
Council, planning commission and public will hear a general plan update
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
An agenda item for the Sept. 13 planning commission meeting said it was a request for a "minor revision" to a conditional use permit.
A memo from senior planner David Brletic recommended the planning commis- sion approve the revised permit allowing Algonquin Power to increase its number of hours of operation. The memo even spelled out reasons why each of five necessary "Find- ings" could be made by the commission.
Simple?
Not the way commissioner Vincent Wall saw it.
Algonquin would be increasing its number of hours of operation and therefore it would be putting more pollutants into the air. So, in exchange for approval of the permit it should be required to provide an offset, like trees for parks to help rid the air of the additional pollutants, said Wall.
"We can't do that," said Brletic.
Algonquin is regulated by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, said Brletic. "And the proposed increase in hours
Commissioner Vincent Wall cast the lone dis- senting vote.
Photos by Dick Sheppard/Sanger Herald
Planning commission chairman Johnny Perez calls for a vote on a conditional use permit for Algonquin Power.
still puts Algonquin below the standard for emissions approved by the air district."
The power company on Muscat Avenue has been operating since 1989 and has been a good neighbor, said former planning commis- sioner Karen Steinhauer.
Algonquin, which provides power to the electric grid when called upon, has been called upon for more hours than usual this year, said a company spokesperson. Without approval of the permit and an increase in the number of allowable operating hours, still un- der the air district's standards, the company might have to shut down before the end of the year, the commission was told.
Commissioners Johnny Perez, Ken Garcia and Monica Yamada voted to approve the permit.
Wall dissented.
Commissioners Drew Esquer and Mia Geil were absent.
The reporter can be contacted by email at sangerherald@gmail.com and by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
Sanger's general plan will be reviewed and discussed at a special joint meeting of the city council and planning commision today at 5:30 p.m. in city hall.
The plan is expected to focus on Sanger's sphere of influence, growth and an- nexation along what is being called the "Academy Cor- ridor."
The city already has a general plan in place. The current project is intended to revise and update goals, action steps and policies.
The council is urging the public to attend and provide input.
The regular city council meeting, with a very full agenda, will begin immedi- ately following the general plan update at approximately 6:30 p.m.
The council will hear its public relations/grant writ- ing firm, Townsend Public Affairs, quarterly report and its overview of a Community Development Block Grant program.
The Townsend represen- tative will likely be asked
to explain why Sanger received no money from the program, while Firebaugh was awarded $5 million and San Joaquin $2.2 million in the most recent allocation of funds on July 10.
The council will also
consider what to do about alternative ordinances pro- posed by the city manager and the Measure S Citizens Oversight Committee.
Oneofthe ordinances dealing with "application and implementation of Measure S limitations on use of tax revenues" could be moved forward or both could be sent back for review and revision.
The full agenda may be reviewed in the city hall lobby and on the city website https://www.ci.sanger.ca.us/.
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
• Sept. 20 - Joint city council/planning commission meeting, 5:30 p.m. at city hall, 1700 7th St.
• Sept. 20 - City council meeting, 6:30 p.m. at city hall, 1700 7th St.
• Sept. 22 - Street Faire and Farmers' Market, "Taco Throwdown," 5-9 p.m. in downtown
Sanger.
• Sept. 22 - Sam Academy's "Wine at the Workshop," 6-9 p.m., 750 N St.
THURSDAY
SEPTEMBER 20, 2018
VOL 129 NO. 38
2 sections, 14 pages
CLASSIFIED 3B LEGALS 4,5B BUSINESS DIRECTORY 6B LIFE STYLES 3B OBITUARIES 2A OPINION 3A SPORTS 1B POLICE LOG 2A WEATHER 8A
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