by Bryan Snow
and Rebekah R. McCurdy
Community Informational Night
On Thursday, October 1, Delhi Unified School District presented a Community Informational Night at Delhi High School. Information about the event was distributed through the schools and parents, teachers and students all turned out for the event.
Each school and some of the district departments and programs had information tables set up in the DHS cafeteria.
The evening started with parents checking in with their schools’ tables and gathering information on programs and services. Just before 6 p.m., the Merced County Sheriff’s Department and the Sheriff’s Activities League (SAL) hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new boxing ring located in the “E” building on the Ed Park campus.
Glenn Engineering, Merced County District Four Supervisor Deidre Kelsey, the Deputy Sheriff’s Association and DUSD were among those who made the boxing ring possible.
“I really appreciate the work these deputies have done,” said Kelsey as she addressed a small crowd present for the ribbon-cutting.
It is more than a boxing ring, though. It is a Sanctioned Gym through USA Boxing, according School Resource Officer Deputy Joey Cardenas.
Following the ribbon cutting, a boxing demonstration took place.
People then moved back over the cafeteria and eventually into the DHS theater for a series of presentations from three board members.
Board member Robert Rodarte educated the community about fiscal opportunities, student well-being and student support. He presented the goals of the Board, including setting direction, providing support and acting as community leaders. Jesus Rodriguez offered information on parent involvement and presented information on fundraising and the School Site Councils (SSC). Brenda Saavedra was the final presenter and she offered information about various programs including athletics and the after school program currently offered at DHS.
Everyone who attended received a ticket for a hot dog meal served by Sheriff Explorers. By 7 p.m. they had already served 1,000 hot dogs and there were still people in line.
“I’m very pleased,” said Superintendent Bill Baltazar of the turn out and the overall event. “The drum line welcoming people was nice.”
Early estimates were that about 300 parents attended. Later numbers indicated that there may have been closer to 400.
This was the first time the school district took the lead role for such an event. Previous Community Informational Nights have been co-ordinated by Community Unity.
The DUSD board meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m.
Community Unity meets on the third Monday of each month at 7 p.m.
Delhi MAC meeting
Later in the month, the Delhi Municipal Advisory Council met for its regular meeting. The meeting took place on Thursday, October 8.
It was reported that the Delhi population sign will be re-located to the new boundaries along Highway 99 which are Bradbury to the north and Second/August Avenues to the south. It was also reported that after the MAC voted to receive funding for upgrades to the Delhi Community Pool, they received a letter of gratitude from Superintendent Bill Baltazar and DUSD board president Stella Estrada.
Although the Shanks/Letteau improvement project has been broken into two projects, the first of the two should be getting underway soon. The bridge replacement on Letteau needs to take place outside of irrigation season since it crosses a TID canal.
Several reports of the graffiti at August and Palm had been made. A new graffiti abatement program in Merced County has received calls on and addressed over 500 incidents since the probation department started handling abatement. Graffiti/tagging complaints can now be filed online.
Ken Myers first acted in his role as president of the Delhi county Water Board and offered a report.
“We are getting the treatment plant fixed,” he reported.
Once everything is completed, the Waste Water Treatment Facility will handle 1.5 million gallons per day which will theoretically serve approximately 80-percent of the SUDP outlined in the Delhi Community Plan.
“We will get to your total community plan,” Myers said. “As long as I’m on that board, we are going to work diligently toward that.”
Among the goals he says the water board will work toward is getting water and sewer services out to the area of the Bradbury interchange. He also said that they are working to get the water district changed to a Community Services District.
Myers also stepped into his role as a Delhi business owner to discuss a planned project he has. He owns Delhi Mini Storage on Flower Street. The business has Highway 99 exposure and Myers began working on developing an idea to place a lighted sign on his property that will welcome drivers to Merced County and offer advertising opportunities to local businesses. The sign will be similar to the one that appears near the former Turlock Auto Plaza.
Myers’ sign will operate on solar power.
“It’s going to be a a ‘green’ sign,” he said.
Representing concerned parents and community members, Lupe Delgado addressed the MAC regarding traffic control concerns for the area around Harmony Elementary School. They have concerns regarding student safety when crossing Shanks Road. Delgado presented a petition with approximately 150 signatures requesting improvements both for Shanks and August near Harmony. The MAC has previously expressed concern regarding some of these issues. It is understood that because of changes in requirements, all of the school crossing signs countywide will need to be replaced and they will be within the next three years. The MAC will look into bringing school representatives, CHP, public works and code enforcement into the discussion regarding safety issues around Harmony. One of the issues is the fact that big rigs are parking on Shanks Road when and where they are not supposed to do so. The MAC hopes to continue the discussion at the November meeting. The Delhi MAC meets on the second Thursday of each month.
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 10:46 pm and is filed under Community Events, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
