Ballpark, cannabis dispensary on council agenda
The beginning of the process of finally having a regulation sized lighted baseball park in Porterville again and the establishment of a third cannabis dispensary are among the major items on the Porterville City Council's agenda for its Tuesday meeting.
The council will have a busy meeting with a number of major issues to review when it meets at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
There's no denying one would be hard pressed to find a city the size of Porterville that doesn't have a regulation sized lighted baseball park. But that's the case for Porterville which hasn't had such a ballpark since the historic Porterville Municipal Ballpark was removed to make way for the South County Justice Center.
But the council can begin the process of changing that as there's a consent calendar item to begin the development of the Porterville Sports Complex Ballpark. During the 2022-2023 fiscal year the council set as one of its priority projects to develop a lighted ballpark to replace Porterville Municipal Ballpark.
The new lighted ballpark would be constructed at the southeast portion of the Sports Complex. It's projected the construction of the ballpark will cost $1 million to be paid for by federal American Rescue Plan funds the city has received.
It's been proposed so the ballpark can be used by multiple ages that it include a fieldturf infield, a portable pitcher's mound and a natural grass outfield.
City staff has proceeded with preparing to receive applications for the design of the ballpark. Those who apply will be reviewed by a selection panel.
Those who are rated the highest may be interviewed by the panel again. City staff will the present the results to the council and will seek direction from the council to negotiate a fee with the highest rated applicant to design the ballpark. On its consent calendar on Tuesday the council will considering authorizing the city to begin accepting applications for the design of the ballpark.
CANNABIS DISPENSARY
A public hearing will be held on the establishment of a third cannabis dispensary in downtown at Tuesday's meeting. The council will then consider approving the first reading of an ordinance approving a development agreement with Cannabis Express, Inc., formally known as Bloom Farms.
Last November the council approved a recommendation for the city to begin negotiating a development agreement with Cannabis Express. If the first reading is approved the council will then come back and approve a second reading of the ordinance. If approved the process of developing the cannabis dispensary will then begin.
The dispensary will be located at 200 N. Main at the former Bob Fields Jewelry Building. NEW LIBRARY The city has received 16 applications to design the new Porterville Public Library to be constructed across the street from the South County Justice Center. The city hopes to have the library constructed sometime in 2025.
The library will replace the Porterville Public Library that was destroyed by the February 18, 2020 fire that killed Porterville Fire Captain Ray Figueroa and Firefighter Patrick Jones. It's expected construction of the library will cost at least $25 million.
The city has received a state grant for the construction of the library and also has insurance funds from the library fire to help pay for the costs of the construction. The city is continuing to seek grants to provide for the entire funding of the construction costs.
Of the 16 applicants, seven finalists were selected to continue to be considered. Those applicants were interviewed on May 22 and each applicant could receive a total of 70 points.
The top scoring applicant was Paul Halajian Architects of Clovis with 62 points and the second highest was Steinberg Hart of Los Angeles with 60.1 points.
“Staff is pleased with the qualifications of the listed consultants and their interest,” city staff reported.
As part of its consent calendar the council will consider an action to negotiate a contract with Paul Halajian Architects for the design of the library and if an agreement can be made to negotiate with Steinberg Hart.
CITY POPULATION 62,588
As part of its consent calendar the council will consider Mayor Martha A. Flores officially certifying the city's population as of January 1, 2023 as 62,588. The city's population declined slightly by 66 people over the last year as its population was 62,654 on January 1, 2022.
PORTERVILLE FLAG DAY
As a scheduled matter the council will consider approving an action for the city to pay for the needed repairs to the flag pole in which the large American flag is displayed at the Grocery Outlet Shopping Center. The annual Porterville Flag Day ceremony will again be held at the Grocery Outlet Shopping Center on Wednesay, June 14, Flag Day.
At its May 16 meeting the council approved a request by councilman Greg Meister for the city to pay for the repairs to be placed on the agenda as a scheduled matter at Tuesday's meeting.
“The annual recognition of national Flag Day on June 14th has a rich and storied
tradition in the Porterville community, marked by a patriotic ceremony with the
lowering of the previous year's American flag and the raising of a new flag on
the large flag pole near the corner of Olive Avenue and D Street,” city staff report. “The Smith
family began the tradition of the lowering and the raising of the flag in 1982
when Smith's Market was the anchor of the retail center.”
City staff added the tradition has carried on at the Grocery Outlet/ Dollar Tree Center shopping mall. and the tradition has
The flag pole malfunctioned during the 2021 Flag Day Ceremony, preventing the flag from being lowered. City crews were eventually able to remove the flag later that week.
Elevated Energy and Construction repaired the flag pole and donated the labor but there were costs for parts and equipment rental.
Yolanda Bocanegra of the Porterville Flag Day Committee spoke at the council meeting on May 2, stating Elevated Energy and Construction had yet to be paid and it was becoming more difficult for the Flag Day Committee to organize the Flag Day Ceremony.
The council will consider paying Elevated Energy and Construction $2,562.75 for the repair costs to be funded by the city's Special Purposes Reserve Fund.
2023-2024 BUDGET
As a scheduled matter the council will begin the process of developing the city's 2023-2024, which will actually consist of effective combining the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 budgets.
“Given the challenges encountered by staff this past March during the historic
flood event that significantly interrupted the budget development process, staff
recommended that the Council consider adopting a continuance of the 20222023 fiscal year budget for the first quarter of the 2023-2024 fiscal year,” city staff stated.
The first quarter of 2023-2024 runs from July through September. The council would then formally adopt the 20232024 budget on October 1. At its April 4 meeting the council approved deferring the adoption of the 2023-2024 budget until October 1.
A preliminary budget is scheduled to be presented to the council on September 5 and a public hearing on the budget is scheduled for September 19. The council also set its priority projects for 2023-2024 at its May 23 special meeting.
The council will consider the 2023-2024 budget process and also to set a public hearing at its June 20 meeting
TEMPORARY SHELTER
As part of reviewing the declaration of local flood emergency the council as a scheduled matter will consider approving an agreement with Topknotch Security to provide nightly security at the Porterville Army National Guard Armory temporary shelter at $18,000 a month.
A temporary shelter which operates from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. is being operated by the city for those affected by the flooding. During May up to 18 people and up to five dogs used the shelter.