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Youth basketball accepting sixth-grade athletes News, Page 2
including tax
Tips to prevent fires this season Features, Page 1
Volume 140, Number 46 — Locally-owned since 1884
Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, December 13, 2023
The hometown paper of Timothy Bolla
PG&E donates 300 water barriers to city of Winters By Amelia Biscardi Express staff writer Pacific Gas and Electric Company donated 300 water barriers, valued at around $90,000, to the city of Winters before the annual Holiday Tractor Parade. In the proclamation the city council made at the Dec. 5 meeting, Mayor Bill Biasi explained the impact these water barriers will make. “We hereby extend our deepest gratitude to Pacific Gas and Electric Company for their generous donation,” Biasi said. “Their contribution significantly aids in our ongoing efforts to ensure public safety and enrich the quality of life for all residents and visitors of Win-
ters.” Biasi also thanked the PG&E representative for the volunteers they provided for the event as well. He noted the jobs volunteers do at the event, such as assisting with crowd control, are not easy tasks. Clay Merrill, PG&E local government relations representative, explained that the bond between PG&E and the city is unique due to the Gas Safety Academy being right off Grant Avenue in Winters. “We have a special relationship with this city, having the gas safety here is great,” Merrill said. “You guys are a home away from home for the gas service representatives who come to get their training each
and every week. So thank you for being a great place for them to be.” With 300 new water barriers now owned by the city, the city’s Public Works department doesn’t have to deal with the hassle of renting them from Sacramento. Public Works Operations Manager Eric Lucero explains that with the rentals, some were damaged. Now with brand new water barriers that are leak-free, the Public Works department has one less thing on its plate. City Manager Jeremy Craig, who attended his first Winters Holiday Tractor Parade, explains that these water barriers
See DONATION, Page 6
Council approves water tender approved for fire department
By Amelia Biscardi
Express staff writer
EXPRESS
Standing before the Winters City Council on Tuesday, Dec. 5, Fire Chief Jack S. Snyder III explained that during the Mariani Nut Fires on Thanksgiving, Vacaville’s water tender was “perfect” to keep the fire at bay. Council members unanimously approved the purchase of a 2014 fire tender from Oregon — for $199,500 — that should be available in Winters in two to three months. With only 35,000 miles on the vehicle, a much larger capacity, a 1,000-gallon-a-minute pump as well as multiple turrets, Snyder and his team are ready to work with this
Crystal Apilado/Winters Express
Leticia Quirarte and Kate Laddish ask questions about the Build Alternative No. 2 design option. Mayor Pro Tempore Albert Vallecillo and Steven Robinson of Wood Rodgers listen in at a community meeting hosted on Thursday, Dec. 7.
Community meeting presents I-505 improvement designs By Crystal Apilado Editor-in-Chief The city of Winters, Caltrans and Yolo County are working together to make it safer for pedestrians and bicyclists to cross over I-505 into Winters. The community gathered to learn more about the project and to give feedback to the agency tasked to execute the project at a meeting on Thursday, Dec. 7, at the Winters City Hall large conference room. Representatives from the Wood Rodgers engineering firm were present to share details about the status of the project and its goals at the community meeting. Wood Rodgers is coordinating the preliminary design. Yolo County staff, Winters City Manager Jeremy Craig and all five council members were included in the audience of about 20 community members. Paul Gervacio, Pso-
mas project manager representing the city on the project, said the community had a chance to talk and ask about the project. “The intent is for us to gather input from you so we can take it back to the drawing board,” Gervacio said. “We still have a ways to go.” Tim Chamberlain, Wood Rodgers environmental lead, presented the local area being focused on in the project is from Morgan Street within Winters city limits down to Fredericks Drive in unincorporated Yolo County just past the El Rio Villa housing communities. “The main goal is to get a better situation for crossing over the existing interstate,” Chamberlain said. “I’m sure that everyone knows the current situation and really that it is inadequate right now. And also to provide a benefit to connecting the (El Rio Villas) to all of
the services and businesses that are in the city and generally improving pedestrian and bicycle accessibility.” Chamberlain presented two main build alternatives for improvements to the I-505 overcrossing bridge. Build Alternative No. 1 is to widen the overcrossing bridge currently in place. There are three alternative options to the first build alternative (1A, 1B and 1C) that present different overcrossing improvements to the area where traffic and pedestrians/bicycles would engage on the east side of I-505. Each of these alternatives would widen the overcrossing bridge with a Class Two bicycle lane and sidewalk. Option 1A adds a right-turn pocket on the northbound loop ramp
See PROJECT, Page 3
Crystal Apilado/Winters Express
Fire Chief Jack Snyder presents to council members a proposal for a new, used water tender vehicle. vehicle. “A new truck that would provide service for both the city and the district,” Synder said. “It gives us plenty of time to train on and prepare for the next (wildfire) season
before we have to actually start to use it.” The water tender it is replacing is 27 years old and has been out of service since Synder came on in
Index
We at he r
Features ........................ B-1
Future subscribers: Taliah Nicole and Sephora Araceli Swift
See TRUCK, Page 3
Rain
High
Low
Dec. 06 TRACE
65˚
41˚
Dec. 07
.12”
65˚
41˚
Dec. 08
.09”
60˚
34˚
Dec. 09
.01”
59˚
39˚
Eventos hispanos ....... A-2
Dec. 10
.00
60˚
31˚
Dec. 11
.00
59˚
32˚
Christina Ana Photography/Courtesy photo
Opinion ......................... B-3
Dec. 12
.00
63˚
33˚
Real Estate ................... B-2
Rain for week: 0.22 in. Season’s total: 2.16 in. Last sn. to date: 6.49 in.
Mayte and Jeremy Swift of Winters announce the birth of their daughters, Taliah Nicole and Sephora Araceli Swift. The girls are identical twins and were born on Nov. 5, 2023, at the Kaiser Vacaville Medical Center. Taliah Nicole arrived at 5:18 a.m. She weighed 5 pounds, 8 ounces, and measured 19 and three-fourth inches at birth. Sephora Araceli arrived at 5:22 a.m. She weighed 5 pounds, 2 ounces, and measured 18 inches at birth. Their parents are pastors at Genesis Community Church in Winters.
Classifieds ................... B-4 Community .................. A-2
Sports ........................... B-5
Date
Winters rainfall season began 7/1/23. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m. daily by local weatherman Joe Bristow.
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