Stowe, Hamilton, Gong, Dowling going into Wall of Fame Spring Festival also on council agenda

Four legendary community leaders will be going into the Porterville Wall of Fame this year.

Former City Council members Milt Stowe and Cam Hamilton, long-time community leader David Gong and Don Dowling, who has played a major role in American Legion Post 20 for a long time, are set to go into the Wall of Fame.

A staff informational report for the Wall of Fame is on the agenda for Tuesday’s Porterville City Council meeting, which will be held at 6:30 p.m.

The 2023 Wall of Fame induction ceremony will be held at noon Friday, March 10 at Centennial Park. Mayor Martha A. Flores nominated Hamilton, councilman Don Weyhrauch nominated Stowe, councilman Ray Beltran nominated Gong and councilman Greg Meister nominated Dowling. As of Friday morning councilmeber Kellie Carrillo had yet to announce who she was nominating for the Wall of Fame.

Stowe has had a distinguished career of service to the community of Porterville pretty much ever since he came to Porterville to attend Porterville College in 1970. Stowe retired from the council last year.

Hamilton, who died last year, served on the council from 2002 through 2018. Hamilton, a U.S. Navy Veteran, was also involved in other community projects including being a founding member of the New Porterville Rescue Mission.

Gong was another beloved community leader who died in 2020. Gong was a motivational speaker and was involved in numerous programs and projects in the community, including in swimming and water polo. He established an aquatics academy in the community for underprivileged kids.

In his time with the American Legion among the projects Dowling has taken a major role in is the Veterans Day Parade.

COMMUNITY CIVIC EVENTS

A number of community civic events are set to be given the go ahead on the council’s consent agenda, including the Porterville Chamber of Commerce’s Spring Festival, formerly the Iris

Festival. The event will be held for the first time in four years due to COVID-19 restrictions and its aftermath.

The event will be held from 9 a.m. To 4 p.m. Saturday, April 15 downtown and will feature food and vendor booths, a kids zone, a chili cook-off and family entertainment. There will also be a car show in the parking lot adjacent to Landing 13.

Also on the consent calendar is a celebration to be held by the Native STAR Foundation for a mural created by Poyomi Mcdarment, a resident of the Tule River Indian Reservation, that celebrates her Yokuts culture. The event will be held at the Heritage Center parking lot from 1 to 4 p.m. The mural will be unveiled at the celebration.

The mural is placed on a building adjacent to the St. Anne’s Food Pantry off of Orange across from the Heritage Center and Santa Fe School. Mcdarment created the mural with the support of Carly Tex, a local Mono cultural practitioner and indegeneous language advocate, Grenuda Productions and the Fresno Arts Council.

The KJUG Free Concert Series featuring up and coming country stars is also set to come back this summer with three concerts planned for Centennial Park. That matter is a scheduled item on the agenda.

The council will again consider the city being a sponsor of the series. Dates for the series have yet to be set.

Cost for the city’s sponsorship of the series would be $7,000 and would come from the council’s Community Promotions account.

Also on the consent calendar is the 36th annual Valley Children’s Healthcare Foundation kids day, a fundraiser for the foundation. The event is set for March 7 and would be held at schools in the community throughout the day.

OHV PARK RACES

Also on the consent calendar is a request from Myron Short, representing 2A Promotions, to allow for overnight camping at the OHV Park adjacent to the Porterville Sports Complex for a series motocross races to be held there this year. Short has operated a successful series of motocross races at the OHV Park since 2014. The first race weekend is set for March 11-12.

CLEAN-UP EVENTS

Another matter on the consent calendar is the two free clean-up days the city offers every year. This year’s cleanup days in which city residents can take waste to the Porterville Corporate Yard will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 22 and October 14. The 60th annual Jackass Mail Run is also being held on April 22.

Items that can be taken include tree limbs, branches, yard waste that doesn’t exceed 10 feet, household trash, furniture, scrap metal, mattress/box springs, computers, laptops, monitors, televisions, cell phones and tablets.

Items that won’t be accepted included batters, paint, oil, oil filters, florescent light bulbs, tires, refrigerators and large broken down auto parts.

RESCUE MISSION

As a scheduled matter an update on the progress of the New Porterville Rescue Mission will be presented to the council. Since the last update the rescue mission has completed a concrete landing for two east doors, which passed inspection on January 27. The remaining work to be completed is the construction of stairs and handrailing at the center door and to bring the west ramp into compliance with guidelines. The city reported the rescue mission continues to meet its guidelines.

PRIORITIES

As a scheduled matter the council will also look at setting its annual goals and priorities session for 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 11. At that meeting the council goes over a long list of projects it prioritizes and also begins work on developing the 2023-2024 budget.

FOURTH STREET PARK

A draft conceptual design of the Fourth Street Park and Community Center to be developed at Fourth Street and Henderson will also be presented at Tuesday’s meeting. The city has received a $7.5 million state grant and a $367,500 grant from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund for the project. Total cost of the project will be a little more than $10 million. Other local, including Measure R, state and federal funds could be used to fund the remaining cost of the project.

The project will include a multi-use community recreation center that can be used for such sports as basketball, volleyball and pickleball. Other features could include a youth center, racquetball court, rock climbing and an indoor running track.