Highlights from "The Week in Review" (TWIR)

You can access the entire TWIR by clicking on the link on the right side of this page.

Community Development
Building Safety Activities: The City’s Building Safety Division conducted a total of 314 inspections during the week. The division issued 30 building permits: 1 Single-Family Dwelling, 1 Commercial Canopy, 1 Commercial Demolition, 1 Fire Sprinkler, 4 Miscellaneous Mechanical, 5 Miscellaneous Plumbing, 1 Patio, 7 Photovoltaic, 1 Residential Remodel, 3 Roofs, 2 Signs, 1 Storage Shed, 1 Swimming Pool, and 1 Commercial Coach for MRI use at Kaiser Hospital. A total of 27 new project applications were submitted for plan check services, which included 12 Single-Family Dwellings, 8 Changes to Existing Plans, 1 Commercial Canopy, 1 Commercial Remodel, 1 Patio, 1 Residential Master, 1 Sign, 1 Solar and 1 Swimming Pool.

Public Works
New Wastewater Discharge Permit: Like others who discharge wastewater in California, Manteca must renew its wastewater discharge permit every five years. Last week, the Regional Water Quality Control Board adopted a new permit for the City that is valid through October 2014. The permit will allow the City to significantly expand its discharge to the San Joaquin River from 9.87 mgd (million gallons per day) to 17.5 mgd. This authorization secures the environmental and regulatory permits needed for the sewer plant to support growth for many years to come. Unfortunately, staff was unable to persuade the Board to exclude a stringent salinity limit that will be very difficult to meet without the addition of costly new treatment facilities. At the Board’s permit adoption meeting, staff presented the facts and history on how the City’s discharge has dramatically improved over the last fiver years, including significant reductions in salinity levels, and how the cost of meeting this new salt limit will have detrimental impacts to Manteca’s ratepayers. Staff also showed how this salinity limit will result in essentially no improvement to the environment and, thus, did not justify the costs of compliance. The Board was sympathetic to the City’s concerns, but felt compelled to impose a strict salinity limit on the City, based on recent rulings from its supervising agency, the State Water Quality Board. Staff will appeal the City’s new discharge permit to the State Water Board with the goal of obtaining relief from the unnecessarily strict salinity limit. The City Council and the public may recall that staff was successful in obtaining relief from the same overly stringent salinity limit in 2004 by appealing the City’s then current discharge permit to the State Board. With the 2009 discharge permit, staff is cautiously optimistic about obtaining relief, despite the State Board’s recent rulings on the permits for Tracy, Lodi and Stockton, where the State Board upheld the strict salinity limits. The Regional Board and the other local agencies are now working cooperatively to address the issue, and expect the State Board will ultimately participate in the adoption of a realistic standard that addresses the broad needs of various constituents appropriately. In the meantime, the City will not be penalized for non-compliance with its new salinity limit. Included in the City’s new discharge permit is a five-year compliance window for salinity, which is the maximum compliance term allowed under the law. Staff will also continue to pursue all other salinity compliance options to prevent financial impacts to the City’s ratepayers.

Parks and Recreation
Parks Cleanup: Maintenance crews responded to more than 100 calls for downed trees and limbs throughout the City. The golf course also lost 10 trees and had several limb failures. In most cases, the hazards were cleared and set aside, so that crews could respond to other calls. The latter part of last week and early part of this week was spent clearing the remaining debris. Maintenance crews responded to more than 100 calls for downed trees and limbs throughout the City. The golf course also lost 10 trees and had several limb failures. In most cases, the hazards were cleared and set aside, so that crews could respond to other calls. The latter part of last week and early part of this week was spent clearing the remaining debris.

Fire
Significant Incidents:
● Vehicle Fires
- 300 Block of West Yosemite Avenue, October 16
. - 1800 Block of Genoa Drive, October 19
- 1300 Block of North Main Street, October 19

● Structure Fires
- 1055 S. Main Street – October 16
Engine 242 and Truck 24 were dispatched to a structure fire at the former Mervyn’s Store on South Main Street. Upon arrival, firefighters found the loading dock on the northeast side of the building fully involved in fire, surrounding the two metal roll-up doors. Access was made to the interior by cutting through the roll-up door. The interior was filled with smoke; however, fire did not breach the walls into the building. Truck 24 accessed the roof via the aerial ladder to ensure there was no fire extension. The fire was contained to the dock area with minimal damage to the building.

- 1212 W. Center Street – October 17
Firefighters were dispatched to a structure fire at an apartment complex at 1212 W. Center St. to find smoke coming from one of the four-plex apartment buildings. Upon entry, firefighters found heavy smoke and high heat, and located a smoldering fire in a sofa in the living room, which was quickly extinguished. Firefighters then accessed adjoining units to ensure there was no fire extension.

- 189 W. Louise Avenue – October 19
Engine Company 243 was dispatched to a structure fire in a large commercial unit to find a light haze throughout the store. Upon further investigation, they found a smoldering fire in a compactor outside the store’s door. The fire was quickly extinguished and the building vented.
● Vehicle Accidents
- Highway 120 at South Main Street – October 16
Engine Company 241 responded to a vehicle accident on eastbound Highway 120, west of South Main Street. The patient was assessed at the scene and declined medical treatment.

- Highway 120 at Highway 99 – October 17
Engine Company 242 and Truck 24 responded to another vehicle accident on Highway 120 at the Highway 99 interchange. Upon arrival, they found a single-vehicle rollover with no injuries.

Fire Prevention: This week’s Fire Prevention Activities included: Business Inspections-37, New Construction Inspections-7, Plan Checks-8, and Fire System Checks-6.

Police
Fraud Arrest: On October 16 at approximately 4:00 p.m., detectives and parole agents conducted a probation search at 442 N. Walnut Ave. The residence was occupied by Lastarza Williams, who has prior arrests and convictions for fraud/forgery and burglary. During the course of the probation search, detectives located meth pipes, stolen/forged checks, and checks written to various businesses in Manteca on a closed account. Evidence also showed Williams opened an account at a local bank using a false name. Detectives conducted a preliminary investigation into the matter and discovered numerous checks were passed at Raley’s, located at 1280 W. Lathrop Road. Williams also had a computer and printer she was using to manipulate the checks. All evidence was recovered and Williams was arrested for numerous offenses, including possession of stolen property, passing a fictitious check, possession of a forged check with intent to defraud, and possession of a meth pipe. She was recently sentenced on a forgery/burglary, which occurred at the Uncle Credit Union, and was on probation for that conviction.