City of Fresno offices will be closed in observance of Independence Day on Wednesday, July 4.  The delivery of some City services may be affected.  Normal operations will resume on Thursday, July 5.  Here is the schedule for City of Fresno operations for the holiday:

Airports:  Administrative offices closed;  Terminal, concessions, and airlines normal operations otherwise.

Business License:  Office closed.  The Business Tax Web Renewal will be available for TOT (only) and new business tax online application submittals will be available throughout the Independence Day holiday.

City Clerk’s Office:  Closed.

City Hall Offices:  Closed.

Development and Resource Management:  Closed.

Dog License Division:  Closed.

Finance Offices:  Offices closed.  Business Tax TOT (only) Web Renewal and new business tax online application submittals will be available throughout the Independence Day holiday.

Fire/Police Departments:  Administrative offices and public counters will be closed.  Normal operations otherwise.

Fresno Area Express:  Administrative offices closed.  Weekend bus routes/schedule in effect.  Call (559) 621-7433 for details.  FAX route maps and schedules are available on the City’s website.

Parking Division:  No enforcement at parking meters and City parking facilities on Independence Day.  Office closed for citation payments on Tuesday, July 4.

Parks and Recreation (PARCS):  Administrative offices closed.  Parks facilities and recreation centers operating with a normal schedule.

Personnel:  Closed. Online applications accepted at www.fresno.gov/jobs.

Public Utilities:  Offices closed.

Public Works:  Offices closed.

Purchasing:  Office closed; Bid opportunities and updated information are available on the City’s website, under the “For Businesses” tab, then click on bid opportunities.

Residential Solid Waste:  Administrative offices closed.  Normal residential and commercial collection schedule; for questions regarding the residential solid waste collection, please call the Solid Waste Management Division at (559) 621-1452.

Utility Payments:  Payment counters closed (Fresno City Hall and Manchester Center.)  Online and phone transactions available for utility payments.

For urgent matters during the 4th of July holiday, please call (559) 621-CITY (2489) or use our FresGO mobile app.

The California Strategic Growth Council (SGC) has awarded $16 million from the State of California Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program to the Blackstone & McKinley Transit Oriented Development project (BMTOD) located at 1501 N. Blackstone Avenue, a mixed-use affordable housing development approved by the Fresno City Council in December of 2017.

The award provides over $12.5 million for construction and $3.4 million for city infrastructure improvements in the surrounding area.  When completed, BMTOD will provide an overall investment of more than $38 million in the community through its development company, Integrated Community Development LLC of Woodland Hills and their non-profit partner Corporation for Better Housing.

“This was a collaborative effort between City leaders, the developer and the community to bring much needed affordable housing and attractive amenities to the Blackstone Corridor,” said Fresno Mayor Lee Brand. “This is exactly the kind of project that will bring a dynamic addition to our central city and increase the momentum that is already building along Fresno’s most famous street.”

“This is a big day. We have been working for years with City leaders and the community to bring something special to Fresno – a catalyst that will invigorate investment into this part of the city. This was a true team effort and we are so proud of this achievement,” said Jake Lingo, Senior Vice President at Integrated Community Development LLC.

This development will provide 88 affordable housing units and 6,000 square feet of retail space on the west side of Blackstone between McKinley and Home Avenues, with construction beginning in the first quarter of 2019 with a grand opening tentatively planned for 2020.

Retail space partnerships with Clinica Sierra, Fresno City College and the City of Fresno will provide for 4,000 square feet of retail medical and dental services and a 2,000 square feet Senior Center.  The project includes redevelopment of a full city block along Fresno’s new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor, over ½ mile of new sidewalks on Blackstone as well as creating a two-mile Class IV bikeway along Wishon, Fulton, and Van Ness Avenues.

Council President Esmeralda Soria added, “Through its support of this project, the City of Fresno has made a commitment to invest in programs that will provide long-term sustainable economic growth and address the housing needs of our community. This investment kicks off the Blackstone Corridor transformation.” 

Mayor Lee Brand today issued the following statement after City Council adopted the Fiscal Year 2019 budget by a 5-2 vote:

“I want to thank our Councilmembers for their support in passing our second budget together.  We had a considerable debate over the fairest and most sensible way to achieve our goals, but in the end, the public will benefit from a budget that addresses the most critical needs in our city.

“Moving forward, we must continue to utilize our limited resources to their fullest extent to provide the best possible service to our residents, and keep our focus on building our economy and developing new revenue streams to properly fund our priorities and make Fresno a better and safer place to live.”

Mayor Lee Brand today released the following statement on the status of the proposed sales tax initiative to support Fresno’s parks and public safety expenditures:

“It is with a mixture of both regret and hope that I am announcing the withdrawal of the parks and public safety ballot measure I introduced to Council.

“There are deep, wide and immediate needs throughout our City and while I completely believe that the people of Fresno deserve a chance to vote on what their City looks like and feels like over the next 15 years, I do not see any chance that five members of the City Council will vote to put this measure on the November ballot and give our voters that opportunity.

“I added language to formalize that the intent of this measure is to supplement and not supplant existing City expenditures on parks and public safety.  I have reached out to Councilmembers on both sides of this issue and to advocates for a competing parks ballot measure with no luck.

“I believe this measure would go a long way towards fulfilling the compelling, massive and undeniable needs this City has for parks, police and fire service and I believe this is the ONLY measure of all of the ballot measures that have been discussed that has any reasonable or possible chance of success in the November election.

“I want you, the people of Fresno to know that I will continue to do everything in my power to deploy the limited revenues of the City of Fresno in the most efficient manner possible and that I will continue my job creation plan to improve the quality of life in this City.  I am heartened and hopeful for the overwhelming support I have received from the brave men and women in our fire and police departments and our dedicated parks workers.  And from community leaders and the citizens of Fresno.  I urge all of you to join me in working together to make Fresno better and safer.  Thank you.”

The City of Fresno’s Rental Housing Registry begins its pro-active random inspection program today, the next step of the Rental Housing Improvement Act, an effort to improve the quality of rental housing in the city of Fresno.

While the City has conducted several volunteer inspections over the last few months, inspection notices for properties randomly selected through the Rental Registry were posted in multiple languages 14 days ago.  Hundreds of inspections have been noticed, and the City has automated the sampling of registered properties focusing predominantly on previous code violators.

Property Owners and/or Managers are responsible for notifying individual tenants and will be onsite for the City health and safety inspections.  All inspectors in the Rental Housing Division have received extensive training and certifications from the California Association of Code Enforcement Officers.

“The City team has worked hard to incorporate technology, train staff, and notify property owners about the program so that we can quickly and efficiently complete inspections.  Our goal is to be as non-obtrusive for tenants as possible, as we hit the ground running in the effort to improve Fresno’s housing stock,” said Kelli Furtado, Assistant Director of Development and Resource Management.  “However, we still need the public’s help in identifying any rental properties that have not yet registered. Our program works best when everyone is fully engaged and the Rental Registry is fully populated.”

The Rental Housing Registry, an easy-to-use website that property owners can use to register their rental units online, has been operational since the end of April and has over 46,000 units registered, well over half of the estimated 85,000-90,000 rental units in the city of Fresno.  The goal is to work with property owners to achieve compliance of health and safety code violations and improve the quality of Fresno’s rental housing stock.

The second round of notices is being mailed to all known property owners who have not yet registered their rental units for free.  Property owners will be given 18 days to comply or receive a fine that escalates for every 30 days the property is not registered.

To find the Rental Registry, or to search for the address of a property to determine if it has been registered, please visit www.fresno.gov/rentalhousing.

The National Weather Service in Hanford expects temperatures to be at, or above, 105°F in Fresno for Saturday, June 23, 2018, and Sunday, June 24, 2018.  As a result, the City of Fresno Parks, After School, Recreation and Community Services (PARCS) Department will open its cooling centers for those days.

Cooling centers will be open from 12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at the following locations:

• Ted C. Wills Community Center, 770 N. San Pablo
• Frank H. Ball Neighborhood Center, 760 Mayor
• Mosqueda Community Center, 4670 E. Butler
• Pinedale Community Center, 7170 N. San Pablo

In addition, the City’s FAX bus system will provide free transportation along normal routes to and from cooling center sites when the centers are open.  To ride free, residents must indicate they are traveling to a cooling center.

Individuals should refer to the FAX schedule to determine the final evening departure time for buses providing service near cooling center locations.  The FAX schedule is available on the City’s website

Residents may also take advantage of the Blue Space program, a partnership between the City of Fresno and the Fresno Unified School District (FUSD) that provides recreational swim and swim lessons at Fresno high school swimming pools.

The following City of Fresno pools will offer recreational swim from 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.:

• Mosqueda Community Center
• Frank H. Ball Neighborhood Center
• Mary Ella Brown Community Center, 1350 E. Annadale Ave.

FUSD swimming pools will be open, for recreational swim, from 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. at Hoover, McLane, Fresno, Sunnyside and Edison High Schools.  The Bullard High pool is open for lap swim only.

Pools are free of charge when cooling centers are open.

For more information on our cooling centers please visit our website at:

https://www.fresno.gov/parks/activities-recreational-programs/cooling-centers/

Mayor Lee Brand addressed a crowd of nearly nine hundred attendees, including elected officials, business and community leaders during Wednesday’s State of the City luncheon held in Downtown Fresno.  The annual event, sponsored by the Fresno Chamber of Commerce, was the second State of the City address for Mayor Brand, who officially took office in January 2017.

The Marjoree Mason Center and CEO Nicole Linder were honored with the Mayor’s Community Partner Award for the work they do to help victims of domestic violence by providing a wide array of services including legal assistance, counseling and shelter.  The Fresno Bee’s former Executive Editor, Jim Boren, was awarded the Key to the City in recognition of his distinguished career as a journalist. He oversaw the Central Valley’s most prominent news outlet, helping to keep residents of Fresno informed of the news and policies that shape the City.

The Mayor also thanked outgoing councilmembers, Oliver Baines and Clint Olivier, for their tireless work on the council and for helping make decisions that will help improve the quality of life for the people of Fresno.  Both men term-out at the end of the year.

In his keynote speech, Mayor Brand discussed the many advances the City has made in the last year in the areas of public safety, public transportation, technology, economic development, and infrastructure.

He highlighted the opening of Fulton Street, a new stadium lease at Chukchansi Park thanks to a new ownership group, the arrival of professional soccer in the form of Fresno FC, as well as, the State Center Community College District relocating their offices to the Guarantee Savings building, and a future 200 room 4 star-hotel as being reasons to be excited about the future of downtown Fresno.

“A strong fiscal foundation is essential to running a successful City and we are moving steadily in that direction,” said Mayor Brand. “Economic prosperity is showing up everywhere.”

Mayor Brand’s list of City accomplishments over the last year include:

• Raised the City of Fresno’s credit rating from Junk Bond status to an A-plus rating that will save Fresno’s ratepayers and taxpayers over $40 million dollars over 22 years.
• Launched the new Bus Rapid Transit system, known as “Q.”  The new system is already improving transit opportunities along Fresno’s major corridors.
• The new EyeOnWater mobile app will allow customers to easily view, understand and manage their water usage and pay their utility bill online.
• FAASTER (Fresno’s Accelerated Application System to Track Electronic Reviews), a new online customer service portal gives citizens and developers the ability to apply and track building permits and entitlement plans online.
• Recharge Fresno – the largest infrastructure project in our history – completed construction on the new Southeast Surface Water Treatment Facility – on time and on budget.
• A new West Fresno Campus for Fresno City College is getting ready for construction and will focus on much needed vocational training that will provide the workforce vital to Fresno’s future.
• The opening of two Fresno Police Department report writing stations in Council Districts 1 and 4 and a new Northwest Police District Station at Marks and Shaw.
• The City reduced violent crime and property crime dramatically and is on pace to have the fewest number of cars stolen on over 30 years.
• The Transformative Climate Communities Collaborative will bring $70 million of cap-and-trade funding, along with another $85 million of matching funds that will be invested in Southwest Fresno, Chinatown, and Downtown Fresno.

At the 2017 State of the City Address, Mayor Brand announced his “10 Year Path to Prosperity,” a plan to bring 10,000 new jobs to Fresno by the year 2027.  Thanks to 4,000 new jobs coming to Fresno by companies like Amazon, Ulta, and the Gap, Mayor Brand is almost halfway to his goal in only 18 months.  The mayor hopes to make Fresno the e-commerce capital of the West Coast.

Video of the Mayor’s “State of the City” address will soon be available on the City’s website.  A transcript of his remarks is attached.

The City of Fresno begin its three-day watering schedule today, June 1, and will remain in effect for the months of June, July, and August.

The City is implementing its three-day watering schedule to reflect residents need to provide more water for their gardens and lawns during the dry summer months.

Residents with addresses ending in an odd number (1,3,5,7,9) are permitted to water on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Residents with addresses ending in an even number (0,2,4,6,8) are permitted to water on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.  No watering is allowed on Mondays or on any day between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.

The City of Fresno continues to urge its residents to conserve water as much as possible.

Mayor Lee Brand introduced a new online customer service portal today that will dramatically improve the permitting and planning process at City Hall.  The new system, called FAASTER – which stand for, Fresno’s Accelerated Applications System to Track Electronic Reviews – was developed by Accela, the leading provider of cloud-based productivity and civic engagement solutions for government.

The City’s new FAASTER system will allow anyone who applies for a building permit with the City of Fresno to submit, pay for, and track the status of their permit application online, 24 hours a day.

“It was essential for our goal to make Fresno the most business-friendly city in California to have an online system that works and Accela has delivered,” said Mayor Brand. “FAASTER is a ‘one-stop-shop’ that’s easy to use and can be configured to work on mobile devices. That’s important because many of our customers spend most of their day on a project site and having the power to move their project forward without having to leave their worksite is a game-changer.”

FAASTER is a vital component to the mayor’s Business Friendly Fresno 2.0! initiative, bringing transparency to the permitting process and helping City staff identify problem areas that can be improved.  The portal will also help dramatically improve turnaround times for business customers and has already been beta tested by a number of developers and contractors.

The City had previously partnered with Accela when developing their highly successful FresGO mobile app.  For more than 15 years, Accela has been the industry leader in designing and delivering productivity and engagement software to help government agencies be their best.  Accela provides a robust platform of solutions that increase engagement, improve efficiency and deliver transparency to strengthen communities called the Accela Civic Platform.

The City of Fresno has introduced its newest customer service portal, called “EyeOnWater,” which allows Fresno water customers to monitor their water usage, view water usage history, discover short and long-term water trends and easily connect to their Department of Public Utilities (DPU) account directly from their computer, smartphone or mobile device.

EyeOnWater gives water customers direct access to their water consumption data, allowing them to easily view, understand and manage their water usage and pay their utility bill online.  Customers can view hourly, daily, monthly, and yearly data and charts as well as week-over-week consumption comparisons, and temperature and precipitation overlays are also available to help monitor and manage usage.

Customers can access their EyeOnWater account online at www.fresno.gov/eyeonwater or by mobile app FREE for both Android and Apple users.  Once connected, Fresno water customers can establish alerts via email or text message to better manage their water use and be notified of any possible leaks.

For additional information or help with your EyeOnWater reports, contact a DPU Water Conservation Representative at (559) 621-5480.