Vacaville Sets Strategic 2-Year Course
By Jennifer Gentile/Staff Writer
TheReporter.Com
A plan that will guide Vacaville through the next two years is in place after Tuesday night's city council meeting.
The council unanimously adopted the 2007-2009 Strategic Plan, which is structured around four goals: Ensuring public safety; strengthening the local economy; promoting community viability; and, maintaining effective and efficient city services. Specific projects address each of these goals.
These projects are varied and include technology improvements for public safety, acquiring land for water detention basins, revitalizing the East Main and Bush Street areas through the Opportunity Hill project, completion of the Nut Tree Development, construction of the Vacaville intermodal transportation center and developing a master plan for the vacant land at Centennial Park.
The plan also calls for a return to a two-year operating budget, an update of development impact fees, a multi-disciplinary team for juvenile offenders and a strategy to revitalize vacant shopping centers.
The council members met with staff in a study session March 9 to discuss the plan, and department heads presented the highlights of the final draft Tuesday. Councilmembers' suggestions from the study session, such as possibly creating a fire department intern program and hiring a state/federal lobbyist, were incorporated into the approved version.
City Manager David Van Kirk said, "(The plan) is ambitious, but I think there are a lot of good things in it." Mayor Len Augustine said he was very pleased with the plan's comprehensiveness, and his colleagues agreed.
Vice Mayor Chuck Dimmick said he was impressed that the plan contained "very measurable, very doable," tasks and objectives.
Another item listed in the plan is a proposed public safety training facility. During Tuesday's meeting, council approved a strategic business plan for such a facility, which has been in the works since 2005.
Interact Business Group provided consultant services and worked with police and fire personnel on the business plan. A 10- to 12-acre site would be needed for the facility, and the plan proposes building the estimated $12.8 million project in three phases. The plan also names some components of the proposed facility, such as a drill tower, indoor and outdoor burn props, a low-speed emergency vehicle operations course and a firearms training simulator.
In the future, staff will be exploring the possibility of co-locating the center at the Solano Community College 60-acre campus, as well as devising a project timeline and funding plan for phase one. Interact President Bill Booth said research showed outside agencies have a strong interest in using a local training facility, which could generate revenue.
Councilman Steve Wilkins said, "I think it is really important for the future of public safety that we have this sort of facility. What training means is that we stand a greater chance of protecting property and saving lives."
In other business, the council issued proclamations recognizing fair housing month and earthquake preparedness month.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Supes Opt To Join Business Program
Supes Opt To Join Business Program
By Ben Antonius
FAIRFIELD - In hopes of encouraging environmentally responsible practices, Solano County supervisors agreed Tuesday to join a Bay Area-wide green business certification program.
The agreement was for a trial of the Association of Bay Area Governments Green Business Program, which would be evaluated after two years to determine if it succeeded. Under the program, county workers would help business owners comply with environmental laws and come up with ways to reduce their water and power use and their waste and pollution production.
Major corporations can afford to hire consultants to keep an eye on their environmental practices, Supervisor John Silva said.
"Our small businesses don't have that ability," he said. "If we can benefit those businesses, we can benefit everyone."
The Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to launch the program, with Chairman Mike Reagan voting against it. With the move, Solano will become the eighth of nine Bay Area counties to certify green businesses.
In the first year, the program will only work with businesses that handle significant amounts of hazardous waste, such as dentists, auto repair shops, dry cleaners and printers.
It would expand in the second year to include businesses that don't produce hazardous waste and those that produce the waste in small quantities.
Officials from the Department of Resource Management said the program wouldn't launch until July at the earliest and estimated it will cost about $40,000 in its first year.
The county should find ways for the program to cover those costs, Reagan said in voting against it.
"I don't know whether we're ready for this action today," he said.
Supervisor Barbara Kondylis, who first brought the matter to the board in October 2006, likened green business certification to being a member of the Better Business Bureau.
"I think that the green business sticker is an inducement (to customers) and a reward for people who want to participate in the program," she said.
Reach Ben Antonius at 427-6977 or bantonius@dailyrepublic.net.
By Ben Antonius
FAIRFIELD - In hopes of encouraging environmentally responsible practices, Solano County supervisors agreed Tuesday to join a Bay Area-wide green business certification program.
The agreement was for a trial of the Association of Bay Area Governments Green Business Program, which would be evaluated after two years to determine if it succeeded. Under the program, county workers would help business owners comply with environmental laws and come up with ways to reduce their water and power use and their waste and pollution production.
Major corporations can afford to hire consultants to keep an eye on their environmental practices, Supervisor John Silva said.
"Our small businesses don't have that ability," he said. "If we can benefit those businesses, we can benefit everyone."
The Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to launch the program, with Chairman Mike Reagan voting against it. With the move, Solano will become the eighth of nine Bay Area counties to certify green businesses.
In the first year, the program will only work with businesses that handle significant amounts of hazardous waste, such as dentists, auto repair shops, dry cleaners and printers.
It would expand in the second year to include businesses that don't produce hazardous waste and those that produce the waste in small quantities.
Officials from the Department of Resource Management said the program wouldn't launch until July at the earliest and estimated it will cost about $40,000 in its first year.
The county should find ways for the program to cover those costs, Reagan said in voting against it.
"I don't know whether we're ready for this action today," he said.
Supervisor Barbara Kondylis, who first brought the matter to the board in October 2006, likened green business certification to being a member of the Better Business Bureau.
"I think that the green business sticker is an inducement (to customers) and a reward for people who want to participate in the program," she said.
Reach Ben Antonius at 427-6977 or bantonius@dailyrepublic.net.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Governor Taps Two Solano Men
Governor Taps Two Solano Men
One has been appointed deputy director of sales and marketing for the state lottery and the other has been selected for the board of pilot commis-sioners for the region's bays.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the appointment of two Solano residents to state posts on Monday.
J. Michael Brennan, 49, of Fairfield, has been appointed deputy director of sales and marketing for the California State Lottery. He most recently served as a consultant for the Hudson Beverage Company in 2006, overseeing the companies financial planning and analysis. From 1999 to 2005, Brennan served as vice president and general man-ager for Clark Miller Distributing.
Prior to that, Brennan was deputy director of external affairs for the California Department of Transportation from 1993 to 1999 and director of public affairs for the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the U.S. State Department from 1990 to 1993.
Brennan previously served as deputy assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs for the U.S. Department of Labor and director of congressional and external affairs for the Social Security Administration.
The position does not require Senate confirmation and the annual compensation is $113,124. Brennan is a Republican.
Eric Osen, 39, of Vallejo, has been appointed to the Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun. He has worked for the Chevron Shipping Company since 2000, where he currently serves as a team leader of standards, compliance assurance and advocacy. In this position, Osen manages the company's safety and environmental management system.
Previously, Osen held the positions of operations coordinator and clearance specialist.
Prior to that, he served as chief mate for Coastal Tankships USA and held the same position with Maritrans.
This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no salary. Osen is a Republican.
One has been appointed deputy director of sales and marketing for the state lottery and the other has been selected for the board of pilot commis-sioners for the region's bays.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the appointment of two Solano residents to state posts on Monday.
J. Michael Brennan, 49, of Fairfield, has been appointed deputy director of sales and marketing for the California State Lottery. He most recently served as a consultant for the Hudson Beverage Company in 2006, overseeing the companies financial planning and analysis. From 1999 to 2005, Brennan served as vice president and general man-ager for Clark Miller Distributing.
Prior to that, Brennan was deputy director of external affairs for the California Department of Transportation from 1993 to 1999 and director of public affairs for the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the U.S. State Department from 1990 to 1993.
Brennan previously served as deputy assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs for the U.S. Department of Labor and director of congressional and external affairs for the Social Security Administration.
The position does not require Senate confirmation and the annual compensation is $113,124. Brennan is a Republican.
Eric Osen, 39, of Vallejo, has been appointed to the Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun. He has worked for the Chevron Shipping Company since 2000, where he currently serves as a team leader of standards, compliance assurance and advocacy. In this position, Osen manages the company's safety and environmental management system.
Previously, Osen held the positions of operations coordinator and clearance specialist.
Prior to that, he served as chief mate for Coastal Tankships USA and held the same position with Maritrans.
This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no salary. Osen is a Republican.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Dixon Set To Approve Biotech Bid
Dixon Set To Approve Biotech Bid
By Melissa Murphy//Staff Writer
TheReporter.Com
Welcoming one type of industry and at least delaying another appear to be items the Dixon City Council will deal with when it meets Tuesday.
• An agreement to bring biotech giant Genentech to town is to be considered by the council.
• Extending a moratorium on cellular towers for telecommunciations firms also is on the agenda.
Genentech is hoping to build a research facility on Fitzgerald Drive in Dixon, to be fully operating by 2010. The Council will be asked to authorize a
Memorandum of Understanding with the San Francisco-based firm, making assurances and vowing assistance.
Genentech, which operates a large manufacturing facility in Vacaville, plans to expand to Dixon because the city offers advantages, including proximity to the University of California, Davis and to Genentech's corporate headquarters in San Francisco, said Caroline Pecquet, associate director of corporate communications for the firm.
The future site of the proposed 140,000-square-foot building - the same size as the new Gymboree expansion next door - sits between Cardinal Health and Gymboree off of Vaughn Road.
The city has determined that roads in the area can accommodate any new traffic from the project, and that there is enough sewer capacity in the city to handle the project.
In a staff report, City Manager Warren Salmons said the Genentech project is unique for Dixon because it is a preeminent player in the biotechnology industry; it brings an estimated 160 jobs; it would have a catalyst effect in attracting other such industry; and it creates the ability to connect Dixon more closely with biotechnology programs at UC Davis.
The assurances outlined in the memorandum of understanding would eliminate construction of a road through the property, which had been part of previous plans for the site and also include a pledge by the city to work with the firm should sewer lines in the area need to be moved.
In other action Tuesday, Community Development Director Dave Dowswell will recommend that the council adopt an urgency ordinance extending for 10 months and 15 days a moratorium on approval of applications and permits to construct, modify or place wireless telecommunication facilities in the city.
The moratorium does not apply to a T-Mobile USA Inc. application for a cell tower that was turned in prior to the initial moratorium. The Planning Commission is in the process of looking at that project.
Melissa Murphy can be reached at dixon@thereporter.com.
By Melissa Murphy//Staff Writer
TheReporter.Com
Welcoming one type of industry and at least delaying another appear to be items the Dixon City Council will deal with when it meets Tuesday.
• An agreement to bring biotech giant Genentech to town is to be considered by the council.
• Extending a moratorium on cellular towers for telecommunciations firms also is on the agenda.
Genentech is hoping to build a research facility on Fitzgerald Drive in Dixon, to be fully operating by 2010. The Council will be asked to authorize a
Memorandum of Understanding with the San Francisco-based firm, making assurances and vowing assistance.
Genentech, which operates a large manufacturing facility in Vacaville, plans to expand to Dixon because the city offers advantages, including proximity to the University of California, Davis and to Genentech's corporate headquarters in San Francisco, said Caroline Pecquet, associate director of corporate communications for the firm.
The future site of the proposed 140,000-square-foot building - the same size as the new Gymboree expansion next door - sits between Cardinal Health and Gymboree off of Vaughn Road.
The city has determined that roads in the area can accommodate any new traffic from the project, and that there is enough sewer capacity in the city to handle the project.
In a staff report, City Manager Warren Salmons said the Genentech project is unique for Dixon because it is a preeminent player in the biotechnology industry; it brings an estimated 160 jobs; it would have a catalyst effect in attracting other such industry; and it creates the ability to connect Dixon more closely with biotechnology programs at UC Davis.
The assurances outlined in the memorandum of understanding would eliminate construction of a road through the property, which had been part of previous plans for the site and also include a pledge by the city to work with the firm should sewer lines in the area need to be moved.
In other action Tuesday, Community Development Director Dave Dowswell will recommend that the council adopt an urgency ordinance extending for 10 months and 15 days a moratorium on approval of applications and permits to construct, modify or place wireless telecommunication facilities in the city.
The moratorium does not apply to a T-Mobile USA Inc. application for a cell tower that was turned in prior to the initial moratorium. The Planning Commission is in the process of looking at that project.
Melissa Murphy can be reached at dixon@thereporter.com.
Friday, April 06, 2007
New Suisn City housing development whose design will fit in with the surrounding Victorian and Italianate-style homes
March 8, 2007
Old Crystal buildings going down
By Ian Thompson
SUISUN CITY - The W.U. Goodman Gym - with its 8-foot-tall cougar staring out onto Cordelia Road - will be the last of Crystal Middle School's buildings to be destroyed this week.
Wrecking crews earlier this week started tearing down the half-century-old buildings that had been Crystal Elementary School and later Crystal Middle School.
The site itself served as home for Suisun City's main school for more than 100 years, with the current buildings going up in the 1950s.
The school has lain vacant for the last two years, generating frequent false alarms for the police department and providing an attraction for vagrants, according to neighbors.
Its present owners, the city's master developer Main Street West, plans to clear off the site and put in a housing development whose design will fit in with the surrounding Victorian and Italianate-style homes.
Suisun City's Redevelopment Agency marketed the land on behalf of the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District, selling it to Main Street West for $2.5 million.
The Crystal School site is one of a dozen sites throughout Suisun City's old town which Main Street West is expected to build on.
Main Street broke ground in September on two retail and commercial projects flanking Solano Street on Main Street's east side. The Suisun City Council just approved construction of a 102-room hotel on land next to One Harbor Center.
Reach Ian Thompson at 427-6976 or at ithompson@dailyrepublic.net.
Old Crystal buildings going down
By Ian Thompson
SUISUN CITY - The W.U. Goodman Gym - with its 8-foot-tall cougar staring out onto Cordelia Road - will be the last of Crystal Middle School's buildings to be destroyed this week.
Wrecking crews earlier this week started tearing down the half-century-old buildings that had been Crystal Elementary School and later Crystal Middle School.
The site itself served as home for Suisun City's main school for more than 100 years, with the current buildings going up in the 1950s.
The school has lain vacant for the last two years, generating frequent false alarms for the police department and providing an attraction for vagrants, according to neighbors.
Its present owners, the city's master developer Main Street West, plans to clear off the site and put in a housing development whose design will fit in with the surrounding Victorian and Italianate-style homes.
Suisun City's Redevelopment Agency marketed the land on behalf of the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District, selling it to Main Street West for $2.5 million.
The Crystal School site is one of a dozen sites throughout Suisun City's old town which Main Street West is expected to build on.
Main Street broke ground in September on two retail and commercial projects flanking Solano Street on Main Street's east side. The Suisun City Council just approved construction of a 102-room hotel on land next to One Harbor Center.
Reach Ian Thompson at 427-6976 or at ithompson@dailyrepublic.net.
Suisun City welcomes plans for hotel
Suisun City welcomes plans for hotel
By Reporter Staff
Article Launched: 03/09/2007 06:02:49 AM PST
A major step toward the future of Suisun City was taken Tuesday when City Council gave approval to the plans for Basin Street Properties to build an upscale 102-room Hampton Inn & Suites hotel on the north end of the Waterfront District.
Pending appropriate approvals, including working out the logistics of the hotel's main access road, construction on the property could begin later this year, with a proposed completion date of summer 2008.
Bringing an upscale hotel with a national reputation, such as Hampton Inn & Suites, which is a member of the Hilton family of hotel properties, has been a key component of the Waterfront District renaissance for decades.
"This type of hotel is an important part of our goal of creating a destination and a sense of place on the waterfront," City Manager Suzanne Bragdon said. "We have worked long and hard to bring this to fruition. This is an extremely exciting piece of our waterfront plans."
The proposal calls for a four-story hotel between Lotz Way and Driftwood Drive alongside One Harbor Center, one of the region's newest office buildings. The hotel's design includes a grand drive-up entrance, business center, executive conference rooms, garden setting, pool and spa, and deluxe rooms and suites with balconies, fireplaces and views of the Suisun Marina and Lighthouse.
The hotel will be integrated into the Waterfront District's pedestrian orientation of the nearby train station and the Harbor Promenade, which links the Waterfront District businesses and services. Hampton Inn & Suites will provide premium guest services, including high-end linens, room amenities and morning breakfast service.
As a linchpin of the Main Street West program goals of establishing the Waterfront District as a destination, the hotel will play a key role in encouraging business and pleasure visitors to discover the growing array of restaurants and shops available in the immediate vicinity.
"It's important to the city in how it fits into the redevelopment of downtown," said Jason Garben, Project Manager for Suisun City. "It will activate the downtown and really be a generator of business. It's such a major statement project for the downtown."
The hotel is expected to have a positive financial impact on Suisun City. Construction jobs will be created immediately, bringing additional money flowing into small businesses located in the city.
When the hotel opens, it is expected to generate between $275,000 and $300,000 annually in new hotel and sales taxes available to the city to fund essential public services.
By Reporter Staff
Article Launched: 03/09/2007 06:02:49 AM PST
A major step toward the future of Suisun City was taken Tuesday when City Council gave approval to the plans for Basin Street Properties to build an upscale 102-room Hampton Inn & Suites hotel on the north end of the Waterfront District.
Pending appropriate approvals, including working out the logistics of the hotel's main access road, construction on the property could begin later this year, with a proposed completion date of summer 2008.
Bringing an upscale hotel with a national reputation, such as Hampton Inn & Suites, which is a member of the Hilton family of hotel properties, has been a key component of the Waterfront District renaissance for decades.
"This type of hotel is an important part of our goal of creating a destination and a sense of place on the waterfront," City Manager Suzanne Bragdon said. "We have worked long and hard to bring this to fruition. This is an extremely exciting piece of our waterfront plans."
The proposal calls for a four-story hotel between Lotz Way and Driftwood Drive alongside One Harbor Center, one of the region's newest office buildings. The hotel's design includes a grand drive-up entrance, business center, executive conference rooms, garden setting, pool and spa, and deluxe rooms and suites with balconies, fireplaces and views of the Suisun Marina and Lighthouse.
The hotel will be integrated into the Waterfront District's pedestrian orientation of the nearby train station and the Harbor Promenade, which links the Waterfront District businesses and services. Hampton Inn & Suites will provide premium guest services, including high-end linens, room amenities and morning breakfast service.
As a linchpin of the Main Street West program goals of establishing the Waterfront District as a destination, the hotel will play a key role in encouraging business and pleasure visitors to discover the growing array of restaurants and shops available in the immediate vicinity.
"It's important to the city in how it fits into the redevelopment of downtown," said Jason Garben, Project Manager for Suisun City. "It will activate the downtown and really be a generator of business. It's such a major statement project for the downtown."
The hotel is expected to have a positive financial impact on Suisun City. Construction jobs will be created immediately, bringing additional money flowing into small businesses located in the city.
When the hotel opens, it is expected to generate between $275,000 and $300,000 annually in new hotel and sales taxes available to the city to fund essential public services.
New community offers plenty for the active retiree
Boomers' paradise
New community offers plenty for the active retiree
By John Ireland/Business Writer
Article Launched: 03/10/2007 06:38:14 AM PST
The Maplewood's outdoor pool shimmers a brilliant azure under a morning sun. The grass mantle of the bocce court is as immaculately buzzed as a Marine recruit. In the million-dollar clubhouse, a big-screen plasma TV nestles in an alcove mere steps away from where a herd of gleaming machines wait patiently in the cardio room.
Needless to say, this is not your father's retirement community.
But the Fairfield active adult community, built by Rivendale Homes and designated as 55+, is exactly what baby boomers - those 76.6 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 - are looking for as they continue to roll on down the highway.
In other words, stow those rocking chairs and bring on the aqua-fit classes and yoga instruction.
"The profile that we're marketing is that our buyers are still very active," said Sandra Harrison, Maplewood's community sales manager. "Some of them are still working. But those who are retired still want to be active."
The fourth Rivendale development in Vacaville - after the Vintage, Grand Cru and Villaggio - Maplewood is the company's first inroad into what is becoming a vibrant housing market, riding a wave that has already produced several such properties in the Sacramento area.
Located across from the Green Tree Golf Course, Maplewood is close to hospitals, shopping, restaurants, and access to Interstate-80.
The trio of floor plans are all based on the same concept: a single-story design, with enough square feet for a couple to feel comfortable without having to dedicate hours to cleaning. The yards are sized to be manageable, but with enough room for those of the green-thumb persuasion to still bring life to flowers beds or veggie gardens.
Harrison said the idea was to offer good value, quality workmanship and an attention to detail. The effort has been appreciated by the new owners.
"This is usually not their first home, but it's usually their last," Harrison said. "So they're going to be very particular about what they want."
When construction is completed by the end of the year, there will be 84 homes in all, making Maplewood small by comparison to, say, the Trilogy in Rio Vista, which numbers 1,300. And, while everything is shiny and new, and offers up the fresh smell of rugs that have never known a step, or beds that have never embraced a tired body, there is something else that is unique about the place.
It's so quiet.
Part of this is due to the fact that only 40 of the homes have been sold so far, and less than that number are currently occupied. But another reason for the peacefulness is the lack of those who have not yet learned to savor - or respect - the sounds of silence.
"People move to an active adult community because there are no kids," said Harrison. "You can come here anytime and you don't have the loud music. You don't have the fast cars."
What you do have is that small-town feeling that reminds the boomers of a simpler time, now lost in the industrial smog of time and "progress."
That was certainly the incentive for Jeri Davis and her husband, who, last fall, were the first owners to move into Maplewood.
"We're going back to the feel of the old neighborhoods where we grew up," Jeri Davis said. "You tend to get away from that in a lot of communities, where you don't know your neighbors or anything about them. But here there is a sense of caring; everybody is happy to see everybody."
The couple, who moved from the Trilogy, bought their new home sight unseen, when their future residence was little more than a dirt-filled lot.
"I liked the concept and I had a good feeling about it," said Davis.
As more home owners have moved in, Davis has become active in organizing various events. During a tour of the clubhouse, she pointed out that the decorations have already been purchased for the St. Patrick's Day celebration. And, as the weather improves, bocce tournaments with other adult communities are on the agenda.
"It's fun," Davis said. "We are making new friends and doing new things. We are creating our own neighborhood, our own support system. We value a close-knit neighborhood."
John Ireland can be contacted at business@thereporter.com.
New community offers plenty for the active retiree
By John Ireland/Business Writer
Article Launched: 03/10/2007 06:38:14 AM PST
The Maplewood's outdoor pool shimmers a brilliant azure under a morning sun. The grass mantle of the bocce court is as immaculately buzzed as a Marine recruit. In the million-dollar clubhouse, a big-screen plasma TV nestles in an alcove mere steps away from where a herd of gleaming machines wait patiently in the cardio room.
Needless to say, this is not your father's retirement community.
But the Fairfield active adult community, built by Rivendale Homes and designated as 55+, is exactly what baby boomers - those 76.6 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 - are looking for as they continue to roll on down the highway.
In other words, stow those rocking chairs and bring on the aqua-fit classes and yoga instruction.
"The profile that we're marketing is that our buyers are still very active," said Sandra Harrison, Maplewood's community sales manager. "Some of them are still working. But those who are retired still want to be active."
The fourth Rivendale development in Vacaville - after the Vintage, Grand Cru and Villaggio - Maplewood is the company's first inroad into what is becoming a vibrant housing market, riding a wave that has already produced several such properties in the Sacramento area.
Located across from the Green Tree Golf Course, Maplewood is close to hospitals, shopping, restaurants, and access to Interstate-80.
The trio of floor plans are all based on the same concept: a single-story design, with enough square feet for a couple to feel comfortable without having to dedicate hours to cleaning. The yards are sized to be manageable, but with enough room for those of the green-thumb persuasion to still bring life to flowers beds or veggie gardens.
Harrison said the idea was to offer good value, quality workmanship and an attention to detail. The effort has been appreciated by the new owners.
"This is usually not their first home, but it's usually their last," Harrison said. "So they're going to be very particular about what they want."
When construction is completed by the end of the year, there will be 84 homes in all, making Maplewood small by comparison to, say, the Trilogy in Rio Vista, which numbers 1,300. And, while everything is shiny and new, and offers up the fresh smell of rugs that have never known a step, or beds that have never embraced a tired body, there is something else that is unique about the place.
It's so quiet.
Part of this is due to the fact that only 40 of the homes have been sold so far, and less than that number are currently occupied. But another reason for the peacefulness is the lack of those who have not yet learned to savor - or respect - the sounds of silence.
"People move to an active adult community because there are no kids," said Harrison. "You can come here anytime and you don't have the loud music. You don't have the fast cars."
What you do have is that small-town feeling that reminds the boomers of a simpler time, now lost in the industrial smog of time and "progress."
That was certainly the incentive for Jeri Davis and her husband, who, last fall, were the first owners to move into Maplewood.
"We're going back to the feel of the old neighborhoods where we grew up," Jeri Davis said. "You tend to get away from that in a lot of communities, where you don't know your neighbors or anything about them. But here there is a sense of caring; everybody is happy to see everybody."
The couple, who moved from the Trilogy, bought their new home sight unseen, when their future residence was little more than a dirt-filled lot.
"I liked the concept and I had a good feeling about it," said Davis.
As more home owners have moved in, Davis has become active in organizing various events. During a tour of the clubhouse, she pointed out that the decorations have already been purchased for the St. Patrick's Day celebration. And, as the weather improves, bocce tournaments with other adult communities are on the agenda.
"It's fun," Davis said. "We are making new friends and doing new things. We are creating our own neighborhood, our own support system. We value a close-knit neighborhood."
John Ireland can be contacted at business@thereporter.com.
Solano Community College taking shape Vallejo satellite campus to open a semester early
Solano Community College taking shape
Vallejo satellite campus to open a semester early
By NOLAN HEBERT/Times-Herald correspondent
Article Launched: 03/10/2007 07:42:29 AM PST
Solano Community College's new Vallejo satellite campus will start next fall, a semester early, because construction is way ahead of schedule, officials said Friday.
Originally slated to begin early 2008, classes will now begin mid-October and run until the end of the regular semester period. The compacted eight-week classes will meet for twice as many hours each week, said Gerald Fisher, Solano Community College interim superintendent.
Students studying at the current local extension, one floor below the JFK Library on Santa Clara Street, will move to the new site even earlier - sometime in mid-September - to help "debug" the building, Fisher said.
"Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing, all systems have to to be tested to make sure they function at 100 percent," said Frank Kitchen, Solano Community College director of facilities.
The first regular-length semester will be spring 2008, and about 1,000 students are expected to enroll, Fisher said.
The campus is beginning to take shape, and construction is expected to finish sometime in September - five to six weeks early, Kitchen said.
Local representatives touring Solano Community College's Vallejo satellite campus Friday morning were required to wear hard hats as they made their way through active construction.
Walls are up and starting to be painted. The skeletons of classrooms and lecture halls have been constructed and most have been covered with sheet rock.
"It is a great first class building with a great location, it's a great service to the area," said Mayor Tony Intintoli, Jr., who was on Friday's tour.
Located on Columbus Parkway, the new campus will make higher education more convenient for local residents.
"We are becoming a complete educational city," said City Council member Hermie Sunga.
By 2010 to 2012, the facility could be home to about 3,500 students, Fisher said.
The 40,000-square-foot Vallejo Center will be five times larger than the current local extension.
Funds from measure G, a 2002 voter-approved bond, are paying for the $22.1 million satellite campus.
The Vallejo center consists of two separate buildings housing 15 classrooms, a large lecture hall, computer lab, learning lab, multi-use room, fine arts facilities, faculty office space, and will have wireless capability.
For some, the new campus brings back memories of the college's 1945 start in Vallejo when it was named Vallejo Junior College.
"This is like coming home," said Chris Rhoden, a consultant for Kitchell Corporation, the company managing construction. Rhoden taught for Solano Community College in 1966 when classes were run out of a Vallejo-area elementary school.
Solano Community College moved to its 192-acre Fairfield campus in 1971.
Plans are also in the works to build a 60-acre campus in Vacaville, Fisher said.
"We would really like to be a higher education hub for the area," said Fisher. He added that Solano Community College has held preliminary talks with Sonoma State University that might make it possible for local students to complete four-year degrees without leaving the area.
"The big fees are not so much tuition as housing," Fisher said.
Although some continuity in the discussions has been lost because Solano Community College is looking for a new president, Fisher said a partnership with a four-year university might allow students to enroll in a four-year college while completing their studies at a Solano Community College campus.
Sarah Rohrs, Times-Herald staff writer, contributed to this article.
Contact Nolan Hebert by e-mail at nolan.hebert@gmail.com or call 553-6825.
Vallejo satellite campus to open a semester early
By NOLAN HEBERT/Times-Herald correspondent
Article Launched: 03/10/2007 07:42:29 AM PST
Solano Community College's new Vallejo satellite campus will start next fall, a semester early, because construction is way ahead of schedule, officials said Friday.
Originally slated to begin early 2008, classes will now begin mid-October and run until the end of the regular semester period. The compacted eight-week classes will meet for twice as many hours each week, said Gerald Fisher, Solano Community College interim superintendent.
Students studying at the current local extension, one floor below the JFK Library on Santa Clara Street, will move to the new site even earlier - sometime in mid-September - to help "debug" the building, Fisher said.
"Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing, all systems have to to be tested to make sure they function at 100 percent," said Frank Kitchen, Solano Community College director of facilities.
The first regular-length semester will be spring 2008, and about 1,000 students are expected to enroll, Fisher said.
The campus is beginning to take shape, and construction is expected to finish sometime in September - five to six weeks early, Kitchen said.
Local representatives touring Solano Community College's Vallejo satellite campus Friday morning were required to wear hard hats as they made their way through active construction.
Walls are up and starting to be painted. The skeletons of classrooms and lecture halls have been constructed and most have been covered with sheet rock.
"It is a great first class building with a great location, it's a great service to the area," said Mayor Tony Intintoli, Jr., who was on Friday's tour.
Located on Columbus Parkway, the new campus will make higher education more convenient for local residents.
"We are becoming a complete educational city," said City Council member Hermie Sunga.
By 2010 to 2012, the facility could be home to about 3,500 students, Fisher said.
The 40,000-square-foot Vallejo Center will be five times larger than the current local extension.
Funds from measure G, a 2002 voter-approved bond, are paying for the $22.1 million satellite campus.
The Vallejo center consists of two separate buildings housing 15 classrooms, a large lecture hall, computer lab, learning lab, multi-use room, fine arts facilities, faculty office space, and will have wireless capability.
For some, the new campus brings back memories of the college's 1945 start in Vallejo when it was named Vallejo Junior College.
"This is like coming home," said Chris Rhoden, a consultant for Kitchell Corporation, the company managing construction. Rhoden taught for Solano Community College in 1966 when classes were run out of a Vallejo-area elementary school.
Solano Community College moved to its 192-acre Fairfield campus in 1971.
Plans are also in the works to build a 60-acre campus in Vacaville, Fisher said.
"We would really like to be a higher education hub for the area," said Fisher. He added that Solano Community College has held preliminary talks with Sonoma State University that might make it possible for local students to complete four-year degrees without leaving the area.
"The big fees are not so much tuition as housing," Fisher said.
Although some continuity in the discussions has been lost because Solano Community College is looking for a new president, Fisher said a partnership with a four-year university might allow students to enroll in a four-year college while completing their studies at a Solano Community College campus.
Sarah Rohrs, Times-Herald staff writer, contributed to this article.
Contact Nolan Hebert by e-mail at nolan.hebert@gmail.com or call 553-6825.
Solano Community College chief Gerry Fisher is keen on great era
SCC chief keen on great era
By Julie Kay/Staff Writer
Article Launched: 03/12/2007 06:06:10 AM PDT
Gerry Fisher, Solano Community College's recently appointed interim superintendent-president, could hardly have taken the helm at a more dynamic time.
The board appointed him three months ago after dismissing former superintendent-president Paulette Perfumo for undisclosed reasons. The appointment means Fisher, who formerly served as vice president of student services, takes charge of a college undergoing a massive expansion and identity change.
Pre-construction activities for a new SCC center in Vacaville are progressing and actual construction of a center in Vallejo is in later stages. At the same time, renovations are whirring across the main campus in Fairfield. The college is also in the midst of implementing various changes recommended by the Accreditation Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, and creating a new educational master plan.
Fortunately, Fisher's extensive experience gives him steady footing. With 36 years serving at SCC, Fisher, who is 62, has spent more than half his life there.
"I'm very endeared to the college," he said last week. "The college means a lot to me."
Among the thousands of students Fisher's known who have passed through its classrooms are his own four children, the youngest of whom is still there. Fisher also knows the county well, having lived in Vaca- ville, Fairfield, and Vallejo over the years.
Having made the transition to interim president without skipping a beat, Fisher speaks expertly about the college's most prominent issue -- its expansion. The new centers in Vacaville and Vallejo will comply with what Fisher calls the "15- to -20-minute rule" - the amount of time people are willing to spend these days driving to school.
"With our busy schedules, time is of the essence," said Fisher. SCC's online courses have soared in popularity for the same reason, he said.
The expansion will broaden SCC's capacity significantly. The main campus in Fairfield, now attended by 12,000 students, will be able to accommodate 20,000. The Vallejo and Vacaville centers, scheduled to be completed in late 2007 and 2008 respectively, will start out with about 4,000 students each.
"We're moving from a small college to one that's significantly larger," he said.
The expansion will bring some classes currently available only at the main campus to Vacaville and Vallejo, said Fisher.
"We'll start with the highest-demand courses -- general ed, liberal arts," said Fisher. Soon that will expand to include everything from accounting to meteorology.
Fisher would also like to see major growth in SCC's career and technical education program. He said the closure of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in 1995 had been a major blow to the college's vocational education program, one from which it has not recovered.
"We haven't made a great deal of progress," he said. "We're looking forward to reconnecting with the various trades."
Another item of great importance for Fisher is increasing SCC's visibility in the community. The description of SCC as "the county's best-kept secret" must change, he said.
How long Fisher will remain president of the institution remains up in the air. A search firm will seek out and consider qualified candidates for the permanent position over the next six or eight months. Many have asked Fisher to apply for the permanent job, but Fisher, who is currently close to retirement, said he needs to consider fully what's best for him and for the college before making a final decision.
"I'm certainly evaluating it," he said. "I can't tell you today whether I will or I won't. One of the nice things about being an interim is it allows you to stick your toe in the water."
Julie Kay can be reached at schools@thereporter.com.
By Julie Kay/Staff Writer
Article Launched: 03/12/2007 06:06:10 AM PDT
Gerry Fisher, Solano Community College's recently appointed interim superintendent-president, could hardly have taken the helm at a more dynamic time.
The board appointed him three months ago after dismissing former superintendent-president Paulette Perfumo for undisclosed reasons. The appointment means Fisher, who formerly served as vice president of student services, takes charge of a college undergoing a massive expansion and identity change.
Pre-construction activities for a new SCC center in Vacaville are progressing and actual construction of a center in Vallejo is in later stages. At the same time, renovations are whirring across the main campus in Fairfield. The college is also in the midst of implementing various changes recommended by the Accreditation Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, and creating a new educational master plan.
Fortunately, Fisher's extensive experience gives him steady footing. With 36 years serving at SCC, Fisher, who is 62, has spent more than half his life there.
"I'm very endeared to the college," he said last week. "The college means a lot to me."
Among the thousands of students Fisher's known who have passed through its classrooms are his own four children, the youngest of whom is still there. Fisher also knows the county well, having lived in Vaca- ville, Fairfield, and Vallejo over the years.
Having made the transition to interim president without skipping a beat, Fisher speaks expertly about the college's most prominent issue -- its expansion. The new centers in Vacaville and Vallejo will comply with what Fisher calls the "15- to -20-minute rule" - the amount of time people are willing to spend these days driving to school.
"With our busy schedules, time is of the essence," said Fisher. SCC's online courses have soared in popularity for the same reason, he said.
The expansion will broaden SCC's capacity significantly. The main campus in Fairfield, now attended by 12,000 students, will be able to accommodate 20,000. The Vallejo and Vacaville centers, scheduled to be completed in late 2007 and 2008 respectively, will start out with about 4,000 students each.
"We're moving from a small college to one that's significantly larger," he said.
The expansion will bring some classes currently available only at the main campus to Vacaville and Vallejo, said Fisher.
"We'll start with the highest-demand courses -- general ed, liberal arts," said Fisher. Soon that will expand to include everything from accounting to meteorology.
Fisher would also like to see major growth in SCC's career and technical education program. He said the closure of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in 1995 had been a major blow to the college's vocational education program, one from which it has not recovered.
"We haven't made a great deal of progress," he said. "We're looking forward to reconnecting with the various trades."
Another item of great importance for Fisher is increasing SCC's visibility in the community. The description of SCC as "the county's best-kept secret" must change, he said.
How long Fisher will remain president of the institution remains up in the air. A search firm will seek out and consider qualified candidates for the permanent position over the next six or eight months. Many have asked Fisher to apply for the permanent job, but Fisher, who is currently close to retirement, said he needs to consider fully what's best for him and for the college before making a final decision.
"I'm certainly evaluating it," he said. "I can't tell you today whether I will or I won't. One of the nice things about being an interim is it allows you to stick your toe in the water."
Julie Kay can be reached at schools@thereporter.com.
80/680 interchange could go one of two ways, officials say
March 15, 2007
80/680 interchange could go one of two ways, officials say
By Barry Eberling
FAIRFIELD - Transportation leaders on Wednesday unveiled two proposals for a renovated interstates 80 and 680 interchange: One that rebuilds it at the existing site and one that moves it almost a mile to the west.
The first option changes the ramps at the existing interchange. For example, Interstate 680 traffic would merge onto I-80 in the left-hand lanes, rather than the right-hand lanes, as is now the case.
Having left-hand merge lanes keeps the renovated interchange more compact than using the traditional approach with right-hand merge lanes. Still, several commercial buildings on the south side of I-80 would be removed.
The second option builds a new interchange where Highway 12 at Jameson Canyon toward Napa now joins I-80. Interstate 680 would start swinging west about a mile south of I-80, cutting across a light industrial area in the Fermi Road and Fulton Drive area, which would result in about seven buildings being removed.
With this new interchange built, the existing interchange would be only a memory. STA Director of Projects Janet Adams said it would no longer exist.
Plus, that mile or so of I-680 between I-80 and the new cut-off point would no longer be needed as a freeway. Adams said Fairfield would become the owner of this section.
Each version is designed to alleviate congestion at the county's most notorious freeway bottleneck. Each version can be built in phases, with a $200 million initial phase slated to begin construction in 2011 or 2012, if money is available. Renovating the entire interchange could cost more than $1 billion.
Motorists would still have to be able to drive between the two freeways while construction went on. Adams said there is less effect on traffic with the version that relocates the interchange to the west.
The STA Board saw the two proposals at its Wednesday meeting. It voted to have a workshop at some point in April so the public can learn more about the project and give opinions. A date will be announced later.
A challenge faced by the STA and state Department of Transportation is how to renovate an interchange that has had buildings constructed near it over the last couple decades. That makes for a tight fit.
"No matter what you do, you have impacts," STA Executive Director Daryl Halls said.
A draft environmental study on the project is to come out in November 2008, Adams said.
Also Tuesday, the STA Board approved doing an environmental impact report for the North Connector. The STA had previously been doing a less-involved environmental study.
People raised concerns on such issues as agriculture, preserved farmland, farmland under Williamson Act contracts for tax benefits and a bicycle path that must be relocated. An environmental impact report will allow more in-depth study.
The North Connector is to run from Abernathy Road near central Fairfield west to Highway 12 in Jameson Canyon. Transportation officials said the purpose is to take some of the local traffic off I-80.
Reach Barry Eberling at 425-4646 Ext. 232 or at beberling@dailyrepublic.net.
Two plans unveiled for interchange
By Jennifer Gentile/Staff Writer
Article Launched: 03/15/2007 06:36:23 AM PDT
As a result of a Solano Transportation Authority Board decision Wednesday night, two alternatives for improving the Interstate 80/I-680/Highway 12 Interchange area will soon bear public scrutiny.
The alternatives, according to a staff report, represent two approaches: reconstructing in the same general vicinity or configuring a whole new alignment.
Wednesday's meeting marked the public debut of the alternatives, which were the only ones to survive a two-tier screening process meant to eliminate unfeasible options and those that did not fit the purpose and needs of the project. Staff recommends carrying these proposals forward into an environmental review process.
As explained by Janet Adams, director of projects, these options are the best candidates for achieving project goals like relieving congestion, improving safety, and accommodating present and future truck volume. A 2 percent increase in overall traffic traveling through the corridor is projected each year through 2035, she said, bringing daily volume to 270,000 vehicles.
One of the options would reconstruct the interchange area "in the same footprint," Adams said. One feature is that I-680 would enter and leave I-80 in the median part of the freeway.
This alternative "would be more complex to construct," Adams said, "because you're having to construct new road in the footprint of existing road." It would also have "more impact to the traveling public" and more "throwaway cost" during construction.
This alternative would also have greater impact to the commercial element in the area, but as Halls pointed out, "you're not going to impact the industrial area to the west" as with the second alternative.
The second option, as described by Adams, "combines 680, 80 and 12 into one interchange by realigning 680 past Rodriguez High School."
STA Executive Director Daryl Halls explained that this option provides better alignment with Highway 12 than the first. Also, while both options would have some environmental impact, he said the first option's impact could be slightly greater.
"Both provide traffic relief, and both provide safety improvements," Halls said. Both designs also move the truck scales roughly a half-mile east.
Councilman Steve Wilkins, who represented Vacaville on the STA board Wednesday, said he appreciated that the truck scales would be kept in the same general location.
"That is the one location where you're virtually assured of getting all of the truck traffic that traverses the county," he said.
Board Member Steve Messina of Benicia said, "I think these are good alternatives representing two diverse views on how to go about it."
A draft Environmental Impact Statement/Report is scheduled for completion in summer of 2008, funded with Transportation Congestion Relief Plan money. The project is estimated to cost up to $1.2 billion, and its limits encompass an eight-mile freeway stretch that features nine interchanges.
Now that the board has approved the public release of the alternatives, residents can share their thoughts at an open house set for April.
Jennifer Gentile can be reached at vacaville@thereporter.com.
80/680 interchange could go one of two ways, officials say
By Barry Eberling
FAIRFIELD - Transportation leaders on Wednesday unveiled two proposals for a renovated interstates 80 and 680 interchange: One that rebuilds it at the existing site and one that moves it almost a mile to the west.
The first option changes the ramps at the existing interchange. For example, Interstate 680 traffic would merge onto I-80 in the left-hand lanes, rather than the right-hand lanes, as is now the case.
Having left-hand merge lanes keeps the renovated interchange more compact than using the traditional approach with right-hand merge lanes. Still, several commercial buildings on the south side of I-80 would be removed.
The second option builds a new interchange where Highway 12 at Jameson Canyon toward Napa now joins I-80. Interstate 680 would start swinging west about a mile south of I-80, cutting across a light industrial area in the Fermi Road and Fulton Drive area, which would result in about seven buildings being removed.
With this new interchange built, the existing interchange would be only a memory. STA Director of Projects Janet Adams said it would no longer exist.
Plus, that mile or so of I-680 between I-80 and the new cut-off point would no longer be needed as a freeway. Adams said Fairfield would become the owner of this section.
Each version is designed to alleviate congestion at the county's most notorious freeway bottleneck. Each version can be built in phases, with a $200 million initial phase slated to begin construction in 2011 or 2012, if money is available. Renovating the entire interchange could cost more than $1 billion.
Motorists would still have to be able to drive between the two freeways while construction went on. Adams said there is less effect on traffic with the version that relocates the interchange to the west.
The STA Board saw the two proposals at its Wednesday meeting. It voted to have a workshop at some point in April so the public can learn more about the project and give opinions. A date will be announced later.
A challenge faced by the STA and state Department of Transportation is how to renovate an interchange that has had buildings constructed near it over the last couple decades. That makes for a tight fit.
"No matter what you do, you have impacts," STA Executive Director Daryl Halls said.
A draft environmental study on the project is to come out in November 2008, Adams said.
Also Tuesday, the STA Board approved doing an environmental impact report for the North Connector. The STA had previously been doing a less-involved environmental study.
People raised concerns on such issues as agriculture, preserved farmland, farmland under Williamson Act contracts for tax benefits and a bicycle path that must be relocated. An environmental impact report will allow more in-depth study.
The North Connector is to run from Abernathy Road near central Fairfield west to Highway 12 in Jameson Canyon. Transportation officials said the purpose is to take some of the local traffic off I-80.
Reach Barry Eberling at 425-4646 Ext. 232 or at beberling@dailyrepublic.net.
Two plans unveiled for interchange
By Jennifer Gentile/Staff Writer
Article Launched: 03/15/2007 06:36:23 AM PDT
As a result of a Solano Transportation Authority Board decision Wednesday night, two alternatives for improving the Interstate 80/I-680/Highway 12 Interchange area will soon bear public scrutiny.
The alternatives, according to a staff report, represent two approaches: reconstructing in the same general vicinity or configuring a whole new alignment.
Wednesday's meeting marked the public debut of the alternatives, which were the only ones to survive a two-tier screening process meant to eliminate unfeasible options and those that did not fit the purpose and needs of the project. Staff recommends carrying these proposals forward into an environmental review process.
As explained by Janet Adams, director of projects, these options are the best candidates for achieving project goals like relieving congestion, improving safety, and accommodating present and future truck volume. A 2 percent increase in overall traffic traveling through the corridor is projected each year through 2035, she said, bringing daily volume to 270,000 vehicles.
One of the options would reconstruct the interchange area "in the same footprint," Adams said. One feature is that I-680 would enter and leave I-80 in the median part of the freeway.
This alternative "would be more complex to construct," Adams said, "because you're having to construct new road in the footprint of existing road." It would also have "more impact to the traveling public" and more "throwaway cost" during construction.
This alternative would also have greater impact to the commercial element in the area, but as Halls pointed out, "you're not going to impact the industrial area to the west" as with the second alternative.
The second option, as described by Adams, "combines 680, 80 and 12 into one interchange by realigning 680 past Rodriguez High School."
STA Executive Director Daryl Halls explained that this option provides better alignment with Highway 12 than the first. Also, while both options would have some environmental impact, he said the first option's impact could be slightly greater.
"Both provide traffic relief, and both provide safety improvements," Halls said. Both designs also move the truck scales roughly a half-mile east.
Councilman Steve Wilkins, who represented Vacaville on the STA board Wednesday, said he appreciated that the truck scales would be kept in the same general location.
"That is the one location where you're virtually assured of getting all of the truck traffic that traverses the county," he said.
Board Member Steve Messina of Benicia said, "I think these are good alternatives representing two diverse views on how to go about it."
A draft Environmental Impact Statement/Report is scheduled for completion in summer of 2008, funded with Transportation Congestion Relief Plan money. The project is estimated to cost up to $1.2 billion, and its limits encompass an eight-mile freeway stretch that features nine interchanges.
Now that the board has approved the public release of the alternatives, residents can share their thoughts at an open house set for April.
Jennifer Gentile can be reached at vacaville@thereporter.com.
Vallejo officials say master plan includes FoodsCo warehouse
Retail infusion proposed for decaying Solano 80
Vallejo officials say master plan includes FoodsCo warehouse
By DAN JUDGE/Times-Herald staff writer
Article Launched: 03/28/2007 06:44:15 AM PDT
A rundown shopping center in the underserved southern portion of Vallejo may be getting a new lease on life.
A developer has proposed a major makeover of Solano 80, a 1960s-era retail center that has fallen on hard times.
"There currently is a significant market void in the southern half of Vallejo," said developer John Jay with the Jay-Phares Corporation. "Upon completion, this would be 140,000 square feet of retail which we would hope would be the predominant retail complex to serve southern Vallejo."
The nearly 11-acre site that once was home to an Albertsons supermarket sits, as its name suggests, along Interstate 80 off Solano Avenue.
The center now has some smaller tenants surrounding the apparent anchor, a Rite Aid pharmacy now using only a portion of its interior space.
Jay said a master plan has been submitted to the city that calls for all existing buildings to be demolished except the one housing Rite Aid. The drug store would move into a new 17,300-square-foot structure with a drive-through, he said.
Vallejo planning officials said the site plans also identify one building for a FoodsCo warehouse grocery store. On Tuesday, however, Jay and representatives of the Kroger Co. of Cincinnati, one of the nation's largest grocery retailers and owner of FoodsCo, would not confirm its participation.
In addition to those stores, Jay said the new Solano 80 would include a revamped Taco Bell, Anna's Linens, Rainbow Apparel and "a number of other national and regional chain stores."
"We are especially pleased to be bringing a state-of-the-art retail complex to the multi-cultural populace of southwestern Vallejo," Jay said.
Vallejo Development Services Director Brian Dolan said plans for the store have only begun the planning process, and public hearings are not yet scheduled.
He added that there are traffic issues that must still be addressed, including an entrance that may be dangerously close to an Interstate 80 onramp and off ramp.
Nevertheless, Dolan said the rehabilitation of Solano 80 would be a significant plus for the city.
"I think it's very important because it's an eyesore, and it's right on the freeway," Dolan said. "It doesn't present itself to the Vallejo community internally very well, either."
Jay-Phares Corporation is a contract developer for Solano 80's Richmond-based owner C. Overaa & Co., which originally built the center.
E-mail Dan Judge at UBDJudge@thnewsnet.com or call 553-6831.
Vallejo officials say master plan includes FoodsCo warehouse
By DAN JUDGE/Times-Herald staff writer
Article Launched: 03/28/2007 06:44:15 AM PDT
A rundown shopping center in the underserved southern portion of Vallejo may be getting a new lease on life.
A developer has proposed a major makeover of Solano 80, a 1960s-era retail center that has fallen on hard times.
"There currently is a significant market void in the southern half of Vallejo," said developer John Jay with the Jay-Phares Corporation. "Upon completion, this would be 140,000 square feet of retail which we would hope would be the predominant retail complex to serve southern Vallejo."
The nearly 11-acre site that once was home to an Albertsons supermarket sits, as its name suggests, along Interstate 80 off Solano Avenue.
The center now has some smaller tenants surrounding the apparent anchor, a Rite Aid pharmacy now using only a portion of its interior space.
Jay said a master plan has been submitted to the city that calls for all existing buildings to be demolished except the one housing Rite Aid. The drug store would move into a new 17,300-square-foot structure with a drive-through, he said.
Vallejo planning officials said the site plans also identify one building for a FoodsCo warehouse grocery store. On Tuesday, however, Jay and representatives of the Kroger Co. of Cincinnati, one of the nation's largest grocery retailers and owner of FoodsCo, would not confirm its participation.
In addition to those stores, Jay said the new Solano 80 would include a revamped Taco Bell, Anna's Linens, Rainbow Apparel and "a number of other national and regional chain stores."
"We are especially pleased to be bringing a state-of-the-art retail complex to the multi-cultural populace of southwestern Vallejo," Jay said.
Vallejo Development Services Director Brian Dolan said plans for the store have only begun the planning process, and public hearings are not yet scheduled.
He added that there are traffic issues that must still be addressed, including an entrance that may be dangerously close to an Interstate 80 onramp and off ramp.
Nevertheless, Dolan said the rehabilitation of Solano 80 would be a significant plus for the city.
"I think it's very important because it's an eyesore, and it's right on the freeway," Dolan said. "It doesn't present itself to the Vallejo community internally very well, either."
Jay-Phares Corporation is a contract developer for Solano 80's Richmond-based owner C. Overaa & Co., which originally built the center.
E-mail Dan Judge at UBDJudge@thnewsnet.com or call 553-6831.
The Vacaville Planning Commission gave unanimous backing to a mixed-use building project
Unanimous backing for project
By Jennifer Gentile/Staff Writer
Article Launched: 04/05/2007 06:14:33 AM PDT
The Vacaville Planning Commission gave unanimous backing to a mixed-use building project and to a time extension for the Knoll Creek development in action on Tuesday night.
The mixed-use project is a planned 7,020 square-foot building at 445 Merchant St. This would include about 1,490 square feet of ground floor retail space, 3,330 square feet of second- and third-floor office space and two 1,100-square-foot third floor residential units, each with two bedrooms and two baths
Addressing the commission, applicant Rich Lamphere said, "We've been working on numerous designs, and we feel this is our best design so far." He added that the proposal "enhances the gateway to downtown."
Commissioner Ella Marie Kallios agreed and said, "I like the design. It seems to be very complimentary to the downtown area."
The commission followed city staff's recommendation and approved both a design review and planned development application for the project. Commissioner Joe Niccoli said his only concern was the possibility of a restaurant moving into the retail space and the parking problems that would create.
At his request, a condition of approval was added, prohibiting a sit-down type restaurant from moving into the building. City Planner Eric Luchini said Lamphere had talked about bringing in a coffee retailer and an ice-cream or frozen yogurt retailer.
After the panel's vote, board chair Dan Broadwater congratulated Lamphere on the approval, adding, "It's a nice-looking project."
The project still must go through the building plan check phase, Luchini said, so the earliest construction would start is probably at the end of summer.
The commission unanimously approved a time extension for approvals related to the planned Knoll Creek development. The tentative map for the project features 38 lots on a 22.66-acre parcel on the south side of McMurtry Lane to the west of Browns Valley Road.
With the time extensions granted, the approvals are in place for another two years.
Jennifer Gentile can be reached at vacaville@thereporter.com.
By Jennifer Gentile/Staff Writer
Article Launched: 04/05/2007 06:14:33 AM PDT
The Vacaville Planning Commission gave unanimous backing to a mixed-use building project and to a time extension for the Knoll Creek development in action on Tuesday night.
The mixed-use project is a planned 7,020 square-foot building at 445 Merchant St. This would include about 1,490 square feet of ground floor retail space, 3,330 square feet of second- and third-floor office space and two 1,100-square-foot third floor residential units, each with two bedrooms and two baths
Addressing the commission, applicant Rich Lamphere said, "We've been working on numerous designs, and we feel this is our best design so far." He added that the proposal "enhances the gateway to downtown."
Commissioner Ella Marie Kallios agreed and said, "I like the design. It seems to be very complimentary to the downtown area."
The commission followed city staff's recommendation and approved both a design review and planned development application for the project. Commissioner Joe Niccoli said his only concern was the possibility of a restaurant moving into the retail space and the parking problems that would create.
At his request, a condition of approval was added, prohibiting a sit-down type restaurant from moving into the building. City Planner Eric Luchini said Lamphere had talked about bringing in a coffee retailer and an ice-cream or frozen yogurt retailer.
After the panel's vote, board chair Dan Broadwater congratulated Lamphere on the approval, adding, "It's a nice-looking project."
The project still must go through the building plan check phase, Luchini said, so the earliest construction would start is probably at the end of summer.
The commission unanimously approved a time extension for approvals related to the planned Knoll Creek development. The tentative map for the project features 38 lots on a 22.66-acre parcel on the south side of McMurtry Lane to the west of Browns Valley Road.
With the time extensions granted, the approvals are in place for another two years.
Jennifer Gentile can be reached at vacaville@thereporter.com.
Healthy expansion - New building will combine NorthBay Healthcare offices
Healthy expansion
New building will combine NorthBay Healthcare offices
By John Ireland/Business Writer
Article Launched: 04/06/2007 06:20:24 AM PDT
About 40 dignitaries arrive at 4500 Business Center Drive in Green Valley to partake in a groundbreaking ceremony for the new NorthBay Healthcare Administrative Services/Conference Center. (Rick Roach/The Reporter)
The movement of a little sod this week will eventually have a large impact on health care in Solano County.
Ten golden shovels flashed in the sunlight Thursday at the official groundbreaking ceremony for NorthBay Healthcare's new administration office and conference center on Business Center Drive in Green Valley.
When construction is completed next spring on the 69,000-square-foot two-story structure, it will mark the first time in more than 20 years that all of NorthBay's administrative services will be gathered under one roof.
The new building will house the entire corporate staff, including public relations, managed care, human resources, finance, the business office, and information technology. The offices of NorthBay Health
A rendering shows how the NorthBay Healthcare administration office and conference center will look. (Artist's rendering)
Advantage and the NorthBay Foundation will also share the facility.
This consolidation will free up much-needed space for medical offices in NorthBay's Gateway Medical Plaza building in Fairfield, and in the VacaValley Health Plaza.
"It's really important to take administrative functions out of prime clinical space," said NorthBay spokeswoman Joanie Erickson. "That's space we can now use for other medical facilities."
The new development is also part of NorthBay Healthcare's master plan to become more of a presence in the southern part of Solano County, helping the company raise its profile in an area where Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health are already firmly established.
What makes NorthBay Healthcare different, according to Erickson, it that it is locally-owned and controlled.
"We're all about Solano County," she said. "Solano County is all we do. We don't have hospitals in Sacramento or the Bay Area."
Helping to improve services is also the major purpose of the second component of the Green Valley project - the 300-seat conference center that will also be available for community use.
NorthBay CEO Gary Passama told Thursday's gathering that the center represents "a long-held dream of many of us to have a facility to allow us to better train our staff and also provide a venue for community health education activities."
That the center will also help save NorthBay money, Passama said, "is just one more benefit."
Another benefit, Erickson said, is being able to offer the soon-to-be-vacated administration offices to specialists who aren't currently in the county.
"We've had a shortage of office space for physicians, and that has made recruitment difficult," she said. "We'll now have prime office space right across from hospitals."
As traffic continues to clot on the highways, and the price of gas soars, unabated, into the stratosphere, Erickson stressed the important role the new administration center will play in minimizing the distance people need to travel to receive healthcare.
"What we're really trying to do is make sure that all of our services are available right here in Solano County," she said.
John Ireland can be reached at business@thereporter.com.
New building will combine NorthBay Healthcare offices
By John Ireland/Business Writer
Article Launched: 04/06/2007 06:20:24 AM PDT
About 40 dignitaries arrive at 4500 Business Center Drive in Green Valley to partake in a groundbreaking ceremony for the new NorthBay Healthcare Administrative Services/Conference Center. (Rick Roach/The Reporter)
The movement of a little sod this week will eventually have a large impact on health care in Solano County.
Ten golden shovels flashed in the sunlight Thursday at the official groundbreaking ceremony for NorthBay Healthcare's new administration office and conference center on Business Center Drive in Green Valley.
When construction is completed next spring on the 69,000-square-foot two-story structure, it will mark the first time in more than 20 years that all of NorthBay's administrative services will be gathered under one roof.
The new building will house the entire corporate staff, including public relations, managed care, human resources, finance, the business office, and information technology. The offices of NorthBay Health
A rendering shows how the NorthBay Healthcare administration office and conference center will look. (Artist's rendering)
Advantage and the NorthBay Foundation will also share the facility.
This consolidation will free up much-needed space for medical offices in NorthBay's Gateway Medical Plaza building in Fairfield, and in the VacaValley Health Plaza.
"It's really important to take administrative functions out of prime clinical space," said NorthBay spokeswoman Joanie Erickson. "That's space we can now use for other medical facilities."
The new development is also part of NorthBay Healthcare's master plan to become more of a presence in the southern part of Solano County, helping the company raise its profile in an area where Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health are already firmly established.
What makes NorthBay Healthcare different, according to Erickson, it that it is locally-owned and controlled.
"We're all about Solano County," she said. "Solano County is all we do. We don't have hospitals in Sacramento or the Bay Area."
Helping to improve services is also the major purpose of the second component of the Green Valley project - the 300-seat conference center that will also be available for community use.
NorthBay CEO Gary Passama told Thursday's gathering that the center represents "a long-held dream of many of us to have a facility to allow us to better train our staff and also provide a venue for community health education activities."
That the center will also help save NorthBay money, Passama said, "is just one more benefit."
Another benefit, Erickson said, is being able to offer the soon-to-be-vacated administration offices to specialists who aren't currently in the county.
"We've had a shortage of office space for physicians, and that has made recruitment difficult," she said. "We'll now have prime office space right across from hospitals."
As traffic continues to clot on the highways, and the price of gas soars, unabated, into the stratosphere, Erickson stressed the important role the new administration center will play in minimizing the distance people need to travel to receive healthcare.
"What we're really trying to do is make sure that all of our services are available right here in Solano County," she said.
John Ireland can be reached at business@thereporter.com.
Sacramento airport is expecting 40 percent growth to 14 million passengers annually by 2020.
Airport plans leap across I-5
Expansion would add parking lot, shuttle service over freeway.
By Tony Bizjak - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, April 6, 2007
Sacramento International Airport, increasingly crowded and in need of new facilities, is planning a historic leap over Interstate 5 to build a massive new parking lot.
Officials say the 13,800-space lot and a new car rental complex will kick-start a $1 billion airport expansion to keep up with Sacramento growth and compete with Bay Area airports for Northern California fliers.
"We looked at our options and decided we needed to go south of I-5," said Rob Leonard, assistant director of Sacramento County airports. "It makes sense."
Leonard said the airport will lose a significant amount of parking in its core area as early as next year when new terminal construction begins.
Leapfrogging the freeway, he said, will compensate for those losses and help position the airport for an expected 40 percent growth to 14 million passengers annually by 2020.
The county, which operates the airport, owns the 209-acre site and most of the adjoining land south of the airport between I-5 and the Sacramento River.
Shuttle buses would ferry people over the freeway to terminals, and officials say they expect the ride to take only marginally longer than shuttles serving current closer-in lots.
Over the long run, airport officials envision a second airport hotel on the south side of the freeway, as well as offices and other commercial ventures.
Building the parking lots may not be automatic or easy.
Because the airport is in the environmentally sensitive Natomas basin, the county must put together a plan -- requiring federal and state regulatory approval -- to address potential environmental effects of the project.
Home to nearly two dozen endangered species, the area is a longtime battleground among environmentalists, regulators and developers.
State regulators this week warned that the environmental review process could take more time than airport officials plan.
For their part, airport officials say they hope to get started on the parking lot this year so they can move full speed next year on the centerpiece of their new master plan -- a three-story, glass-walled central terminal, which they hope to open in 2011.
The terminal will replace the outdated 40-year-old Terminal B complex, which will be razed.
Leonard said airport planners expect to have to eliminate part of the hourly and daily lots for Terminal B, as many as 3,000 parking spaces, for construction.
Airport users still will be able to use the multistory parking garage next to Terminal A, and other existing surface parking lots on-site, he said.
Also planned as part of the multiyear expansion are a second parking garage, a high-rise hotel attached to the new terminal, a tram to take passengers to a new concourse, and eventually a third runway.
Terminal A will continue to function as a separate terminal. Long term, however, all airport ticketing and baggage service will be handled in the new central terminal. Terminal A would become a satellite boarding area linked to the main terminal by a tram.
Airport officials have penciled in a site for a light-rail train station at the new terminal to help ease the airport parking crunch.
However, Sacramento Regional Transit officials say it doesn't appear they will be able to extend light rail to the airport until sometime after 2020.
The plan to leapfrog the freeway has prompted a number of environmental concerns.
State environmental officials say they will permit the expansion after the airport provides an acceptable habitat conservation plan for any affected endangered species in the Natomas basin.
"We are having discussions with them on how to address concerns in the basin," said state Fish and Game environmental scientist Jenny Marr. "We hope to work with them to satisfy the airport's needs and to protect species."
In a recently released draft environmental impact report, airport officials propose setting aside an equal amount of land nearby to be conserved permanently as open space and wildlife habitat.
Some environmentalists and biologists familiar with the Natomas basin, however, say they are not sure the county can truly compensate for the land use south of the freeway.
Biologist Jim Estep, who monitors Swainson's hawks, said even though open-space land must be set aside for every new development, he isn't sure wildlife will survive long term in the basin if development continues.
Area residents expressed concerns about additional traffic.
Kevin McRae of the Garden Highway homeowners group said the Garden Highway, a thin road perched atop a levee south of I-5, is not suitable for heavier traffic the expansion might cause. "It is already dangerous," he said.
Airport officials, however, say the main access to the planned new site would be from Airport Boulevard at I-5.
The airport's 20-year master plan for expansion is expected to be financed by fees paid by airport users, including passengers and airlines, officials said.
Expansion would add parking lot, shuttle service over freeway.
By Tony Bizjak - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, April 6, 2007
Sacramento International Airport, increasingly crowded and in need of new facilities, is planning a historic leap over Interstate 5 to build a massive new parking lot.
Officials say the 13,800-space lot and a new car rental complex will kick-start a $1 billion airport expansion to keep up with Sacramento growth and compete with Bay Area airports for Northern California fliers.
"We looked at our options and decided we needed to go south of I-5," said Rob Leonard, assistant director of Sacramento County airports. "It makes sense."
Leonard said the airport will lose a significant amount of parking in its core area as early as next year when new terminal construction begins.
Leapfrogging the freeway, he said, will compensate for those losses and help position the airport for an expected 40 percent growth to 14 million passengers annually by 2020.
The county, which operates the airport, owns the 209-acre site and most of the adjoining land south of the airport between I-5 and the Sacramento River.
Shuttle buses would ferry people over the freeway to terminals, and officials say they expect the ride to take only marginally longer than shuttles serving current closer-in lots.
Over the long run, airport officials envision a second airport hotel on the south side of the freeway, as well as offices and other commercial ventures.
Building the parking lots may not be automatic or easy.
Because the airport is in the environmentally sensitive Natomas basin, the county must put together a plan -- requiring federal and state regulatory approval -- to address potential environmental effects of the project.
Home to nearly two dozen endangered species, the area is a longtime battleground among environmentalists, regulators and developers.
State regulators this week warned that the environmental review process could take more time than airport officials plan.
For their part, airport officials say they hope to get started on the parking lot this year so they can move full speed next year on the centerpiece of their new master plan -- a three-story, glass-walled central terminal, which they hope to open in 2011.
The terminal will replace the outdated 40-year-old Terminal B complex, which will be razed.
Leonard said airport planners expect to have to eliminate part of the hourly and daily lots for Terminal B, as many as 3,000 parking spaces, for construction.
Airport users still will be able to use the multistory parking garage next to Terminal A, and other existing surface parking lots on-site, he said.
Also planned as part of the multiyear expansion are a second parking garage, a high-rise hotel attached to the new terminal, a tram to take passengers to a new concourse, and eventually a third runway.
Terminal A will continue to function as a separate terminal. Long term, however, all airport ticketing and baggage service will be handled in the new central terminal. Terminal A would become a satellite boarding area linked to the main terminal by a tram.
Airport officials have penciled in a site for a light-rail train station at the new terminal to help ease the airport parking crunch.
However, Sacramento Regional Transit officials say it doesn't appear they will be able to extend light rail to the airport until sometime after 2020.
The plan to leapfrog the freeway has prompted a number of environmental concerns.
State environmental officials say they will permit the expansion after the airport provides an acceptable habitat conservation plan for any affected endangered species in the Natomas basin.
"We are having discussions with them on how to address concerns in the basin," said state Fish and Game environmental scientist Jenny Marr. "We hope to work with them to satisfy the airport's needs and to protect species."
In a recently released draft environmental impact report, airport officials propose setting aside an equal amount of land nearby to be conserved permanently as open space and wildlife habitat.
Some environmentalists and biologists familiar with the Natomas basin, however, say they are not sure the county can truly compensate for the land use south of the freeway.
Biologist Jim Estep, who monitors Swainson's hawks, said even though open-space land must be set aside for every new development, he isn't sure wildlife will survive long term in the basin if development continues.
Area residents expressed concerns about additional traffic.
Kevin McRae of the Garden Highway homeowners group said the Garden Highway, a thin road perched atop a levee south of I-5, is not suitable for heavier traffic the expansion might cause. "It is already dangerous," he said.
Airport officials, however, say the main access to the planned new site would be from Airport Boulevard at I-5.
The airport's 20-year master plan for expansion is expected to be financed by fees paid by airport users, including passengers and airlines, officials said.
Local counties trail Bay Area in income - Sacramento Business Journal:
Local counties trail Bay Area in income
Sacramento Business Journal - 12:27 PM PDT Friday, April 6, 2007
Residents in El Dorado and Placer counties boast some of the heftiest incomes in the state, and all four Greater Sacramento counties top the statewide average, according to a report released Friday.
El Dorado County's median income reached $43,935 in 2005, the fifth-highest in the state based on all income tax returns filed that year, according to the state Franchise Tax Board. Median income for the county's joint returns was $75,775, No. 6 in the state.
Nearby Placer County's median income of $42,632 ranked No. 6, while income from joint returns reached $75,611, seventh in the state in 2005, the most recent figures available.
Sacramento and Yolo counties' median income for all returns finished at No. 20 and No. 22, respectively. Sacramento County's median income was $35,402, with joint returns at $63,878, No. 19 in the state. Yolo County's median income for all returns was $34,331, while it ranked No. 15 in the state among joint returns, with a median of $66,263.
Statewide, the median income increased 2.7 percent to $34,128 compared to 2004, and joint income tax returns reached $63,587, a 4.1 percent gain from 2004.
Yuba County had the state's largest increase in median income, improving 9.4 percent to $29,843 -- and also the greatest jump for joint returns at 11.3 percent to $48,121.
Marin had the state's highest individual and joint income at $48,854 and $107,856, respectively. San Mateo, Santa Clara and Contra Costa rounded out the top four.
Imperial County has the state's lowest median income at $22,962.
Sacramento Business Journal - 12:27 PM PDT Friday, April 6, 2007
Residents in El Dorado and Placer counties boast some of the heftiest incomes in the state, and all four Greater Sacramento counties top the statewide average, according to a report released Friday.
El Dorado County's median income reached $43,935 in 2005, the fifth-highest in the state based on all income tax returns filed that year, according to the state Franchise Tax Board. Median income for the county's joint returns was $75,775, No. 6 in the state.
Nearby Placer County's median income of $42,632 ranked No. 6, while income from joint returns reached $75,611, seventh in the state in 2005, the most recent figures available.
Sacramento and Yolo counties' median income for all returns finished at No. 20 and No. 22, respectively. Sacramento County's median income was $35,402, with joint returns at $63,878, No. 19 in the state. Yolo County's median income for all returns was $34,331, while it ranked No. 15 in the state among joint returns, with a median of $66,263.
Statewide, the median income increased 2.7 percent to $34,128 compared to 2004, and joint income tax returns reached $63,587, a 4.1 percent gain from 2004.
Yuba County had the state's largest increase in median income, improving 9.4 percent to $29,843 -- and also the greatest jump for joint returns at 11.3 percent to $48,121.
Marin had the state's highest individual and joint income at $48,854 and $107,856, respectively. San Mateo, Santa Clara and Contra Costa rounded out the top four.
Imperial County has the state's lowest median income at $22,962.
Bay Area tops median income report
Bay Area tops median income report
East Bay Business Times - 9:39 AM PDT Friday, April 6, 2007
The statewide median income for all personal income tax returns rose 2.7 percent in 2005, and 4.1 percent for joint returns, according to statistics released by the Franchise Tax Board.
Four Bay Area counties again top California's 2005 median income report, according to the FTB. For the past 34 years, the counties of Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, and Santa Clara have consistently reported the highest median incomes.
"This income growth is welcome news," said State Controller and FTB Chair John Chiang.
"Median income" is the point where one half of the tax returns are above and one half are below the midpoint of the range of values. Median income represents the income reported by a typical California individual or couple.
California taxpayers filed 14.8 million 2005 state income tax returns with the FTB reporting slightly more than $1 trillion of adjusted gross income. Adjusted gross income is a tax term that means gross income minus specific tax deductions, but before Federal Schedule A itemized deductions. This is an increase of 4.2 percent over 2004 figures.
Marin County still has the highest median income for joint returns, reporting $107,856 -- an increase of 8 percent from 2004. San Mateo County ranked second with $89,672, while Santa Clara County ranked third with $89,618 and Contra Costa County ranked fourth with $83,605.
Los Angeles County taxpayers filed 25.6 percent of all 2005 income tax returns in California. They reported median incomes of $29,551 for all returns, and $54,583 for joint returns, ranking 39th and 32nd, respectively.
The largest percentage gain in median income for all counties was 9.4 percent, reported in Yuba County. For joint filed returns the largest increase was also in Yuba County, with an 11.3 percent increase. Last year's leader, Alpine County, ranked seventh this year.
East Bay Business Times - 9:39 AM PDT Friday, April 6, 2007
The statewide median income for all personal income tax returns rose 2.7 percent in 2005, and 4.1 percent for joint returns, according to statistics released by the Franchise Tax Board.
Four Bay Area counties again top California's 2005 median income report, according to the FTB. For the past 34 years, the counties of Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, and Santa Clara have consistently reported the highest median incomes.
"This income growth is welcome news," said State Controller and FTB Chair John Chiang.
"Median income" is the point where one half of the tax returns are above and one half are below the midpoint of the range of values. Median income represents the income reported by a typical California individual or couple.
California taxpayers filed 14.8 million 2005 state income tax returns with the FTB reporting slightly more than $1 trillion of adjusted gross income. Adjusted gross income is a tax term that means gross income minus specific tax deductions, but before Federal Schedule A itemized deductions. This is an increase of 4.2 percent over 2004 figures.
Marin County still has the highest median income for joint returns, reporting $107,856 -- an increase of 8 percent from 2004. San Mateo County ranked second with $89,672, while Santa Clara County ranked third with $89,618 and Contra Costa County ranked fourth with $83,605.
Los Angeles County taxpayers filed 25.6 percent of all 2005 income tax returns in California. They reported median incomes of $29,551 for all returns, and $54,583 for joint returns, ranking 39th and 32nd, respectively.
The largest percentage gain in median income for all counties was 9.4 percent, reported in Yuba County. For joint filed returns the largest increase was also in Yuba County, with an 11.3 percent increase. Last year's leader, Alpine County, ranked seventh this year.
Healthy Expansion
Healthy Expansion
New Building Will Combine NorthBay Healthcare Offices
By John Ireland/Business Writer
TheReporter.Com
About 40 dignitaries arrive at 4500 Business Center Drive in Green Valley to partake in a groundbreaking ceremony for the new NorthBay Healthcare Administrative Services/Conference Center. (Rick Roach/The Reporter)
The movement of a little sod this week will eventually have a large impact on health care in Solano County.
Ten golden shovels flashed in the sunlight Thursday at the official groundbreaking ceremony for NorthBay Healthcare's new administration office and conference center on Business Center Drive in Green Valley.
When construction is completed next spring on the 69,000-square-foot two-story structure, it will mark the first time in more than 20 years that all of NorthBay's administrative services will be gathered under one roof.
The new building will house the entire corporate staff, including public relations, managed care, human resources, finance, the business office, and information technology. The offices of NorthBay Health Advantage and the NorthBay Foundation will also share the facility.
This consolidation will free up much-needed space for medical offices in NorthBay's Gateway Medical Plaza building in Fairfield, and in the VacaValley Health Plaza.
"It's really important to take administrative functions out of prime clinical space," said NorthBay spokeswoman Joanie Erickson. "That's space we can now use for other medical facilities."
The new development is also part of NorthBay Healthcare's master plan to become more of a presence in the southern part of Solano County, helping the company raise its profile in an area where Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health are already firmly established.
What makes NorthBay Healthcare different, according to Erickson, it that it is locally-owned and controlled.
"We're all about Solano County," she said. "Solano County is all we do. We don't have hospitals in Sacramento or the Bay Area."
Helping to improve services is also the major purpose of the second component of the Green Valley project - the 300-seat conference center that will also be available for community use.
NorthBay CEO Gary Passama told Thursday's gathering that the center represents "a long-held dream of many of us to have a facility to allow us to better train our staff and also provide a venue for community health education activities."
That the center will also help save NorthBay money, Passama said, "is just one more benefit."
Another benefit, Erickson said, is being able to offer the soon-to-be-vacated administration offices to specialists who aren't currently in the county.
"We've had a shortage of office space for physicians, and that has made recruitment difficult," she said. "We'll now have prime office space right across from hospitals."
As traffic continues to clot on the highways, and the price of gas soars, unabated, into the stratosphere, Erickson stressed the important role the new administration center will play in minimizing the distance people need to travel to receive healthcare.
"What we're really trying to do is make sure that all of our services are available right here in Solano County," she said.
A rendering shows how the NorthBay Healthcare administration office and conference center will look. (Artist's rendering)
John Ireland can be reached at business@thereporter.com.
New Building Will Combine NorthBay Healthcare Offices
By John Ireland/Business Writer
TheReporter.Com
About 40 dignitaries arrive at 4500 Business Center Drive in Green Valley to partake in a groundbreaking ceremony for the new NorthBay Healthcare Administrative Services/Conference Center. (Rick Roach/The Reporter)
The movement of a little sod this week will eventually have a large impact on health care in Solano County.
Ten golden shovels flashed in the sunlight Thursday at the official groundbreaking ceremony for NorthBay Healthcare's new administration office and conference center on Business Center Drive in Green Valley.
When construction is completed next spring on the 69,000-square-foot two-story structure, it will mark the first time in more than 20 years that all of NorthBay's administrative services will be gathered under one roof.
The new building will house the entire corporate staff, including public relations, managed care, human resources, finance, the business office, and information technology. The offices of NorthBay Health Advantage and the NorthBay Foundation will also share the facility.
This consolidation will free up much-needed space for medical offices in NorthBay's Gateway Medical Plaza building in Fairfield, and in the VacaValley Health Plaza.
"It's really important to take administrative functions out of prime clinical space," said NorthBay spokeswoman Joanie Erickson. "That's space we can now use for other medical facilities."
The new development is also part of NorthBay Healthcare's master plan to become more of a presence in the southern part of Solano County, helping the company raise its profile in an area where Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health are already firmly established.
What makes NorthBay Healthcare different, according to Erickson, it that it is locally-owned and controlled.
"We're all about Solano County," she said. "Solano County is all we do. We don't have hospitals in Sacramento or the Bay Area."
Helping to improve services is also the major purpose of the second component of the Green Valley project - the 300-seat conference center that will also be available for community use.
NorthBay CEO Gary Passama told Thursday's gathering that the center represents "a long-held dream of many of us to have a facility to allow us to better train our staff and also provide a venue for community health education activities."
That the center will also help save NorthBay money, Passama said, "is just one more benefit."
Another benefit, Erickson said, is being able to offer the soon-to-be-vacated administration offices to specialists who aren't currently in the county.
"We've had a shortage of office space for physicians, and that has made recruitment difficult," she said. "We'll now have prime office space right across from hospitals."
As traffic continues to clot on the highways, and the price of gas soars, unabated, into the stratosphere, Erickson stressed the important role the new administration center will play in minimizing the distance people need to travel to receive healthcare.
"What we're really trying to do is make sure that all of our services are available right here in Solano County," she said.
A rendering shows how the NorthBay Healthcare administration office and conference center will look. (Artist's rendering)
John Ireland can be reached at business@thereporter.com.
Fairfield's Copart Taking Its Act Overseas
Fairfield's Copart Taking Its Act Overseas
By Kathy L'Ecluse
FAIRFIELD - Copart will take its highly successful operation overseas this year with the planned purchase of a vehicle salvage company in Britain.
Copart helps vehicle suppliers, primarily insurance companies, sell salvage vehicles online. It owns and operates 124 facilities in the United States and Canada. This would be the first time it would own an operation overseas.
Copart reached an agreement with the board of Universal Salvage PLC approving the purchase by the wholly owned Copart subsidiary, Copart UK, officials announced Thursday. The purchase will likely become final this summer in the absence of any other offers at a higher price.
Universal manages the collection and disposal of vehicles for a variety of clients, dealing with a wide range of vehicles including accident-damaged cars, commercial vehicles, motorcycles and end-of-life vehicles.
Similarly, Copart provides such services to vehicle suppliers, using a virtual auction-style trading platform to sell vehicles to licensed dismantlers, rebuilders and used vehicle dealers.
Copart has sold cars overseas for years. Its international market has fueled much of the growth in its buyer base, which increased more than 300 percent in the past three years, said Rob Vannuccini, corporate vice president of market for Copart.
"From our international buyers, we've seen an increase in bids and purchases from many of the former Russian republics," he said. "For example, Lithuania is a big role player, because they buy the cars and then take them into Russia and the other countries through their ports."
The influence of the international market has pushed the number of registered buyers from 30,000 to 100,000, Vannuccini added. The influx of the international bidders has also raised the sale prices for the vehicles.
"More than 50 percent of our bids are affected by (international bidders)," he said. "Twenty-nine percent of our cars are sold to the highest bidder - who happens to be outside the U.S. And about 25 percent of the time, the second highest bidder is from the international market as well, which means that they influence the bid for the U.S. buyers."
With this purchase, Copart will own an operation overseas as well as sell vehicles overseas. Copart will offer Universal shareholders about $4 per share, for a total price of about $112.8 million, plus other obligations totaling $13.5 million.
Reach Kathy L'Ecluse at 427-6933 or klecluse@dailyrepublic.net
By Kathy L'Ecluse
FAIRFIELD - Copart will take its highly successful operation overseas this year with the planned purchase of a vehicle salvage company in Britain.
Copart helps vehicle suppliers, primarily insurance companies, sell salvage vehicles online. It owns and operates 124 facilities in the United States and Canada. This would be the first time it would own an operation overseas.
Copart reached an agreement with the board of Universal Salvage PLC approving the purchase by the wholly owned Copart subsidiary, Copart UK, officials announced Thursday. The purchase will likely become final this summer in the absence of any other offers at a higher price.
Universal manages the collection and disposal of vehicles for a variety of clients, dealing with a wide range of vehicles including accident-damaged cars, commercial vehicles, motorcycles and end-of-life vehicles.
Similarly, Copart provides such services to vehicle suppliers, using a virtual auction-style trading platform to sell vehicles to licensed dismantlers, rebuilders and used vehicle dealers.
Copart has sold cars overseas for years. Its international market has fueled much of the growth in its buyer base, which increased more than 300 percent in the past three years, said Rob Vannuccini, corporate vice president of market for Copart.
"From our international buyers, we've seen an increase in bids and purchases from many of the former Russian republics," he said. "For example, Lithuania is a big role player, because they buy the cars and then take them into Russia and the other countries through their ports."
The influence of the international market has pushed the number of registered buyers from 30,000 to 100,000, Vannuccini added. The influx of the international bidders has also raised the sale prices for the vehicles.
"More than 50 percent of our bids are affected by (international bidders)," he said. "Twenty-nine percent of our cars are sold to the highest bidder - who happens to be outside the U.S. And about 25 percent of the time, the second highest bidder is from the international market as well, which means that they influence the bid for the U.S. buyers."
With this purchase, Copart will own an operation overseas as well as sell vehicles overseas. Copart will offer Universal shareholders about $4 per share, for a total price of about $112.8 million, plus other obligations totaling $13.5 million.
Reach Kathy L'Ecluse at 427-6933 or klecluse@dailyrepublic.net
Dedication for National Cemetery Set for April 22
Dedication for National Cemetery Set for April 22
By Ian Thompson
DIXON - The Sacramento Valley National Cemetery will be formally dedicated on April 22, six months after the first veteran was laid to rest there.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has yet to release details about the 2 p.m. dedication ceremony.
Fourteen acres of the cemetery were opened to burials in mid-October 2006. World War II marine Alvin Hayman, the man who sold the land to the VA two years before, was the first person buried there.
The cemetery was created to provide a burial place for the large number of veterans in the area. Before it opened, veterans had to be buried 130 miles away in the veterans cemetery in Gustine or in local cemeteries.
Work on the rest of the cemetery's first phase of construction, which covers 55 acres, will start this spring, according to the VA. The total cemetery will eventually cover 561 acres.
Reach Ian Thompson at 427-6976 or at ithompson@dailyrepublic.net.
By Ian Thompson
DIXON - The Sacramento Valley National Cemetery will be formally dedicated on April 22, six months after the first veteran was laid to rest there.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has yet to release details about the 2 p.m. dedication ceremony.
Fourteen acres of the cemetery were opened to burials in mid-October 2006. World War II marine Alvin Hayman, the man who sold the land to the VA two years before, was the first person buried there.
The cemetery was created to provide a burial place for the large number of veterans in the area. Before it opened, veterans had to be buried 130 miles away in the veterans cemetery in Gustine or in local cemeteries.
Work on the rest of the cemetery's first phase of construction, which covers 55 acres, will start this spring, according to the VA. The total cemetery will eventually cover 561 acres.
Reach Ian Thompson at 427-6976 or at ithompson@dailyrepublic.net.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Leisure Town Plaza Provides Welcome Retail to East Edge
Leisure Town Plaza Provides Welcome Retail to East Edge
By Reporter Staff
TheReporter.Com
The Leisure Town Plaza retail center, recently completed by Hearn Construction, awaits its first tenants, due to arrive within the next 90 days. Built on the former site of the Hickory Pit restaurant, the three-building center will provide the eastern edge of Vacaville with a much-needed retail opportunity. (Rick Roach/The Reporter)
The retail vacuum that once existed on the eastern edge of Vacaville is about to be filled.
Hearn Construction recently completed construction on the Leisure Town Plaza retail pro-ject, located on the I-80 corridor at Leisure Town Road.
The project is located at the gateway to a rapidly expanding area of Vacaville, considering its proximity to Genentech, Inc. and Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, both of which have undergone recent expansion.
The planned construction of nearly 2,500 homes in the immediate area, and the newly realigned and widened Leisure Town Road offramp are further indicators of this area's new vibrancy.
"The eastern edge of town is currently underserved as far as retail services are concerned," explained Tom Kuehl, a retail leasing specialist with Cornish & Carey Commercial who is helping to place tenants in the new center.
"We're hoping to capture that market share."
Property owner and developer Jayne Ham redeveloped the site of the former Hickory Pit restaurant into a new 14,600-square-foot upscale food and retail center featuring a new 35-foot freeway sign.
While Kuehl said it's too early to release the names of prospective tenants, plans call for the center to feature two drive-thrus as part of an attractive three-building design featuring fresh colors, abundant stone veneers, lush landscaping, and trellises.
The tenant mix will also include a coffee shop, pizzeria, an upscale produce and canned goods market, and a nail spa. Kuehl said the public can look for some of those businesses to start opening over the next 90 days.
According to Ham, "Hearn Construction has done an excellent job in completing the project on time, in addition to top-notch workmanship and management."
Kuehl agreed: "It's a great looking building."
Leading the team for Hearn Construction was senior project manager Rod Glover, project engineer Steven Brown, and superintendent Barry Kilpatric.
The project's architect was Tom Wilson of ARC Inc.
John Ireland contributed to this report. He can be contacted at business@thereporter.com.
By Reporter Staff
TheReporter.Com
The Leisure Town Plaza retail center, recently completed by Hearn Construction, awaits its first tenants, due to arrive within the next 90 days. Built on the former site of the Hickory Pit restaurant, the three-building center will provide the eastern edge of Vacaville with a much-needed retail opportunity. (Rick Roach/The Reporter)
The retail vacuum that once existed on the eastern edge of Vacaville is about to be filled.
Hearn Construction recently completed construction on the Leisure Town Plaza retail pro-ject, located on the I-80 corridor at Leisure Town Road.
The project is located at the gateway to a rapidly expanding area of Vacaville, considering its proximity to Genentech, Inc. and Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, both of which have undergone recent expansion.
The planned construction of nearly 2,500 homes in the immediate area, and the newly realigned and widened Leisure Town Road offramp are further indicators of this area's new vibrancy.
"The eastern edge of town is currently underserved as far as retail services are concerned," explained Tom Kuehl, a retail leasing specialist with Cornish & Carey Commercial who is helping to place tenants in the new center.
"We're hoping to capture that market share."
Property owner and developer Jayne Ham redeveloped the site of the former Hickory Pit restaurant into a new 14,600-square-foot upscale food and retail center featuring a new 35-foot freeway sign.
While Kuehl said it's too early to release the names of prospective tenants, plans call for the center to feature two drive-thrus as part of an attractive three-building design featuring fresh colors, abundant stone veneers, lush landscaping, and trellises.
The tenant mix will also include a coffee shop, pizzeria, an upscale produce and canned goods market, and a nail spa. Kuehl said the public can look for some of those businesses to start opening over the next 90 days.
According to Ham, "Hearn Construction has done an excellent job in completing the project on time, in addition to top-notch workmanship and management."
Kuehl agreed: "It's a great looking building."
Leading the team for Hearn Construction was senior project manager Rod Glover, project engineer Steven Brown, and superintendent Barry Kilpatric.
The project's architect was Tom Wilson of ARC Inc.
John Ireland contributed to this report. He can be contacted at business@thereporter.com.
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