Drive-in movies up for Council approval
Fireworks ordinance slated for continued discussion
The Porterville Chamber of Commerce’s request to host several drive-in movie nights will be before the Porterville City Council for approval during Tuesday night’s regularly scheduled council meeting. If approved, the chamber would host the event on the fourth Saturday of each month, beginning this month and ending in the summer.
The chamber has requested the use of the parking lot at the Sport Complex to host Drive-in Movie Nights from 4 p.m to 11 p.m. beginning April 24 and running on the fourth Saturday of each month with the last event hosted on August 28. Only 150 vehicles would be allowed and vehicles would be parked in every other space, leaving enough room between each other to keep everyone safe. The proposal was taken before the city’s COVID-19 Ad Hoc Committee, where it was reviewed and approved for Council recommendation.
During Tuesday night’s meeting, the Council will continue their discussion on modifications to the city’s fireworks ordinance. For the past several meetings, the dais has been communicating with city staff the directions on which they feel are best, which have included the prohibition of sale of Piccolo Pete and Whistling Phantom fireworks and an increase in fines for those who violate the fireworks ordinance in the city. With many comments received from the public about the dais’ idea of citing property owners for violations committed on their property, city staff has brought back a draft ordinance that adds flexibility in discretion when giving citations to property owners as responsible parties.
The Council will host four public hearings during Tuesday’s meeting, the
first of which concerns the re-establishment of a used car dealership located at 70 S. Main Street, which is formerly known as the Hill Top auto dealership.
The applicant, Dealers Choice, is requesting a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for use of the site on the northeast corner of Vine Avenue and Main Street, and is proposing minor aesthetic improvements to the current facility.
On the Council’s consent calendar is the approval of the execution of a contract with Penny Hummel Consulting to perform the needs assessment for the library. The Council previously approved a $75,000 budget for the needs assessment, as the consultant will be working closely with the city’s Library Facility Planning Committee to document the committee’s findings in a written report that can be used to help the Council make decisions about library facility proceedings in the future.
Through the city’s screening process, it was determined that Penny Hummel Consulting, a company based out of Portland, Oregon, scored the highest. Penny Hummel Consulting would be partnering up with a Colorado based firm, Carson Block Consulting, Inc., to complete the library needs assessment. The estimated timeline for the assessment is proposed to be 16 weeks, which includes meetings with the committee, data collection and analysis, focus groups, and conduction of surveys. The proposed cost from Penny Hummel Consulting is $47,600. City staff is proposing that the Council approve the execution of a contract with Penny Hummel Consulting in an amount not to exceed $52,000.
This meeting of the Porterville City Council will begin at 6:30 p.m and will be streamed live on the City of Porterville’s Youtube channel, which can be found at https://www.youtube.com/channel/uc5kuhsrnmnl9nwhjvtnjvva.
Anyone wishing to submit comments to be read aloud during the public hearings or Oral Communications can email them to Councilmeetingcomments@
To view the agenda and staff reports for Tuesday’s meeting, visit www.ci.porterville.ca.us/govt/citycouncil/councilagendas.htm