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WTC pivots to Shakespeare shorts News, Page 2
Program works to reduce wildfire risks Features, Page 1
Volume 141, Number 29 — Locally-owned since 1884
The hometown paper of Debra Skaggs
Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, August 21, 2024
Plans for unique Heartland Division home approved By Adilia Watson Express staff writer After hearing arguments from concerned residents and input from a city employee, the Winters Planning Commission suggested revisions last Tuesday evening to a home in the up-and-coming Heartland Division housing developments pushing it to comply with some typical attributes of other nearby houses. Four out of the five members of the planning commission, contracted City Planner Dave Dowswell and neighborhood residents attended the public hearing to discuss if the development, owned by Crowne Community, would accommodate a two-story, single-family home with a façade made up of horizontal siding and a garage with a unique orientation— a stark contrast to other nearby corner lot homes. Neighbors didn’t support that the proposed home at 980 Degener St. would build the garage facing Graf Way and the second story would reduce the surrounding homes’ privacy. Dowswell considered public comments along with his review of the plan. Ultimately, he granted conditional approval of property owner Shelly Duen-
as’s plans as long recommended changes were made such as enlarging some windows with shutters and, the most pressing decision, allowing the planning commission to decide if horizontal siding would be used on the front of the house. “I do think that moving to stucco rather than horizontal siding and either using siding or stone as the accent piece makes sense, given that very many elements are not going to look the same as other communities and the homes in the community and help tie it together,” Vice Chair Lisa Baker said before she motioned for the unanimous vote only to allow the siding on the front of the home. While disseminating his report, Dowswell told the commission, “The only issue that we need to decide if we’ll make it happen is: do you change the façade from fully wrapped horizontal siding to a combination of stucco and accent material?” He added that three other Crowne Community homes under development on Vasey and Main Streets use horizontal siding like the design proposes. At the end of the 50-minute meeting, the
Fire crews worked to extingush a hay stack on fire on Saturday, Aug. 17, at the Hay Kingdom facility. Courtesy photo
Cause of Hay Kingdom fire under investigation By Crystal Apilado Editor-in-Chief The cause behind the fire at a local hay storage facility on Saturday is still under investigation, according to Winters Fire Department officials. Winters Fire Chief Jack S. Snyder III said the Saturday, Aug. 17 fire came in as a grass fire call at the Hay Kingdom facility in the 26000 block of County Road 90 around 11:57 a.m. The Winters Fire crew observed the smoke stack from the station, and upon arrival at the location bumped the alert up to a second-alarm status after discovering a haystack near the edge of the field
See PLANS, Page 5
was on fire. According to Snyder, the fire crew wanted to prevent the fire from spreading to surrounding stacks on either side. The second alarm elevation brought in assistance from mutual-aid agencies Zamora, Esparto, UC Davis, Madison, West Plainfield, Yocha Dehe, Dixon, the city of Vacaville fire departments, the Vacaville Fire Protection District, and an AMR crew as a precaution. Snyder said 18 units and 34 people were active on the site and they kept the fire contained to the one hay pile. “We kept the damage just to that pile. No equipment was damaged and no one was hurt,” Snyder
said. “The winds were in our favor — we were fortunate that we didn’t have to worry about (flames) pushing back into the other hay piles.” Woodland Fire Department’s Engine 3 worked to cover calls and provide service to the city during the incident. Snyder said the fire was contained at 5:21 p.m., and Hay Kingdom staff took over maintenance from there. Staff members worked over the weekend to manage the smoldering hay area, while Winters Fire crews checked on the site in the morning and evening, and responded to multiple smoke reports at the area.
City to apply for grant to fund Senior Center construction By Crystal Apilado and Logan Chrisp Express staff
EXPRESS
The Winters City Council approved a grant application to fund the Winters Senior Center and an amendment to the city’s encampment ordinance at the Aug. 6 city council meeting. The Community
Development Block Grant would provide $3.25 million for the construction of the senior center. The Winters Senior Center is estimated to cost a total of $5.5 million, and if the grant is awarded, additional funds will be needed to complete the project, which is currently planned to be 7,500 square feet. “Some of it will be coming from the grant and some of it is allowed to come in from program income,” said Grants Manager Colleen
Brock. The city previously attempted to construct the senior center in 2022, through a combined project with Domus Development Corporation to construct the Blue Mountain Terrace senior apartments and the senior center building. However, due to insufficient funding and other COVID-related woes, the city had difficulties acquiring rights to the previously approved Senior Center
See DESIGN, Page 3
Index Features ........................ B-1
We at he r
The Phase 2, Option B proposal introduces the construction of a building at the Waggoner Elementary School site to house a new kitchen and multi-purpose room. Phase 1 of the project includes the construction of four new transitional kindergarten classrooms, a new drop off area and parking lot.
Trustees give direction on Waggoner Elementary design proposals
Date
Rain
High
Aug. 14
.00
92˚
58˚
Aug. 15
.00
97˚
63˚
By Logan Chrisp
Aug. 16
.00
96˚
61˚
Express staff writer
Aug. 17
.00
97˚
60˚
Eventos hispanos ....... A-3
Aug. 18
.00
88˚
61˚
Aug. 19
.00
89˚
53˚
Opinion ......................... B-3
Aug. 20
.00
92˚
55˚
Program Manager Jennifer Gibb, of Van Pelt Construction Services, presented two design options for future Waggoner Elementary School construction projects to the Winters Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees at the Thursday, Aug. 15, meeting.
Classifieds ................... B-4 Community .................. A-2
Real Estate ................... B-2 Sports ........................... B-6
Low
Courtesy graphic
Rain for week: 0.00 in. Season’s total: 0.00 in. Last sn. to date: TRACE Winters rainfall season began 7/1/24. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m. daily by local weatherman Joe Bristow.
The presentation included two phases for adding a parking lot, restructuring the current drop-off areas, maintenance and sewer upgrades, and two designs for a multipurpose room and kitchen upgrades at Waggoner. Phase 1, already approved by trustees in December includes construction of four transitional
kindergarten classrooms and designated play area, upgrades to Waggoner’s sewage system and other maintenance projects, a parking lot to be utilized by school staff and families of TK students and a new TK drop-off area. In response to the design, trustees Sterling Davis and
See WAGGONER, Page 5
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