GARLIC FESTIVAL VISITOR GUIDE
Festival Co-Founder & Head Chef Val Filice
Garlic Festival 40 Guide
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
4 DECADES OF CELEBRATING GARLIC
ESTABLISHED 1868
A New SV Media publication
Friday, July 27, 2018
gilroydispatch.com • Vol. 151, No. 30 • $1
Gavilan will ask voters to pass bonds $248M SOUGHT TO IMPROVE ALL CAMPUSES Scott Forstner Reporter
Barry Holtzclaw
A measure asking the voters for $248 million worth of bonds to upgrade Gavilan College's main campus, as well as its Coyote Valley and San Benito County satellite sites, will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot. The measure will require 55 percent voter approval to pass. Gavilan Joint College District Board President Jonathan Brusco confirmed a unanimous vote among the five trustees in attendance at the July 10 meeting, with two members absent from the proceedings. “If this were to pass, this would line the college up for the next decade,” said Brusco, who stressed that the potential funds would impact all three Gavilan sites. “When you break down the money, it computes to less than $100
HELPING HANDS Lindsay Buessing, right, of Gilroy, was a Garlic princess last year. This year, with the help of Alyson Funk of Morgan Hill, the Sacramento State student is one of 4,000 volunteer workers at Christmas Hill Park.
It’s Garlic Time!
➝ Gavilan Bond, 11
Barry Holtzclaw
RAISING THE ROOF Nob Hill manager Vito Mercado,
left, volunteers with student Kyle Buessing.
Preparations for this weekend’s 40th annual Gilroy Garlic Festival began in earnest on Monday, July 23, as hundreds of volunteers once again begin creating a white-tent city at Christmas Hill Park, days before the tangy fragrances of garlic and associated culinary creations would begin entertaining up to 100,000 visitors to the Garlic City. The festival set-up crews struggled in temperatures in the mid-90s, but forecasters say conditions this weekend should be garlic-perfect, sunny and in the low 80s. For Garlic Fest history, festival map and more, plus a regional Visitor Guide, see our magazine inside.
State approves 50% funds for Pacheco NEW RESERVOIR COULD OPEN IN 2029 IF WATER DISTRICT GETS FEDERAL AID By Barry Holtzclaw Managing Editor
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The California Water Commission on Tuesday, July 24 approved $484.55 million to dramatically expand the Pacheco Reservoir in southeast Santa Clara County for drinking water
reserves and improved protections for steelhead salmon. The money comes from the state’s Proposition 1 approved by California voters, and represents the full amount sought by the Santa Clara Valley Water District. “We are elated that our proposal to expand Pacheco Reservoir was viewed so favorably by the commission,” said water district board chairman Richard P. Santos. “We are also pleased that the commission has approved our request for early funding of $24.2 million. Given these approvals, we can
proceed with the next steps in completing environmental documents and permit applications without delay.” Completion of the new reservoir project is more than a decade away, according to its own timetable. The Prop. 1 monies will provide half of the estimated $969 million cost of the project, which could be completed in 2029, with construction beginning in 2024 following public hearings on an environmental impact report and a feasibility study.
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Prop. 1 was approved by nearly three-quarters of San Benito and Santa Clara county voters in 2014. The funding would come from the $2.7 billion Water Storage Investment Program, part of California’s Water Quality, Supply and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014, a $7.5 billion bond passed by voters. The Pacheco Reservoir project received the highest ranking among eight projects submitted to the commission for ➝ Pacheco Reservoir, 8