City labor contracts, new eateries, pancakes, fireworks and an update on Lucy

The city is about to approve new labor contracts for police personnel at a total cost of about $3,685,000 over three years. Some of the raises are in the 20 percent range, but also include some employee concessions.

If this seems like a lot (it is), city officials say they have little choice if the city expects to keep and attract officers. The city’s current pay scale is among the lowest in the region, reportedly at the bottom in some cases. Pay raises at the city have been few and far between over the past 10 years thanks, in part, to the devastation caused by the Great Recession and the PERS monster licking the city’s financial bones clean.

The cops aren’t the only ones in the pay chow line. Virtually all bargaining units will be hammering out new agreements this year and it promises to hit the city fisc bigtime.

Let’s eat

The new Black Bear Diner is scheduled to open in Lodi on September 9, according to their home office. They will be located in the Target shopping center where Coco’s used to be . ...

The “coming soon” sign is out on the corner of Lockeford and California Streets, across from California Al’s. It’s been a long time coming — over a year — but it looks like Guantonio’s Wood Fired Pizza, “a beer and wine eating place,” will be opening for business in the next few months, if recent construction activity is any indication . ...

Dirt is being moved around on the corner of Lockeford and School, site of the new Papapavlo’s Bistro & Bar. The new mini-mall will also be home to Bay Equity Home Loans and Maddog and Pepper Bakery Café. The new restaurant might be open by year’s end . ...

The new BrickHouse Restaurant and Lounge is slated to open at the end of August on the corner of School and Elm, where Lodi Feed & Fuel used to be, according to a spokesperson at their other place in Elk Grove . ...

And if you haven’t driven by recently, the foundation for the new bowling alley on the corner of Sacramento and Lockeford has been poured. City planners are hopeful that the place will open by the end of the year.

New hire

City Manager Steve Schwabauer has selected Jeff Berkheimer to head the city’s electric utility department. Berkheimer is currently manager of distribution operations engineering at Sacramento Municipal Utilities District. He starts his new job August 12 and his pay will be $179,000. The position opened last December with the retirement of Liz Kirkley.

Flash bang

The July 4 celebration at Lodi Lake has evolved over the years. Remember when there were boat races? Those ended in 2001 after exciting and entertaining generations of Lodians for 67 years. The high-pitched whines of revving boat engines were heard all over town. The smell of high-octane engine fuel permeated the air around the lake. The races were as much a holiday tradition as the fireworks.

Then for a while the Lodi Rotary Club staged the “Oooh Ahhh Festival” at the lake on the 4th. That’s when the fence went up and admission was charged. The idea was to control the booze and the crowds, the combination of which sometimes brewed violence. After several years, the event was determined to be more trouble than it was worth and it went by the wayside.

But through it all, the Kiwanis pancake breakfast thrived. It is one of the few remaining “truly Lodi” events. This year (their 50th) they served a staggering 3,750 people in four hours, according to clubber Chet Somera.

And a reader wrote to ask if the fireworks launched from the General Mills area were part of the city’s display. Nope, those were probably illegal.

Real fireworks

The Fourth of July celebration is in the books for this year, but the fuse for some real fireworks may have been lit.

The city council will be asked to launch environmental reviews of two potential locations for its “tiny homes” project at its August 7 meeting. The mini shelters will be purchased as part of a state grant to house the homeless.

City officials won’t name the locations yet, preferring to wait until it is printed in the meeting agenda. The two spots aren’t technically in residential neighborhoods, but they’re not on the edge of town, either.

The two locations were recommended by Lodi’s Committee on Homelessness. So grab some snacks and stay tuned for what could be real pyrotechnics.

In the money

With a stroke of the governor’s pen, the city is now in line to receive a $500,000 state grant to help bolster cyber protection. The money will be used to purchase new security appliances that will harden its defenses and hopefully prevent recurrence of the recent cyber-attack that brought down several of the city’s critical systems.

City officials still won’t publically confirm or deny that there was an attack, but Assemblyman Jim Cooper, who represents Lodi, kind of blew the city’s cover by announcing that he had included the grant money in the new state budget.

Update

Our dog Lucy is on the mend. The outpouring of sympathy and well wishes has been overwhelming since I wrote about her being mauled by another dog a few weeks ago. The wrapper around her torso to protect her broken rib has been removed, and the bite wounds on her back and elsewhere are healing nicely.

One wound that will take a long time to heal is her fear of walking in public. She used to pull us along like a tractor, but now she’s like dragging a tractor tire, especially in front of Starbucks where the attack occurred.

The other dog’s owner is still not accepting responsibility and it appears legal action is inevitable. We heard from scores of people who’ve gone through similar horrifying events, although most of their stories did not end happily. Lucy was lucky. Very lucky.

If she could talk I’m sure Lucy would implore pet owners to leash their dogs, and to hold on to their leashes! But, then again, if Lucy could talk I’d be a millionaire.

Obey the signs

Della Badeker spotted this sign on someone’s backyard fence: “Forget the dog, beware of the owner.”

Remembrance

We acknowledge the recent passing of Stan Foster, who was an outgoing, gregarious, generous member of the Lodi community. He was very civicminded, a member of the Lodi Lions Club for many years. His jovial spirit made him fun to be around.

But he also had a serious side, a tough businessman in the rough and tumble lumber industry. He started Foster Lumber in 1986 following a deep economic downturn. The business remains today.

Stan had a big personality and he left his mark on Lodi. He will be missed.