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

Blessing of the Bikes 2018
Looking for a home
page 8A
Apaches make it rain
Lifestyles 2B
Sports 1B
Weekly Newspaper
Matt Navo's replacement will receive a base salary of $198,115 in her first year as superintendent
School board reviews classroom emergency procedures
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
When Adela Jones takes over as superintendent of schools on July 1 it will be with a three year contract and a base salary of $198,115 during her first year.
The school board unanimously approved the contract, which will run from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2021, at its Feb. 27 meeting. Matt Navo, the current superintendent, announced late last year that he would be leaving the district at the end of this school year.
That won't be the only personnel change for the next school year. Lori Welch will move from principal at Lone Star to Wilson preschool as an early education coordinator.
School board president Pete Filippi presents a plaque of recognition to Janell Miller.
Sanger (Fresno County) CA 93657
50¢ (tax included)
Council will discuss the marijuana dispensary issue today
The public will have a chance to speak before a decision is made
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
Almost the final item on this eve- ning's city council agenda is likely to receive the most public com- ment.
The council will be discussing whether it wants to begin the pro- cess of deciding whether to allow limited medical marijuana dispen- saries to operate in Sanger.
The meeting will start at 6 p.m. in the council chamber at city hall. If you plan to attend, you'd better consider setting your DVR to re- cord your favorite prime time TV show/s because it could be a long session.
Lots of interesting items will come before the council before the medical marijuana dispensary is- sue becomes the focus of attention.
The council will:
• meet new police Sgt. Joshua Johnson and new community risk reduction officer Greg DuPuis;
• get a report from Mid Valley Disposal about how well the city is meeting recycling goals;
• consider a budget amendment to cover the cost of reconstruction of Hume Drive, Eastwood Avenue and Forest Lane;
• consider approving a three- year agreement with Pyro Spec- taculars Inc. to do the fireworks display on the 4th of July;
• consider amending an ordi- nance to clarify whether organiza- tions exempt from paying a busi- ness license fee still have to get a business license; and,
• consider whether to approve a Measure S Citizens Oversight Committee recommendation to immediately 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 ap- proved.
Back in April of 2017, in a reac- tion to the passage of California's Proposition 64, the council adopted a very restrictive ordinance pro- hibiting the sale of marijuana for recreational or medical purposes. Councilmember Humberto Garza said then that he might later ask the council to reconsider allowing a medical marijuana dispensary to operate in Sanger. The current agenda item is in response to his recent request and the council's agreement to take another look at the issue. If the council decides to continue the process it will adopt a resolution amending its earlier de- cision. Then, because the resolution would propose changing a zoning ordinance, the matter would go to the planning commission for a pub- lic hearing before coming back to the council.
The reporter can be contacted by email at sangerherald@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511
F
BLOSSOM
ESTIVAL
Dick Sheppard/Sanger Herald
June Livingston, winner of the 2018 Fresno County Blossom Trail Art Contest, and hubby Roy, taking a selfie in one of the several orchards visited last Saturday by the "Blossom Bus." June will be at the Blossom Festival in Sanger this Saturday signing her Blossom Trail Posters and enjoying the 30th annual downtown Sanger festival that features the Blossom Trail 10k Run, walks and runs for every age and fitness level, food booths, kids activi- ties, a Lego car show, a real car show and popular country singer John Pemberton on stage from noon to 3 p.m. The runs/walks begin at 7 a.m., the festival will be in full swing from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the downtown car show is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. See more photos for the Blossom Bus tour on page 7A.
See SCHOOL BOARD, page 6A
District 3 townhall meeting draws a larger than usual crowd
Councilmember Daniel Martinez By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
Townhall meetings in Sanger have become infamous for having more city employees than residents in attendance.
District 3 councilmember Daniel Martinez held a meeting Tuesday evening in the Reagan Elementary School multipurpose room that broke the mold. There were about
40 residents there, including Boy Scouts from Troop 302, along with their scoutmaster. That was about four times the number usually at district meetings.
There almost weren't enough cookies and bottled water to go around.
Martinez took 30 minutes of the hour long meeting to look back at the city's accomplishments in his district and to look ahead to future projects in the district and citywide.
His comment that the long delayed traffic signal project at the intersection of Bethel and Church avenues would finally be completed in March - sometime - was met with shrugs, snickers and mumbled com- ments expressing reasonable doubt.
It was first targeted to be com- pleted in January, then February and now March. Martinez said ma- terial and equipment delays were responsible for the problem.
Among the completed projects he cited were:
• exercise equipment in Sanger
parks paid for by a $15,000 grant from the Wonderful Co.;
• solar powered security cameras installed in parks;
• railroad track improvements at the Bethel and Fairbanks crossings;
• water well improvements; and
• progress toward completing Veterans Park.
Future projects Martinez men- tioned that seemed to resonate with his audience were roadwork on Church and on Greenwood avenues.
He also cited the lower crime rates in 2017 compared with 2016: assaults were down by 20 percent; theft and larceny in the city dropped 24 percent; and auto theft was down by 13 percent.
Questions ranged from why the city doesn't have enough soccer fields and softball diamonds to how developer impact fees are used to why walking trail landscaping is not properly maintained to what can
be done about people smoking in public.
The smoking question came from
Boy Scout Christian Robbins. Most of the questions and comments about the lack of park space for youth recreation came from Curtis Wyrick who was following up on similar questions asked at the most recent city council meeting.
Martinez and city manager Tim Chapa said the best bet for any new softball diamonds will be when the third phase of the proposed Veter- ans Park at the corner of Indianola and Jensen is being completed.
Chapa said impact fees from de- velopers can be used to create new parks, not maintain existing ones. The problem is, there is no available land on which to create the new parks.
Martinez said he needed to know there was a problem with the walk- ing trail before he could deal with it and pointed out that Sanger has smoke free parks.
The reporter can be contacted by email at sangerherald@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875- 2511
THURSDAY
MARCH 1, 2018
VOL 129 NO. 9
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
SANGER HERALD: A MID VALLEY PUBLISHING NEWSPAPER • (559) 875-2511 • www.thesangerherald.com