Woodlander Steven Peyton named to All-Ivy Football Team for second time

From Brown University:

After finishing second in the Ivy standings with a 4-3 league mark, 7-3 overall, 13 Brown players were named to the 2011 All-Ivy Football Team as selected by the eight Ancient Eight head football coaches. Senior defensive tackle Kyle Rettig (Clearwater, FL), senior linebacker Brett Wyman (Bridgewater, MA), senior safety Stephen Peyton (Woodland, CA), junior offensive tackle Jack Templeton (Ramsey, NJ), junior defensive back AJ Cruz (Lake Forest, CA), and senior punter Nate Lovett (East Providence, RI) were named first team All-Ivy selections.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.

Freeman parking plan will supplant $150,892 fee requirement for Petrovich multiplex

Exhibit B (at top) of the staff report prepared for the November 29 city council meeting shows the proposed farmers market and parking facilities at Freeman Park. The bottom two illustrations (altered by the Woodland Record) demonstrate the proposed parking spaces with red cars added. There are 28 spaces prescribed in the plan, as is, but the planned space can accommodate 36 parking stalls. The city-paid parking can be perceived as a subsidy of at least $150,892 for the Petrovich Cinema West multiplex to be located only a half-block away. The multiplex will be the primary user of the parking facilities considering the business will operate seven nights a week, compared to being used only one morning a week during the growing season by farmers market patrons.

From the Woodland Record:

According to the City of Woodland fee schedule revised July 1, 2011, the in-lieu parking fee is $5,389 per space required for a commercial development project. As of February 28, 2011, Paul Petrovich and Cinema West had yet to identify the location of parking for their multiplex to be located at Fourth and Main according to a city email. Also that day, a city document was drafted to state that a conditional use permit is required for the project "because the proposed theater does not comply with the Downtown Specific Plan requirements of vehicle parking..." There has been no update to the city's project file since.

The Petrovich Cinema West project is only a half-block from Freeman Park, site of the proposed farmers market and parking plan to be discussed during the Tuesday city council meeting. Absent any parking facilities built by a developer, an in-lieu parking fee is supposed to be paid. But this IS the City of Woodland... and the developer IS Paul Petrovich... so it's anybody's guess as to what the developer will actually have to pony up for the necessary multiplex parking.

What doesn't have to be guessed are the proposed parking spaces for Freeman Park and the current in-lieu fee. Just count the parking spaces in the plan (Exhibit B above)... 28. Multiply that by the $5,389 per space in-lieu fee (that Petrovich is supposed to pay) and you get a total of $150,892 – a hefty subsidy for a developer who doesn't have, or won't produce, a parking plan. Get rid of the sketchy "no parking" zones in the proposal and that subsidy can skyrocket to $194,004 for the 36 parking spaces that can conveniently fit in the plan.

Now consider that the Cinema West multiplex will use the Freeman parking facilities seven evenings a week, year-round, while the farmers market will only use the parking facilities one morning a week during the growing season.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.

As expected, Freeman Park plan includes parking for Petrovich multiplex

Exhibit B of the city's plan to provide parking for Petrovich's multiplex at Freeman Park.

City's "pedestrian-friendly" philosophy for downtown questioned

From the Woodland Record:

As foretold in several Woodland Record articles (including "Public beware! Subsidies for Petrovich/Corkill will come in many forms," and "Yolo Sun recap of Freeman Park meeting missing city's intent for multiplex parking; closed sessions start tonight after recess") the City of Woodland "community" (re)development staff will propose two Freeman Park plans that provide parking for the Paul Petrovich multiplex project at Fourth and Main.

The Freeman Park project proposal is neatly folded into both the "Water Well Construction Project" (a city subsidy for the courthouse) and the "Main Street Beautification Project" (a partnership between Petrovich and the City of Woodland funded by a SACOG* grant) to diffuse attention. The city-provided parking, adjacent to Maria's Cantina (a business owned by another Redevelopment Agency beneficiary), is presented as only serving the proposed farmers market facilities in the park.

The Freeman Park proposal was part of the hasty $4.8 million RDA give-away last June. But this project was different than the others, it was proposed by staff as requiring only $50,000 for the task of conceptualizing a farmers market facility. The RDA (city council) mysteriously bumped the allocation for the project up to an approved amount of $350,000. Why did the RDA approve 700% of the proposed resolution? Because the intent of this farmers market facility is to build a parking lot that will be used one day out of each summer week by the market and will be used seven evenings a week throughout the year by the multiplex that will be a half block away. Multiplex users will park in Freeman Park and access the theater through an improved Dead Cat Alley passage.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com

Thanksgiving 1911: A message from Taft, services at St. Luke's

An ad from the November 29, 1911, edition of the Woodland Daily Democrat. The Vogue, proprietors Griggs and Bush, was located "one half block west of the post office" according to their grand opening ads in March, 1903. The 1906 Sanborn Insurance Map shows the post office was located at the northeast corner of Main and Second... thus placing The Vogue at about 617 Main, the current location of The House Dresser. That address, the "Jackson-Armfield Building," has a restored billboard on its west wall advertising Levi's sold at The Vogue.

Excerpt from the American Presidency Project:

Proclamation 1172 - Thanksgiving Day, 1911
By William Howard Taft, President of the United States of America

Our country has been signally favored in many ways. The round of the seasons has brought rich harvests. Our industries have thrived far beyond our domestic needs; the productions of our labor are daily finding enlarged markets abroad. We have been free from the curses of pestilence, of famine and of war. Our national councils have furthered the cause of peace in other lands, and the spirit of benevolence has brought us into closer touch with other peoples, to the strengthening of the bonds of fellowship and good will that link us to our comrades in the universal brotherhood of nations. Strong in the sense of our own rights and inspired by as strong a sense of the rights of others, we live in peace and harmony with the world.

Read the rest at WoodlandRecord.com.

2011-2012 Yolo County Grand Jury is in session

From Yolo County Grand Jury:

The Yolo County Grand Jury functions as a citizen “watchdog” organization to review the operations and performance of county and city organizations, school districts and special districts. Citizens may submit complaints about the actions or performances of public officials or public agencies within Yolo County and the Grand Jury makes its own determination about which complaints may be investigated. All information is kept strictly confidential.

Based on these reviews or investigations, the Grand Jury publishes its findings and may recommend constructive action to improve the quality and effectiveness of local government.

Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.