By Bob Crum — Wednesday, October 30th, 2013
Part 3
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By Anonymous — Wednesday, October 30th, 2013
![]() GRAND MARSHALL: Crystal Gurrola, FRESHMAN PRINCESS: Ryan Nunez, FRESHMAN PRINCE: Colton Farrar, SOPHOMORE PRINCESS: Nichole Ramirez, SOPHOMORE PRINCE: Jorge Valdovinos, JUNIOR PRINCESS: Nayeli Baez, JUNIOR PRINCE: Jorge Andres Andrade, QUEEN & KING: Kayla Grove & Ismael Avila, 1ST PRINCESS & PRINCE: Kimberly Ramirez & George Orozco, 2ND PRINCESS & PRINCE: Kiana Hope & Erney Gomez Enlarge Photo |
![]() From the left: City Manager David Rowlands, Councilmember Diane McCall, Mayor Rick Neal, Mike Sedell, Mayor Pro-tem Manuel Minjares, Councilmembers Douglas Tucker and Steve Conaway, and City Attorney Tiffany Israel. This is a day for the residents of Fillmore to rejoice and remember. The $14 million dollar check presented at Tuesday’s regular council meeting represents a strong new start for the City of Fillmore. It’s been a long time coming. The team shown in the photo above, and our hard-working city staff, are responsible for this financial victory. Special thanks is also due to Mike Sedell, former City Manager of Simi Valley. He has used his unique, extensive experience with tireless voluntary efforts to get Fillmore back on track at many levels. No one deserves the key to the city more than Mike Sedell. Congratulations to the whole team. Enlarge Photo By Jean McLeod — Wednesday, October 23rd, 2013
Mike Sedell receives Key to the City, $14 million check signifies victory
There was an unexpected surprise given out at this week’s Fillmore City Council Meeting. A "Key to the City" was awarded to Mike Sedell in recognition of all the time and effort he put forward helping Fillmore stay the course. Sedell was City Manager of Simi Valley for 17 years, retired. Before handing over the Key, Councilmembers held up a large check (approximately size 5'X2') in the amount of $13,936,173.82 written to the City of Fillmore by the Board of Equalization. The check was just a photocopy but it symbolized the efforts of City Management and Council members that had faith in what many criticized as foolish. The Key to the City was then handed to Sedell in recognition for helping guide the town through some very hard times. He always kept faith in the Fillmore's ability to recover and selflessly never asked for anything in return. Sedell responded, "I saw a community in need of a bit of help....It was a team effort." Mayor ProTem Manuel Minjares spoke from the heart saying, "It was really a situation that we needed the right people....it’s been a god-send and I can't express how happy I am.” Councilmember Steve Conaway added, "I'm so thrilled with where we're at." Councilmember Douglas Tucker then told Sedell, "We looked for guidance....you truly are a leader." Councilmember Diane McCall ended the comments with, "We are so fortunate to have you select us....All of your effort has fulfilled our city." Other items on the agenda were discussions of building a Bike Park-Pump Track, First Quarter Financial Report, Monthly Investment Report for September 2013, contracting with a collection agency to collect money owed the City, a tree maintenance contract, and a Long-Range Property Management Plan. An item that may be of interest to the young people in town is the approval of a bike park/pump track, also called a skills track, that may be constructed in a couple of months at Two Rivers Park. This is a track where young people can practice bike jumps and tricks that have become a very popular sport. The size of the bike park is about equal to a basketball court. The exact location has not been completely decided, but discussion suggest the south-west end of the skate park that is currently a parking lot area with tennis courts dividing the skate park and the bike park. Conaway stated, "We believe we can build it with donations." Someone has already volunteered to draw up the design plans and the construction materials needed are compacted clay and soil. When liability concerns were brought up Conaway responded that the liability falls in the same category as a skate park. Tucker questioned the cost of maintenance and upkeep and was told there is very little, mostly hosing it down with water. There were two contracts approved by the Council. First, with Sequoia Financial, a debt collection agency out of Glendale, to recover at least part of the $116,000 owed in utilities, fireworks citations, parking tickets and other debt uncollected. Fillmore will receive 75% of what ever is collected and where courts are required Fillmore will receive 60-65% of what is awarded. The Council had considered other means to collect debt owed the town, such as adding it to the property tax bill, but many of the townspeople were not pleased with that direction due to the amount of errors possible. An item the Council continues to deal with is the State dissolution of the Redevelopment Agency. The State is requiring all cities that chose to keep their Redevelopment Agency properties and become Successor Agencies to sell certain properties considered non-beneficial to the community and give the proceeds of the sale to the State. What Fillmore calls the 2013 Long Range Property Management Plan is the direction the City has taken to address the changes to the Redevelopment Agency since becoming the Successor Agency. Fillmore's Successor Agency consists of 19 properties of which 17 will continue to be owned by the City. The two that must be sold are vacant lots and could not qualify as a direct community benefit. Both are in the Central Business District; a vacant lot west of Central, 510 Santa Clara St. with a lot size of .36 acre. The other is Railroad Property located at Mountain View St./Santa Clara St. with a lot size of 2.11 acres. |
![]() American Water has been awarded a research grant to investigate the impacts of low dissolved oxygen conditions at a full-scare membrane bioreaetor water reuse plant. Enlarge Photo By Anonymous — Wednesday, October 23rd, 2013
American Water (NYSE: AWK), the nation’s largest publicly traded water and wastewater utility company, today announced it has been awarded a research grant from the WateReuse Research Foundation to investigate the impacts of low dissolved oxygen conditions at a full- scale membrane bioreaetor (MBR) water reuse plant. The project, valued at $365,777, will focus on the operation of advanced MBRs under low dissolved oxygen (DO) conditions to maximize nitrogen removal. Researchers will monitor the process using continuous online analyzers. The study will be conducted at the Fillmore Water Recycling Facility, an award-winning zero-discharge water reuse plant that is designed, built and operated by American Water’s Contract Services Group for the city of Fillmore, Calif. “The goal of this research is to produce high quality reclaimed water through a process that saves energy and reduces chemicals, while improving the treatment of emerging contaminants,” said Dr. Helen Littleton, Technical Manager Commercial Wastewater Projects of Innovation and Environmental Stewardship. “In addition, the project will examine whether these conditions will also improve the removal of pharmaceuticals and nitrosamine precursors. These are all issues faced by the reclaimed water industry.” The American Water project team will consist of Dr. Helen Littleton, Technical Manager Commercial Wastewater Projects, as the principal investigator, and Dr. Zia Bukhari, Senior Environmental Scientist, serving as a co-principal investigator. Dr. Mark LeChevallier will be serving as internal advisor. About the WateReuse Research Foundation |
By Anonymous — Wednesday, October 23rd, 2013
![]() Piru’s Skate Park offers the town’s youth a place to engage in outdoor recreation. The Ventura County Board of Supervisors approved a total of $450,000 in loans and grants back in 2009 for the project. $200,000 in grant monies was part of an allocation of $1.9 million in federal anti-poverty funds distributed to poor communities and groups. A loan of $250,000 from the county to its redevelopment agency for the Piru area was also approved. It will be paid back over a 15-year period, at a rate of approximately $21,000 per year, from taxes collected in the Piru redevelopment zone. Enlarge Photo |
By Anonymous — Wednesday, October 23rd, 2013
10/15/2013 – 10/21/2013
10/15/13 |
By Ventura County Sheriff Department — Wednesday, October 16th, 2013
Police asking witnesses or anyone with information to contact them
On Saturday evening, October 12, 2013 at approximately 10:05 p.m., a traffic collision occurred at Ventura Street where it intersects Santa Clara Avenue. Involved parties and witnesses said a blue 1998 Honda Civic was traveling south on Santa Clara Avenue and it entered onto Ventura Street directly into the path of a silver 2005 Chevrolet Malibu that was traveling west on Ventura Street. The Chevrolet Malibu’s front end collided broadside with the driver’s side door of the Honda Civic causing major damage to both cars. The Malibu came to rest facing the opposite direction on the roadway while the Civic left the road on the south shoulder of Ventura Street coming to rest against a chain link fence. The solo occupant in the Honda was 18-year Daniel Cordero from Fillmore and he was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. The driver of the Malibu, Gracie Wall of Fresno and her male adult passenger both sustained minor neck / back pain injuries. Both occupants of the Malibu declined being taken by ambulance to the hospital. Ventura Street was closed in both directions for approximately four hours for the investigation of this collision. Ventura Street traffic was detoured onto Santa Clara Avenue between Ventura Street and Mountain View Street. The preliminary investigation does not suggest that alcohol was a factor in this accident. The investigation into this collision is ongoing. The Fillmore Police Department encourages anyone that might have witnessed this collision to contact the station at (805) 524-2233. Nature of Incident: Fatality Traffic Collision Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 reward for information, which leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime. The caller may remain anonymous. The call is not recorded. Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477). For full details |
By Anonymous — Wednesday, October 16th, 2013
On Wednesday, October 9th at 10am, new military banners were installed. In October 2008, the Fillmore Unified School Board together with the City of Fillmore adopted a program to recognize the family members of Fillmore residents serving in the Military. The program is supported by our local Veterans of Foreign War and Up for Education 501C. If your family member or you have been discharged from the military, please contact the City Clerk’s Office at (805) 524-3701 or by email militarybanners@yahoo.com so that arrangements may be made to have your banner removed and then presented to you or your family. Banners will be removed approximately 3 to 4 times per year and you will be advised as to the dates and time. We continue to receive phone calls and correspondence from residents and neighboring cities regarding the recognition program and hope this has given you a sense of community support and pride. We thank you and please receive our utmost gratitude for your service to our country. City of Fillmore, FUSD, Up for Education – Virginia A. de la Piedra, Local VFW. |
By Anonymous — Wednesday, October 16th, 2013
A unanimous vote, 4-0, at last week’s Oct. 8th City Council meeting awarded a contract for the Fillmore Police Station and City Parking Lot to Asphalt Rubber Hot Mix Overlay Project to J & H Engineering General Contractors Inc. J & H submitted the lowest bid of $113,700 but the city projects the cost of the paving to be closer to $142,000. The Council had budgeted $190,000 for the Project. Councilmember Manuel Minjares missed the vote upon late arrival. In the vote, the Council authorized City Manger David Rowlands to sign the contract documents and approve change orders, if any, to a combined maximum of $12,000; and to authorize the budget adjustment as set forth in the fiscal impact section. An asphalt overlay of the 524 Sespe Avenue parking lot will expand the police station lot by approximately 45 feet. |
By Anonymous — Wednesday, October 16th, 2013
Good evening Dr. Nishino, Michael Johnson, Todd Schieferle, and School Board Members, Tonight we represent dedicated professionals that educate the students of Mountain Vista School under the administration of Mr. John Wilber. As a staff, we are committed to the students we serve. We continue to hold high expectations of ourselves and of our students. We are reminded daily of our task - to educate the future generation; those future adults who will be faced with different opportunities and challenges than we might have faced growing up. FUSD is in transition. As with any transition, problems become apparent and need to be resolved. First, Common Core curriculum is being written by Fillmore elementary teachers to align the eleven year-old Open Court program. Second, there is no ELD curriculum, yet Lesson Plans are being required. Clearly, these concerns need to be addressed immediately. Although we do have a professional duty to implement the curriculum, we question whether it is also our responsibility to write the curriculum we deliver. One can ask how is it reasonable to then spend additional hours rewriting our curriculum into lesson plan format. What is the limit to our professional day? While Mountain Vista teachers move forward with implementing Common Core this year, and continue to prepare our students for their future, there is an urgent need for curriculum support and training for the Mountain Vista Staff now. After all, “the future” sits before us everyday. Respectfully, |