What in the crane is going on?
What’s that big crane doing across from the old General Mills plant on Turner Road? The city is doing work on the power plant there, according to officials. But the big news is that a large mixed-use project is being planned for the site next to the plant, in what used to be an orchard owned by General Mills.
It is tentatively known as the Lakehouse Project. It will include a high-end 92room hotel (think Wine and Roses), 150 residential apartments, 70-seat restaurant and 18,000 square feet of retail space. The new development is being proposed by Sylvia Hung, who bought the orchard property from General Mills. Hung is a local vineyard owner with a grand vision for that part of town, according to City Planner Craig Hoffman. “This is an amazing project,” he says.
An environmental impact report is being completed and should be ready for review soon. Hoffman estimates it could go to the city council for approval as soon as this May, and groundbreaking by the end of the year, if all goes well. Needless to say, the project would dramatically change traffic patterns and activity in the area, and some nearby residents aren’t liking it.
CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS: If you’ve ever wanted to peek under the covers of the city’s finances, now’s your chance. Today the city council will probably greenlight recruitment to begin for membership on the new Measure L Oversight Committee. The panel of five will have “the duty and responsibility to review the annual accountability report and report its findings to the city council and citizens of the city,” according to the ordinance passed when voters approved the half-cent sales tax hike last year.
Almost anyone can apply, although, two of the five members must be CPAs or equivalent. The purpose and function of the committee has been well defined and articulated in the ordinance. However, the trick will be putting together an effective committee whose members do not end up using their status as a political pulpit or launching pad. A similar panel in the past was a train wreck.
CLOSED: The Vine and Branches Christian bookstore has closed. Efforts to contact the previous owners have been unsuccessful, so reasons for the closure are unknown. Lance and Laurie Coffman were the last owners, and their hope was to use some of their profits to fund the fight against sex trafficking in San Joaquin County. The bookstore was expanded to include a coffee shop when the Coffmans bought the place from Phil and Bonnie Biddle in 2016.
LODI HONOR: Adam Mettler, director of wine operations for Michael David Winery in Lodi, has been selected as the 2018 Winemaker of the Year by Wine Enthusiast Magazine and will receive the Wine Star Award in Miami on Jan. 28. Mettler was nominated for the award last fall. Michael-David expects to produce almost a million cases of wine this year, according to Mettler, who also oversees winemaking at his family’s winery, Mettler Family Vineyards. MichaelDavid is best known for its “Seven Deadly Zins” label, which put the winery on the wine map. But that label was sold recently to The Wine Group, according to the Wine Enthusiast website. Mettler’s award is further validation that the Lodi winemaking region has arrived on the world stage.
COUNTING YOU: Former Lodi News-Sentinel reporter Tamma Adamek, 53, has been appointed deputy director of external affairs and media relations for the Complete Count Census, according to the governor’s official website. Adamek was city hall reporter for the Sentinel in the mid-1990s. Since then she’s held a number of statewide positions, including deputy director of communications at the Financial Information System for California, internal communications manager at CALPERS, and supervising public information officer at the California Department of Toxic Substances Control. Adamek also worked as assistant metro editor and features editor at the Sacramento Bee.
CHALLENGING TIMES: Lodi resident and former LUSD board president Rick Souza has big plans for Faith Home Teen Challenge, for which he serves as executive director. The Christian ministry’s mission is to help adults and teens break free from their addictions. Souza believes, statistically, there are some 5,100 addicts in Lodi alone. The program is back in Lodi, with a “contact office” at Gravity Church. He encourages people who want help or know of someone who needs help to call 209-294-9454. Besides his T.C. duties, Rick has started Fresh Start Builders, a construction company that will be primarily staffed by graduates of the Teen Challenge program. The company will specialize in remodels and custom home construction. Rick also renovates old buses at his facility in Ceres for Life Saving Images, a mobile health scanning service specializing in breast cancer and heart screenings. He has rennovated four busses so far. Rick and his team just completed the first mobile CT scanning vehicle for heart screenings. By 2020-21, he also hopes to build a “longterm care” facility for women and children, the first of its kind anywhere, Rick says.
STREET STORY: Anthony — Tony for short — is one of the few homeless persons willing to accept help with his circumstances, rather than just a handout. He’s a veteran — sort of, he thinks. He served in the military for about a year, during which time he went AWOL several times, he says. Eventually he received an “other” discharge—neither honorable nor dishonorable. Tony recently accepted a courtesy ride to Dignity’s Alcove in Stockton from Lodi’s Community Liaison Officer Richard Dunfee. The organization’s mission is to “create effective outreach and support for homeless veterans in the Northern California Central Valley by providing individualized supportive services.”
Tony says he grew up in Lodi from about age 12. He’s 61 now and lives along a thin patch of grass next to the softball complex on Stockton Street with other street people. Making no mention of his mother, Tony says he never met his father. He was raised by his grandparents, but considers he’s been on his own the whole time. He says he drove a truck for a while, but had an accident and has been unemployed ever since. That was “a few years” ago. In the meantime, he’s subsisted on Social Security benefits. But those aren’t enough to pay for housing. “I don’t make enough Social Security to get a place,” he laments. “Rent went up too high.” He also says the Veterans Administration has been no help. Such is life for some who live on the streets of Lodi.