Firefighter Tara Daniels, Woodland Fire Dept. Engine #1, has entered her “Smokin’ Pear Salad” in the Regis and Kelly "Coast-To-Coast Fire House Cook-Off." Click here to vote for Tara to cook LIVE with Regis and Kelly!
Gateway Center agreement revisited, Petrovich Rite Aid project scrapped
At 11 am today the City of Woodland held the Woodland I-5 / CR-102 Interchange Project Groundbreaking at the southeast corner of Interstate 5 and County Road 102, adjacent to the site of Sacramento developer Paul Petrovich's Gateway Shopping Center. According to the city's project Web site, "construction of portions of this project is required by the environmental document for the Gateway project" and is scheduled to be completed in 15 months. The city also stated that "federal transportation funds are paying for 80% of the project and the remaining 20% are local funds."
What's not mentioned is that the city paid Petrovich $2.5 million for the land. According to the "Gateway Center Agreement"
(article 3.14) "Compensation to owner [Petrovich] for land dedicated to city for interchange ramp. City shall compensate owner for the fair market value of the land dedicated by owner to city for the I-5 interchange ramp, as determined by an appraisal obtained through a mutually acceptable methodology." See page 14 of the agreement.
Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.
See a video report by KCRA.
Wrong 1: The City of Woodland does not have an Art in Public Places ordinance or program.
Wrong 2: City staff negotiates with property owners to satisfy an undefined public art requirement.
Wrong 3: The planning commission decides what is acceptable under the undefined requirement.
Wrong 4: The city council can overturn a planning commission decision under the undefined requirement.
In the end, a property owner is allowed to display something that is not public art - but worse - they are required to spend time and money on that something. The property owner is at the mercy of at least three groups of people who are uneducated about Art in Public Places. Here is the public art requirement from page 36 of the Community Design Standards:
10. Incorporate public art into the development of at all commercial and industrial projects. Public art is subject to the review of the Planning Commission or other such body established by the City Council.
Not a lot to go on is it? Check out this Daily Democrat report by James Noonan:
Woodland City Council ponders: What is art?
While discussing an appeal submitted in response to a decision by Woodland's Planning Commission, members of the City Council were forced to ponder a question that has plagued critics for millenia - Is it art?
Beginning in June 2009, Farm Credit West, an agricultural lending company that has been doing business in the region since 1917, began work on plans for a new branch building located at 480 Pioneer Ave., in Woodland.
Read it at DailyDemocrat.com.
Jeremiah is 5' 7" 140 Lbs. 15 years-old, blue eyes, red hair. He was last seen in the Woodland area. If you have any information, please call dad at (916) 459-0091, Rita at (510) 759-3303, grandparents at (530) 383-3468 or (916) 599-4005, or the Woodland Police Department's non-emergency number at (530) 666-2411.
Information sent by the By Hell Chronicles.
Yolo County Superior Court to be completed in 2014
From Fentress Architects:
The California State Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) has selected Fentress Architects, in association with Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects, to design a new 163,000-square-foot courthouse for Yolo County in Woodland, California—the most significant civic building to be constructed in Woodland in nearly a century.
The Woodland Courthouse has a construction budget of $173 million and is one of 41 courthouses awarded by the AOC in 2009 and funded by Senate Bill 1407. The courthouse will be paid for with funds collected from traffic fees and fines and completed in 2014.
Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.
Yolo County, citizens upset with EIR
Concerns about sprawl, environmental impacts as Yolo supervisors ask city to respond to their queries
Dorsey: The real reason city's hedging Petrovich theater plan
A little light shines on Woodland's downtown theater development
From Yolo County - Public Information:
The Yolo County Board of Supervisors and the Department of Agriculture are pleased to announce the online posting of the “Yolo County Winery Tasting Rooms & Wine Lists,” located at YoloCounty.org on the Agriculture and Weights & Measures page. The “Yolo County Winery Tasting Rooms & Wine Lists” webpage links to information concerning tasting rooms within Yolo County; wine varietals grown and produced in Yolo County, divided by red, white and dessert wines; and wine varietals produced in Yolo County from grapes not grown in Yolo County, also sorted by red, white and dessert wines.
Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.
Exhibit E of the SACOG grant application shows the northwest corner of Fourth and Main where the city has planned for a multiplex since 2003.
From the Woodland Record:
RDA says no to disclosing multiplex proposals, but SACOG grant application reveals Petrovich plan
As redevelopment priorities were being publicly discussed on December 15, 2009 – that included the topic of locating a downtown multiplex – few citizens knew that the Redevelopment Agency and city staff were already planning to build Paul Petrovich's cinema palace at Main and Third Streets. In a grant application dated September 2, 2009, the City of Woodland showed its hand to the Sacramento Area Council of Governments in a 68-page application to the SACOG Community Design Funding Program for the Woodland Downtown Streetscape Project – a program intended to provide a catalyst for private and public investment on the Main Street corridor.
From the "Narrative" of the application for $915,000 in grant funds, the city stated: "Two of the major development opportunities for the Main Street corridor include the new Yolo County Courthouse and multiplex theater projects." The application also included plans for city-provided parking across the street from the multiplex.
Ironically, during that December 15 meeting city staff recommended to council that the multiplex development project should include sole source negotiations with Petrovich – a Sacramento developer. Two council members siding with city staff were Martie Dote and Art Pimentel. They definitely wanted a multiplex project to be sole sourced to the Petrovich Development Company who would build it on the Hoblit auto dealer site on Main and Third Streets. This contradicted the Implementation Plan Advisory Committee – a group consisting of City Council/RDA appointees – who recommended that a Request For Proposal process be followed so that a multiplex could possibly include the historic State Theatre.
And now the city has come under fire for not revealing the two proposals submitted in response to a Request For Proposals issued on May 5 by the RDA. One proposal, that of Woodland developer Ron Caceres for the State Theatre site, has been voluntarily made public during a community meeting on June 12 and on two Web sites.
There's lots more to read and see at WoodlandRecord.com.
From the Community Housing Opportunities Corporation:
On Wednesday the Community Housing Opportunities Corporation (CHOC) held a Grand Opening to celebrate the successful completion of its $18M investment in Casa del Sol Mobile Home Park at 709 East Street in Woodland California.
The completed renovations at Casa del Sol include 157 new mobile home pads along with a state of the art 4,000 sq.ft. Community Center. The renovation brings significant economic and social impact to the Woodland and Yolo County communities by providing jobs and permanent homes to its low income families, mainly agricultural and seasonal farm-workers with low wage jobs. The project demonstrates a truly successful public/ private partnership between CHOC, the City of Woodland, the State of California, Rural Community Assistance Corporation, California Bank and Trust, and the Federal Home Loan Bank.
Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.
On June 30, the 2009-10 Yolo County Grand Jury released its Final Report. The "Report for the Citizens of Yolo County, California," included the results of an investigation of the Yolo County Department of Employment and Social Services.
Here are excerpts from that report (pages 16 - 19) that can be accessed at WoodlandRecordTV.com:
Summary: The Grand Jury investigated the Department of Employment and Social Services in response to a complaint alleging mismanagement, favoritism, and fraud. The Grand Jury received witness testimony and reviewed documentation. The Grand Jury found questionable practices with regard to timekeeping, pay for non-work related activities, lay-off and promotion, employee evaluations, and pursuing client fraud.
Specific allegations included: (1) misrepresenting vacation and sick leave charges on time sheets, (2) using employee time for non-work related activities, and (3) reporting time spent checking e-mails by cellular phone or remote computers as time worked, despite the suspension of the telecommuting policy. The complaint also alleged that the county fails to pursue fraudulent claims by clients when the amount is less than $5,000.
Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.
From the Woodland Record:
After canceling last Friday's interviews with two developers who responded to the City of Woodland's Redevelopment Agency (RDA) Request for Proposals (RFPs) for a downtown multiplex, the selection committee is scheduled to meet today. The interviews, as a format to answer questions, was scheduled because additional information was needed from each response according to city manager Mark Deven.
Deven indicated that financial information was especially needed since it was unreasonable to expect each developer to have a complete pro forma at this early stage. The interviews were cancelled because one of the selection committee members attended a funeral, however written responses to the interview questions were requested of the developers. Those were due by 5 pm on Friday.
According to the RFP issued by the RDA, the selection committee is "composed of six representatives: City Manager/Redevelopment Agency Executive Director or his designee Redevelopment Manager; An outside project manager involved in theater development; two Redevelopment Agency Board members or designees; [and the] Community Development Department Deputy Director or his designee.
Deven is the city manager, Cynthia Shallit is the RDA manager, Helen Bean from the City of Emeryville is the outside project manager, city council members Martie Dotie and Skip Davies are the RDA board members and Paul Siegel is the CCD Deputy Director.
Read the rest at WoodlandRecord.com.
Image: Woodland resident Ron Caceres submitted this rendering by Bill McCandless Associates as part of his proposal to renovate and expand the historic State Theatre.
From from the Davis Enterprise article by Bill Hollingshead:
Erosion is silent, steady and invisible to the eye of the citizen who lives in the small town. To the native-born who leaves and returns, the erosion looks more like a sinkhole that swallowed the history, legacy and landmarks of hometown USA.
I returned to Davis in 2004 and recently joined the Friends of the State Theatre to save virtually the last outpost of historic downtown Woodland.
Read the rest at DavisEnterprise.com.
From the Woodland Joint Unified School District:
There is a vacancy on the Board of Trustees of Woodland Joint Unified School District. Applicants must reside in Trustee Area Three, within the city limits of Woodland, CA, or immediately east of Woodland within the District’s school boundaries. The provisional appointee will fill the vacancy created by Trustee William Herms’ resignation, effective June 28, 2010. The term for former Trustee Herms ends the first week of December 2010. Community members with a strong interest in serving all of the students and families in WJUSD are encouraged to apply. Candidates should expect a moderate time commitment. Deadline for applications is Friday, July 16 at 5pm. Applications are available in the Superintendent’s Office, located at 435 Sixth Street, Woodland, CA 95695, July 12-16, 2010, 8 am to 5 pm. Please contact the Superintendent’s Office at 406-3202 with questions.
From the Comedy Spot Web site:
Stand-up Shoot-out: Four comedians enter. One Comedian leaves. Four comedians perform and the audience picks the winner. Every four months there is a championship series featuring all the previous winners. Previous Winners: Ben Shields. Nick Aragon.
Performers for July 9, 2010
Cameron Gumpy, Woodland
Nick Pettigrew
Taylor Backman
Giuliana-Vita Gabrielli
Get the details at SacComedySpot.com.
From the Daily Democrat article "City panel stalls over multiplex" by James Noonan:
The decision as to who will design Woodland's new downtown multiplex will be coming later than expected, as the selection subcommittee is requiring additional information from the two interested developers before making its recommendation.
The selection process officially began back on May 4, when the Woodland City Council, acting as the city's Redevelopment Agency, approved the release of a "request for proposals" for a new theater in the downtown area.
Read the rest at DailyDemocrat.com.
Woodland City Council - Reorganization Meeting
Tuesday, July 6, 2010 - 6:00 pm
Agenda
Posting of Colors by Woodland Fire and Police Department Color Guard
Pledge of Allegiance
Invocation by Woodland Police Chaplain
A. Roll Call
B. Public Comment
C. Administer of Oath of Office for Re-Elected Council Member
Marlin H. Davies
D. Designation of Mayor
Art Pimentel
E. Designation of Vice Mayor
Marlin H. Davies
F. Mayoral Address
G. Adjourn to 6:00 Pm Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Refreshments served following the meeting
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing agenda for the July 6, 2010 adjourned meeting of the city council of the city of woodland was posted july 2, 2010, in the outside display case at City Hall, 300 First Street, Woodland, Ca, and at the Woodland Community and Senior Center, 2001 East Street, Woodland, Ca and was available to the public during normal business hours. ~ Ana B. Gonzalez, Deputy City Clerk
The Steady Advance of This Firm Is a Tribute to Good Business Management
From the July 18, 1912, Woodland Daily Democrat
AN EXAMPLE what good and enterprising management will do for a business in this city is the present establishment of a larger and better Electric Garage at Third and Main streets. The local people have just added two experienced mechanics to take care of the recent consignment of up-to-date machinery received from the east. From now on, the garage will be able to repair and manufacture almost every individual part of an automobile. It is doubtful if a similarly equipped home for automobiles can be found anywhere in the northern part of the state.
Read the rest at WoodlandRecord.com.
Image: “We make a specialty of equipping Cars with Electric lights” touted the Electric Garage of Main and Third Streets. This ad appeared in the July 14, 1911, Woodland Daily Democrat. The building at 801 Main Street will be 100 years old in 2011. According to the recent evaluation by Mead & Hunt: The 1996 DPR 523 survey evaluation found the Electric Garage Company property to be “one of Woodland’s most important commercial buildings.”
See the spread on the history of the Electric Garage in the July issue of the Woodland Record.
A Fine Day, Good Attendance, a Splendid Lunch and Very Interesting Literary Exercises.
From the July 5, 1900, edition of the Woodland Daily Democrat:
The Fourth of July celebration at Knights Landing was a success. The attendance was very large, both Yolo and Sutter counties being well represented. All the neighboring towns sent large delegations -and the people of the farming and fruit districts turned out in goodly numbers. A great many Woodland people participated in the festivities. Most of them drove over, but about a car load went over on the noon train. Most of those who went over by train returned on the late freight train in the evening. A few remained over night.
A delegation of Woodland Odd Fellows went over in the morning, and about twenty-five members of Company F helped to swell the crowd.
Front street, where most of the business houses are located, was nicely decorated. Many private residences also made a showy and attractive appearance.
Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.
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