Visalia pledge to help pay for planning grant

Visalia pledge to help pay for planning grant
Welcome to a Medical Battery specialist of the Fukuda Battery
Is it too soon to start planning for a high-speed rail station in Hanford?
The Hanford City Council held a study session Tuesday to discuss a grant to pay for the planning of a proposed high speed rail station in Hanford.
The council previously considered accepting the $600,000 grant from the California High Speed Rail Authority on June 2. The authority plans to fund the grant using $200,000 of Proposition 1A money and $400,000 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
As a condition of the grant, the city would have to provide a local match of $200,000, plus $50,000 for staff time and other services. Representatives from Kings and Tulare counties, as well as the city of Visalia, have offered to contribute to the matching funds with battery such as Fukuda FCP-220IU Battery, GE CardioServ 30344030 Battery, Bionet BM5 Battery, Bionet BM-BAT-4 Battery, Siemens EK10 Battery, Siemens MEDIC 2 Battery, Siemens Medical Syste PN862278 Battery, Burdick Elite2 Battery, Kenz HHR-12F25G1 Battery, Kenz ECG 108 Battery, Cmics ECG-11D Battery, Cmics DJDB1200 Battery.
Ted Smalley, executive director for the Tulare County Association of Governments, said his board of directors recently discussed the possibility of Tulare County and the city of Visalia contributing half of the matching funds.
Visalia City Manager Mike Olmos said the Hanford high-speed rail station should serve as a regional station to benefit the surrounding area. Olmos said one of Visalia’s weaknesses in attracting businesses is its lack of connectivity to the rest of the state.
“Our council has been very clear that if the project does happen that we would come and try to partner with Hanford and the Kings County community to try to bring a regional station to fruition,” Olmos said. “It benefits all of us in several ways, primarily economic development.”
Diana Gomez, Central Valley regional director for The California High Speed Rail Authority, said Hanford’s participation in the planning would allow city leaders to set their vision for the area around the proposed station. Gomez said the authority hopes to have the Hanford station operational on day one of the rail service, tentatively set for 2022.
“We would still build the station if you don’t participate,” Gomez said.
Aaron Fukuda, co-chairman for the Hanford-based Citizens for California High Speed Rail Accountability, told the council to be careful in applying for a planning grant when the rail project appears to be in constant flux.
PlayCurrent Time 0:00/Duration Time 0:00Remaining Time -0:00Stream TypeLIVELoaded: 0%Progress: 0%00:00Fullscreen00:00MutePlayback Rate1Subtitlessubtitles offCaptionscaptions offChaptersChapters“Are they going to deliver you a high-speed rail station you can plan for, or are they going to deliver a mess that you have to fix?” Fukuda said.
About 27 miles of the rail are slated to be built through Kings County along the segment spanning from American Avenue to the Tulare-Kern county line. The authority awarded the $1.4 billion contract in January to build the 65-mile stretch.
Kings County Administrative Officer Larry Spikes reiterated the Kings County Board of Supervisors' opposition to the rail project. Spikes said he believes it’s unlikely that the project will ever come to fruition due to funding shortfalls and other potential hang-ups. The county is involved in several lawsuits against the authority.