YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 18, No. 32
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Farmers adjusting to area heat waves by Aly Brown
August 10, 2018
East County Sports
Staff Writer
This summer, as recordbreaking temperatures and unprecedented wildfires have engulfed parts of the state and Pacific Northwest, East County farmers have been fighting their own battles against the heat here at home. “Fortunately, we had a lot of water, and that’s your only line of defense: making sure the crops are hydrated,” said Bloomfield Cherries owner Tom Bloomfield, whose family has been farming in the area for more than 100 years. Bloomfield’s crops include grapes, cherries and almonds, and the most delicate of the three were already harvested before the rash of heat waves. “So far, I don’t really see
As California endures recordbreaking heat waves, East County farmers work to protect their crops.
Press file photo
any damage. Grapes are generally very tolerant to heat and so are almonds, and our cherries are already harvested,” he said. “We didn’t really have any warm weather until the end of the cherry cycle, but the trees still have to endure the summer even without the cherries on the
branches. You can’t have sunburn on the wood.” Combating tree sunburn again comes back to water supply and making sure the plants stay hydrated enough to develop a canopy of healthy leaves, which protect the trunks from the sun’s rays.
The heat also impacts how and when the crops are tended and harvested. “The laborers get up earlier and some of the crews only work eight hours instead of 10,” Bloomfield said. “The hourly
Staff Writer
The Oakley City Council recently amended the recreation center project agreement to include an athletic field, and officials say the project is moving full-steam ahead. At its July 10 meeting, the council approved the amendment to an agreement with Woodland Construction Builders. The agreement will now include $740,239 for the addition of an add-alternate part of the project to construct an athletic field. The project includes rough grading and earthwork for the field, intersection and traffic signal construction at O’Hara Avenue and Chianti Way, dry utility infrastructure along with the construction of the rec center building and its on-site improvements.
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“ It is still a little early to confirm, but the builders are moving at a good pace, and April appears to be the best estimate for completion.
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Bryan Montgomery, Oakley city manager “The athletic field was an add-alternate and bid at the same time the building bid was received,” said Oakley City Manager Bryan Montgomery. “We awarded the building bid but took a month or so to research if there were other viable options to install the athletic field. We determined that the add-alternate bid was the most cost-effective approach and awarded that bid in July. These were the low bids of those that submitted, and that is why the bids for the building and field were awarded to Woodland.”
According to city officials, construction is progressing well and no significant hurdles have cropped up – all appears to be on track to have the building sealed up before fall brings its rainfall, Montgomery said. “It is still a little early to confirm, but the builders are moving at a good pace, and April appears to be the best estimate for completion,” said Montgomery. “This may be a month or so earlier than we had originally planned, and this is due to the solid work being performed by Woodland Construction and its
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subcontractors.” Funds for the rec center were made available in 2016 when the city approved the sale of a lease-revenue bond, and the project’s original budget was comprised of $4 million from the general capital fund and $4 million from the lease-revenue bond along with an additional $214,000 from a state grant. The financial year 2018-19 allocated $700,000 from the city’s park impact fee for the construction of the athletic field project. At the recent meeting, a budget amendment of $50,000 was pulled from park impact fee funds. Before the rec center was set into motion, the city used old YMCA modular buildings for events, but they were small and worn. The new construction will serve as a meeting space for classes and other community activities. see Center page 30A
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LOOK INSIDE FOR THE NEW
Activity Guide
Meet The Water Guy
see Farmers page 30A
Recreation center project coming along by Aly Brown
Football, cheer, gymnastics and more are inside this week’s special sports section. Page 1B
Applications are now available for the 2019 Graduates of Distinction Program.
Casey Wichert, wastewater operations manager, helps keep the city’s water clean. 7A
Enjoying Wine In The Bay
Popular annual fundraiser is coming to St. Anne Church Aug. 18. Page 10A Calendar.............................31A Classifieds..........................26A Cop Logs.............................29A Entertainment..................11A Food.....................................10A Health & Beauty...............15A Milestones.........................12A Opinion...............................22A Pets........................................ 8A Sports..................................23A
MLK Jr. Day
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County’s 41st commemoration of Dr. King’s life and legacy is coming up.