Floods, chickens and new paths discussed at Visalia City Council meeting

Looking for more information about what happened during this week’s city council meeting?

Here’s a recap of what you may have missed:

Spring 2023 flood response

Before Monday's scheduled meeting, city council members held a work session surrounding the spring 2023 flood, including a summary of the research, planning, and coordination between the city and the Cal Fire Incident team.

The flooding followed a series of atmospheric rivers starting on March 10, prompting the city to respond. Three days after the initial storm, Visalia officials declared a local state of emergency due to the unknown impact the rain and significant snowmelt would have on the city’s waterways.

The Visalia Emergency Operations Center began tracking the rainfall amounts for Visalia and the Sierras, specifically looking at how the downslope flows from rain and added snowmelt were affecting the city's ditches, streams and the St. John’s River.

They monitored waterways for spots of potential weakness, overflow and debris. Staff tracked the capacity of Kaweah Reservoir, including the amount of outflow and inflow from the reservoir, as well as water flow amounts at key points and special risk facilities in the city, like fuel stations, fire stations, hospitals and senior living facilities.

The operations center preemptively established evacuation zones and plans for potentially vulnerable areas and critical facilities throughout town.

“Our main effort was really trying to plan and predict where we were going to have an issue,” fire Chief Dan Griswold said, “and be able to respond accordingly.”

Cal Fire began working with Visalia — as well as Porterville — on March 15. Visalia deescalated the operations center on March 22. Both cities withdrew from the unified command on March 24 after it was determined the local conditions did not necessitate large-scale incident management.

Staff have continued monitoring the capacity of Kaweah Reservoir, flows passing through Visalia, and the conditions of the waterways within the city.

“Our neighbors and the rest of the county were really experiencing some significant impacts,” Griswold said. “Visalia was really blessed not to [have experienced those significant impacts], as much as we were preparing for that.”

Other Work Session, Action Items, and Chickens

City council members then received the annual operations report for the Downtown Visalia Property and Business Improvement District, approving a 5% increase in the district’s assessments for the 2023/24 tax roll.

Councilmember Steve Nelsen stepped down to give the presentation and therefore abstained from voting.

The Downtown Visalia Property and Business Improvement District, established in 1998, is an assessment district that provides activities as well as improvements to property owners.

Council members also received the annual operations report for the Town-Center Business Improvement Area, approving an amended agreement with Downtown Visalians Inc.

Nelsen abstained from voting on the amended agreement.

The last work session item city council members considered Monday night surrounded a potential update to the city’s municipal code to allow community members to keep chickens in residential zones.

The concept was brought to the city in February at the suggestion of Councilmember Liz Wynn.

Currently, chickens and other fowls are not permitted in residential zones throughout Visalia, except in single-family residential, minimum 20,000 square foot site areas.

Other nearby cities are mixed in their allowances for chickens. For example, Clovis, Dinuba, Fresno, Hanford, Tulare and Porterville do not permit chickens, while Exeter, Farmersville and Linsday allow them a set amount in residents' rear yards.

Areas that permit chickens have several restrictions including no killing animals on the premises and no roosters.

Nelsen was vocal in his disapproval of the item, noting a similar suggestion was brought to the city council in 2017 and went nowhere, calling it a "bureaucratic nightmare." Councilman Brett Taylor, who approved of the change in 2017, also voiced his concerns about moving forward with the item before voting against it.

Ultimately, city council members voted against moving forward with any code changes, 4-0-1. Councilmember Emmanuel Soto abstained.

Consent Calendar

Visalia City Council members unanimously voted to accept the agenda’s consent calendar, meaning no discussion on the calendar’s contents occurred.

The first item council members approved was a completion notice for the Fleet Maintenance Settlement Repair Project.

The project, which focused on the fleet maintenance building off Ben Maddox near the city’s public works corporation yard, included the repair of the building’s door jams, floors, plumbing, footings, building slab, stairs, stairwells, roof and metal siding.

The total cost of the project was around $216,000, less than the estimated $261,600. The unused money will be returned to the Measure N Building Maintenance Fund.

City council members also authorized city manager Leslie Caviglia to file a notice of completion for the Enhanced Crosswalk at Denton Street and Ferguson Avenue Project, as well as the Linwood Street Pedestrian Pathway Project.

Caviglia was also authorized to appropriate an additional $29,000 from the Measure R Local Fund to the Linwood Street Pedestrian Pathway Project.

The projects are meant to provide additional pedestrian safety measures near Denton Elementary School and Oak Grove Elementary School.

The first project, at the intersection of Denton Street and Ferguson Avenue, added pedestrian-activated lights to the crosswalk. The second project, along Linwood Street between Ferguson Avenue and Modoc Avenue, provided connectivity between existing sidewalks, creating a safer route.

The first project was completed within its budget, while the second project required further funds due to unforeseen existing structures as well as additional asphalt.

City council members also authorized Caviglia to award a sole source purchase order to W.M. Lyles Company for the repair and replacement of piping components of Digester 4 at the city’s Water Reclamation Facility.

The digester began leaking in May 2022, and as a result, it was brought down below the point of the leak to allow for repairs. At some point in the project, the emergency beds at the plant were eliminated.

The digester contents were drained back to the headworks before being recirculated back through the plant process over a span of several days.

“The recirculation of the sludge caused some adverse reactions within the plant, so the remainder of the digester could not be emptied through this process,” the agenda packet reads. “At that point, the digester was deemed unusable and taken off-line.”

There are eight digesters at the plant, seven of which need to be dewatered, cleaned and inspected but only after digester four is brought back online.

The cost for the project is around $284,000 and will be paid out of the Digester Cleaning and Equipment Repair Capital Improvement Project budgeted within the Wastewater Fund; however, the project only has a budget of $195,040.

City council members approved an additional $150,000 from the Wastewater Fund to cover the rest.

Caviglia was also authorized to award an annual contract for $200,000 with Sierra Range Construction for on-call concrete repair and replacement.

City council members with the exception of Taylor — who recused himself — approved proposed changes to the city’s municipal code to include an Agricultural Land Preservation ordinance.

The project applies to citywide properties within the Urban Growth Boundary Tiers II and III established by the Visalia General Plan. Local farmers and agricultural groups wrote to council members and voiced concerns about the ordinance, arguing it could hinder economic development in town.

Council members also authorized Caviglia to execute a new sole-source contract with Ruckstell California Sales Co. for $400,000. The company services and repairs Tommy pick-up truck liftgates, Heil side-loader refuse truck bodies, Mammoth front-loader refuse truck bodies, and Edge roll-off refuse truck Bodies.

The city has more than 70 solid waste refuse truck bodies in use.

“In an effort to maintain consistency and the reliability of its fleet, the ability to service, repair and purchase replacement parts for this specialty equipment is critical,” the agenda packet reads. “In many cases, this is only possible through the utilization of a contract through a factory-authorized dealer.”

According to data provided by the city, over the past four years, Visalia has spent over $300,000 each year on parts and services. This year, the city is expected to exceed $360,000.

City council members authorized Caviglia to execute a restricted grant agreement between the California Department of Transportation and the city for the North Visalia Beautification Project.

The project will focus on improvements along Court Street and NE 3rd Avenue from Dinuba Boulevard to Houston Avenue, including street lighting, landscaping, medians and overall aesthetics.

The city is applying for grants to fund the estimated $3.1 million project.

Caviglia was also authorized to enter into a five-year, cooperative agreement with the National Park Service to continue in-park shuttle services in conjunction with the city’s Gateway Sequoia shuttle service.

The Sequoia Internal Shuttle was established in 2007. Its summer service operates five routes to areas throughout the forest including Crescent Meadow, the General Sherman Tree, the Giant Forest Museum, and the Lodgepole Campground.

The city council approved changes to the terms and conditions of employment, providing all full-time employees with a 2.5% salary increase as well as a one-time $1,000 lump sum payment. Public Employees' Pension Reform Act employees will receive an additional $750 one-time lump sum payment.

“[T]he City of Visalia has had increased difficulty in recruiting and retaining quality employees,” the agenda packet reads. “The struggle to attract applicants for jobs results in ongoing position vacancies throughout the city which further impacts existing employee workloads.”

The total cost of the 2.5% wage increase is just over $2 million, $1.2 million will come out of the general fund. The total cost of the one-time lump sum payments for full-time employees is just shy of $800,000.

Regular Items, Public Hearings

The city then approved a 2.5% salary increase, around $5,700 annually, and a one-time $1,000 lump sum for Caviglia, the same increase approved by the city council earlier in the evening when they accepted the consent calendar.

Any changes to the city manager's contract must be approved during an open session.

Caviglia has been serving as city manager since September 2021.

Closed Session Report

Visalia city council members reported a closed session transaction that occurred on May 9 between the city and Francisco Acevedo Family L.P. for $7,700 for the Caldwell Widening Project.

The Visalia City Council meets again at 7 p.m. on June 5 in the Visalia City Council Chambers.

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Visalia City Council talks floods, chickens, new paths during meeting