Visalia City Council Meeting - May 18, 2026
Visalia City Council Meeting - May 18, 2026
The Visalia City Council met on May 18, 2026, in a combined work session and regular meeting. The work session (5:30 PM) featured the Downtown Visalia Property and Business Improvement District (PBID) annual report. The regular session (7:00 PM) included special presentations, public comments, approval of a consent calendar, and a detailed discussion and vote on the Tulare Avenue Paving Project's bike lane configuration. Councilmember Emmanuel Hernandez Soto was absent; Councilmember Steve Nelsen arrived after the work session. The meeting adjourned at 9:06 PM with no reportable closed session action.
Consent Calendar
- All 13 items on the consent calendar were approved unanimously (4-0) without discussion or public comment. Key approvals included:
- Awarding a $376,050 design contract to Peters Engineering Group for the Shirk Street widening over Mill Creek project.
- Purchasing a new Peterbilt CNG cab and chassis for solid waste collection ($331,189.56).
- Recording final maps for Pearl Woods Phase 2 (89 lots) and Shepherds Ranch II Phase 2 (68 lots).
- Awarding a senior meals contract to The Smokin Burrito (5-year potential term).
- Awarding a biosolids disposal contract to Holloway Environmental Solutions (initial $250,000, total $1,350,000 over 5 years).
- Executing reimbursement agreements with Self-Help Enterprises (storm drain improvements for Crescent Meadows senior housing) and San Joaquin Valley Homes (sewer trunkline, $4,178,323.62).
- Submitting a state budget request for fire apparatus replacement.
- Appointing Rick Eastes to the Measure R Citizens Advisory Committee and reappointing Charles Mayer to the Tulare Mosquito Abatement District Board.
Public Comments & Testimony
Work Session – PBID Annual Report: Three residents spoke: Maria Guillén asked about security categories (trespassing, loitering, vagrant contact) and police interface. Jim Reeves questioned police access to district-owned Flock cameras and data safeguards. Rosemary Garcia Varela commended downtown safety and asked about enforcing social media filming in streets. Captain Dan Ford (Visalia PD) explained that police have access to Flock cameras but request permission for other cameras, and that security patrols minimize police calls.
General Public Comment: Efrain Becerra thanked council members for attending a community event and expressed concerns about the clarity of the city’s proclamation process, noting perceptions among volunteers.
Tulare Avenue Paving Project (14 speakers):
- Supporters (7): Lisa Alvarado (bicyclist, ATP evaluator) urged support for class four lanes, citing air quality and safety. Kinetha (opposed) but later clarified? Actually Kinetha opposed. Re-check transcript: Kinetha opposed, not support. Let me list correctly:
- Opposed: Kinetha (lives near Acres/Tulare, works at COS, cited safety hazards, parking loss, school zone dangers).
- Support: Jim Reeves (lives on Tulare, supports class four, willing to adjust).
- Support: Maria Guillén (safety for cyclists/pedestrians, environmental benefits).
- Neutral/Concern: Efrain Becerra (questioned whether education and outreach were sufficient, noted most residents drive).
- Support: Laura Andersen (uses current protected bike lanes daily, wants more connectivity).
- Opposed: Ellis Doyal (civil engineer, listed safety issues with deliveries, garbage trucks, pedestrian-bike conflicts, avoids current Tulare configuration).
- Support: Herb Simmons (bicycle commuter, civil engineer, said class four is safer, traffic appears slower).
- Support: Mya Royster (bike commuter with child, cited data on 14 Visalia kids hit walking/biking annually, urged physical separation).
- Support: Mark Wall (provided crash data: 48 child pedestrians hit 2019-2024, 6 child bicyclists hit annually, 38% of traffic deaths are vulnerable road users, speed kills).
- Support: Dayle Simmons (used bike trailer, wants protected lanes for families).
- Opposed: Brian Patterson (cyclist, initially confused but now supports class four; later in transcript he supports? Actually he supported. Correct: he supported. I need to re-read. He said: "I want to commend you for what you've done so far. The class four bike lane... I could finally imagine children riding their bikes to school safely." So support.
- Opposed: Tom McGuigun (lives at Crenshaw/Tulare, wants crosswalk at Constitution Park, said flyer was misleading, parking needs for school/events).
- Opposed: Kyle Glenn (civil engineer, parent of CVC students, concerned about drop-off/pickup traffic spillover, supports class two instead).
Councilmember Poochigian also spoke against the class four design.
Discussion Items
Downtown Visalia PBID Annual Report
Bill Kitchen (Chair) and Tom Gaebe (Treasurer) presented the 2026 operations report. The PBID budget is $701,500, with no assessment increase for 2027. Security costs ($247,000), graffiti removal, landscaping, and infrastructure improvements were highlighted. Total assets grew from $812,000 to $815,000 in 2025. Council commended the organization, and the report was accepted unanimously (3-0 with Nelsen and Soto absent).
Tulare Avenue Paving Project (Roeben Street to Demaree Street)
Staff (Jason Huckleberry, Chris Crawford, Jonathan Frausto) presented the $250,000 initial cost for modular curbs, parking analysis (pre-project inventory 339 spaces, proposed 154 after adjustments), cross section (5-ft bike lane, 2.5-ft buffer, 9-ft parking, 10.5-ft travel lane), and construction phasing (June-September 2026). Survey results: 81 responses, 70% opposed (46 strongly opposed, 12 opposed), with top concerns being safety (43%), parking (34%), and bike lane necessity (22%). Staff recommended class four bike lanes, citing safety for younger riders, alignment with state direction, grant eligibility for future ATP projects (e.g., 11-mile Santa Fe cycle track, 34-mile Goshen Trail), and general plan goals. Council debated: Councilmember Nelsen supported, citing safety and connectivity; Councilmember Poochigian opposed, preferring class two and citing driver discomfort and better suitability for new roads; Vice Mayor Wynn supported with reservations, asking about liability, crosswalk at Constitution Park, and CVC parking; Mayor Taylor supported, emphasizing school safety and desire for future cautious approval. A motion to approve the class four configuration passed 3-1 (Poochigian dissenting, Soto absent). Council directed staff to evaluate a crosswalk at Constitution Park.
Key Outcomes
- PBID Annual Report: Accepted (3-0).
- Consent Calendar: Approved (4-0).
- Tulare Avenue Paving Project: Council authorized the class four bike lane configuration (3-1). Staff will proceed with design, construction phasing, and crosswalk evaluation.
- Future Direction: Council expressed wariness about future class four bike lane projects on existing residential streets, preferring new developments or class one trails.
- Next Meeting: June 1, 2026, at 7:00 PM.
Closed Session
The council reconvened closed session after the regular meeting; no reportable action was anticipated.
Meeting Transcript
Well, good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to the Visalia City Council uh work session. We're gonna go ahead and call this meeting to order. We will start off by uh opening up uh public comments. This is the time for citizens. Uh citizens are now invited to comment on issues within the jurisdiction of the Visalia City Council and items listed on the closed session agenda. The council asks that you keep your comments concise and positive. Creative criticism presented with appropriate courtesy is welcome. Each speaker will be allowed three minutes, and a timer will notify you when your time's expired. Please begin your comments by stating and spelling your name and providing your city of residence. Anybody wishing to speak at this time, please come forward. And seeing nobody, we'll close public comments and we'll go directly into our work session with item number one, which is a downtown Visaya Property and Business Improvements District Annual Report. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor Wen, and members of City Council. With me, I have Bill Kitchen, Chairman of Downtown Visalia Property Owners Association, and Tom Gaby, the treasurer of Downtown Viselia Property Owners Association, and I'm Nicole Ritchie, Finance Manager for City of Viselia. And they will be presenting the Downtown Visalia Property and Business Improvement District Annual Report. All right. Well, thank you very much for that. Let me go ahead and just give you a little bit of a recap of who we are. This corporation, the downtown Visalia Property Owners Association is a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation. Our primary purpose is of this corporation is to recognize. Can you put up on the screens the first screen item? Boy, that is small. Okay. This corporation to recognize and fulfill the unique and varied economic interests and needs of downtown Visalia property owners to accomplish the following specific purposes. Number one, in concert with the City of Viselia to provide management oversight directives, setting of priorities for supplemental services and improvements for downtown Viselia for the downtown Visalia property and business improvement district, the PBID. Number two, provide economic enhancements via in programs and incentives to attract, grow, and incubate new businesses. We also pay for an NLU parking program to re uh removes barriers to downtown Viselia development. Excuse me. We provide for continual investment in downtown Visaya parking, marketing, and promotions, anything to improve downtown Visya's image and to invite the consumers to downtown Visalia. Three, we provide for environment environmental enhancements to include public safety patrols to support crime and prevention and reduce the incident of nuisance crimes. We provide for streetscape landscape enhancements to make downtown Visaya more attractive. We remove graffiti to provide a cleaner downtown Visaya, and then also general maintenance, which includes sidewalk sweeping and steam cleaning. Furthermore, we seek matching funds and grants from various different governmental agencies. We encourage new development, revitalization, economic growth and improvement. We advance remedies for property owners for conditions that are not considered beneficial to customers. And then we also work with government entities, civic bodies, community organizations, trade and commerce groups, local community and improvement associations in connection connection with any activities that are related to the above specific purposes as deemed beneficial to downtown Visaya. Next slide, please. The board consists of 16 uh board members, five of uh positions within the executive board, namely uh myself as chairperson, Myron Shecklian as vice chairman of secretary positions currently vacant, Tom Gabey as treasurer, and Anil Shagan is our past chairman. Uh John Bianck uh in the of the elected board members, we have John Bianco, Mary Ann Casenza, Kevin Fistolaric, Colin Frany, William Martin, Josh Miller, Justin Mosley, Janine Robbins, and of the appointed board members, we have Dwayne Rodriguez representing the downtown Visayans, and Brett Taylor representing the city of Visalia, Amy Shucklian representing County of Tilary, and Kevin Morrison representing CUA Health. So out of the those 16 spots that we currently have positions, uh we we are authorized for a maximum of 20, and we are always continuing looking for good board members. Next next page, please, thank you. Um the budget that you see before you is the budget that was approved in the uh January 27th uh meeting of this year. We uh projecting assessments of 700,000, interest of 1,500 for total income for 2026 of 701,500. We'll spend that via uh environmental enhancements which include primarily the public safety, that's 247, that we pay for security downtown. Um we improve uh landscaping, we uh do graffiti removal that's uh budgeted at 180,000, street light maintenance 10,000, security camera maintenance 7500. So for total environmental enhancements, 517,000 dollars. In addition to that, we have economic enhancements where we are uh we have budgeted $50,000 for infrastructure improvements, and then we pay the city of Vaisalia uh in lieu parking fees of 45,000, or we have budgeted to pay that amount. So that's a total amount of $95,000 for total economic enhancements, and then lastly we have administration and administration includes the uh $65,000, which we uh uh we have budgeted to pay to uh downtown Vicillians, which they act as the uh the administrator of the of our of the POA as none of the board members receive any salary or compensation. Uh we have ten thousand dollars set aside for a financial audit, we have five thousand dollars for legal fees, and then we have a sinking fund for our POA renewal fund, which is every 10 years, and that's uh $5,000 for this year. And lastly, we have $4,000 for insurance and miscellaneous expenses for a total of $89,000.
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