Council prohibits street parking along Highway 43

There will be no more parking along the corridor between Lerdo Highway and Central Avenue.

The City Council recently voted to prohibit on-street parking there because of the car wash being built in the area.

The developer said this resolution would have to be enacted to prevent any problems along that stretch of highway. This would prevent people from parking on the street on Highway 43, especially in front of the pharmacy located off Highway 43 and also in front of the courthouse buildings.

The council also approved the sale of the city-owned property at 250 Carver St., to Nutrient Ag Solutions, Inc., which currently is an empty lot. Nutrient Ag Solutions will build a warehouse about 42,000 square feet. The sale price is still yet to be determined, depending on the exact acreage of the purchase.

The city and Nutrient Ag Solutions have agreed on a price of $145,000 per acre. The company expects their sales annually to be about $50 million dollars. This means about $500,000 in sales tax revenue for the city.

In other action, the council approved a compensation philosophy that will mean equal pay for equal work, as well as being competitive in today’s labor market. This would take into consideration the current economic market, as well as any unforeseen economic developments.

The council also discussed how to spend their monies that were awarded to the city from a federal emergency rescue block grant that were given to cities because of the pandemic. Shafter was awarded $4.6 million in federal money. The city must submit a report on how they will spend the money; including replacing lost revenue due to the pandemic, as well as helping local businesses.

There are restrictions on how cities can spend the money, depending on how each city was hit by the virus. One project that was discussed was the necessary repairs needed at the Shafter Aquatic Center.

One idea that was considered was the demolition of the Aquatic Center and replaced by a splash pad, skate park, and playground. This project was not recommended by the city.

The city did discuss the possibility of using the money for repairing the Aquatic Center and keeping the pool and the area active. Council said that they are in discussions with the Shafter Recreation Department in reaching an agreement on getting the Aquatic Center viable and active. These discussions will continue on the effort of keeping the pool open and operable.