Lodi Council meets; audience asked about transit needs

At the Lodi City Council meeting on Wednesday, city staff and volunteers thanked the residents of Lodi for voting in favor of Measure L.

“We’re enormously grateful,” said Michael Carrouba, who co-chaired the Yes on L campaign.

City spokesman Jeff Hood also thanked Lodians. The passage of Measure L will save the city’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services department, he said.

Residents asked to identify community needs

Patrice Clemons, a Community Development Block Grant specialist with the city’s Neighborhood Services division, asked the audience to give feedback on the grant program and how it should spend its funds.

She and Lodi Improvement Committee member David Diskin passed out surveys asking community members to identify the city’s needs. The division’s goal is to create a 2019-2023 Consolidated Plan to determine how to spend block grant funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“In general, these funds are to be used to assist under-represented populations,” Clemons said.

Neighborhood Services will be accepting completed surveys through Nov. 30. Community members can fill in the survey online at www.surveymonkey.com/r/lodiconplan.

Identifying public transportation needs

Georgia Lantsberger, representing the San Joaquin Council of Governments, asked audience members for feedback on unmet transit needs in the Lodi area and surrounding San Joaquin County in a public hearing.

The hearings are held each year to ensure that the communities transit needs are being fulfilled before any leftover funds from the Transportation Development Act are used for other projects like road repairs, she said.

On Wednesday, resident Jag Singh asked Lantsberger and her colleagues to consider adding a new San Joaquin RTD bus stop along West Lane, at least on weekends.

“It would be nice to have one of the routes service the (Sikh) Temple,” he said.

He’s known people who walked a mile and a half to reach the temple from the nearest stop, he said.

“How many people do you think will use this service?” Councilman Mark Chandler asked.

“A lot more than the stop at DMV,” Bhat said.

Citizen Mike Lusk also suggested a new weekend stop along West Lane, so that Lodi residents can use public transportation to visit Micke Grove Park.

“Maybe that could be tied in with a stop at the Sikh Temple,” he said.

Kim Netto and four clients from Person-Centered Services also asked for new stops.

The day program serves adults with disabilities with classes from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at their Lodi and Stockton locations.

“They ride the Dial-A-Ride, and Dial-A-Ride has let them know they have to pick them up between 1 and usually 1:20 because they have other rides scheduled closer to 2,” she said.

She asked that buses serve their locations closer or slightly after 2 p.m. each day so that students could stay for all of their classes, or take classes exclusive to one location and get back to their home locations before they need to catch the bus.

The four clients who attended the council meeting with her agreed.

“We need more buses!” Pam Taylor told the audience.

Community members don’t need to wait for a public hearing to submit their requests for transportation services, Lansberger said. The Council of Governments takes requests all year by mail or email. For more information, visit www.sjcog.org.

Building Lodi

On Wednesday, the Lodi City Council voted 4-0 to approve plans for a new housing development on Century Boulevard and Lower Sacramento Road. The Vineyard Terrace subdivision would include 235 medium-density homes in a number of different styles.

“We’re extremely excited about this project,” said Doug Dieter of KLA Inc., which is developing the subdivision.

The allocations will be split up over three years, said Craig Hoffman, the City of Lodi’s senior planner.

The timing for the project is good, as many of the building projects started in 2013 are beginning to wrap up, he said. Some, like the Rose Gate subdivision, have very few homes and lots left available to homebuyers.

During comment, Lusk questioned whether the building impact fees will be discounted as some of the first projects after the recession were.

KLA will be paying the full impact fees, City Manager Steve Schwabauer said.

“This project will create a little over $1 million in fees that will go toward DeBenedetti Park,” Dieter added. The park will be across Century Boulevard from the subdivision.

The builders plan to be in Lodi for a while, and are already keeping an eye out for additional future projects, he said.