Due to the plethora of complaints lodged by landowners in the Selma area, the Kings River Conservation District held an information open house to address the increasing concerns that residents have about a proposed 500-megawatt power plant.

The Kings River Conservation District (KRCD), as a part of the San Joaquin Valley Power Authority, plans to set up shop on Dinuba and Bethel avenues much to the chagrin of not only those who live in the affected area, but also to the members of the Selma City Council.

Because of these initial complaints that KRCD has received, the district decided to host its own information night to collect those complaints and address them all at one time.

"We're doing this ahead of the game to get the input of the people even before the official process," said Cristel Tufenkijian, KRCD's manager of community and public relations. "Anyone with questions got an answer."

KRCD General Manager Dave Orth addressed the biggest concerns, such as air quality, noise, traffic, water and visual aesthetics, among others. And KRCD also had information tables with project experts to answer the more technical questions that locals had about the impending power plant.

Selma City Manager D-B Heusser addressed the KRCD panel during the question and answer session in order to express the Selma City Council's position on the project. The city of Selma is opposed to the building of the facility, something that Heusser and the council agree will negatively impact the citizens of Selma.

"We have serious questions about the location of the power plant," said Heusser, who was informed at the open house that KRCD is looking at a total of 30 sites for the plant. "After spending $3 million, I think they're hard-pressed to make any reversals of the location."

One of the main problems the city sees with the location of the power plant is Parlier's expanding sphere of influence. The city had hoped that the land between Indianola and Bethel avenues would act as a buffer zone between the two communities. Yet, with the proposed construction of this facility, there would be no buffer zone.

In addition to the encroachment of Parlier into Selma's sphere of influence, the city and parents are concerned, since the power plant would be built less than a quarter of a mile away from Indianola Elementary School.

According to concerned citizen Shelly Abajian, who has lived on Bethel Avenue her whole life, the meeting helped, but it should have been held at Indianola Elementary School. Issues have been raised about the health and safety of the kindergarten through sixth graders attending school there.

One of Abajian's, and others, main complaints deals with air quality. Orth said the district would buy emission credits to actually improve air quality since more air pollution would be removed than what the plant would in actuality emit.

"But they're still emitting these toxins into an area that has the second highest rate of air quality in the region," said Abajian. "What happens when it rains?"

Of the almost 200 people in attendance from the surrounding area, a majority of the people who asked questions such as these were from Selma. These residents were not only worried about their property values once the proposed plant is finished in 2010, but also water quality, noise, traffic and the visual aesthetics of the facility.

KRCD addressed this with plans to reclaim waste water from the Parlier sewage treatment facility as a way to improve water quality. At the same time, KRCD will reduce the noise level to 40 decibels, which would be what the area experiences now without the power plant even there.

In addition, at peak construction, KRCD estimates 400 employees in the area. Because of this, a new traffic route would have to be mapped out to avoid schools, residences and dangerous intersections such as Bethel and Manning avenues. In its impending application to the California Energy Commission, KRCD has planned for traffic to be brought south down Bethel Avenue to Mountain View Avenue, and then onto Highway 99.

"We gave them as much information as we could give them at the time," said Tufenkijian.

Yet, according to both Heusser and Abajian, many of the citizens questions could not be answered.

"They said, 'We can't answer that question until we do the application,'" said Abajian. "I think when the heat got a little hot, they tried to disburse us."

One of those heated discussion points is about KRCD's efforts to inform those living in the area of the planned power plant. KRCD sent out letters to residents in the immediate vicinity of the proposed plant site on July 19, 2006, reaching about 20 people. They also sent another letter to about 60 people on Dec. 28, 2006 who are located near the plant's proposed linear routes. According to many affected landowners, they did not get any of that information and instead heard of the power plant from neighbors.

After calls and meetings with some of those landowners, KRCD decided to hold their own public hearing on April 19. Yet according the Tufenkijian, this past hearing is not a mandated part of their plant application process. Normally, the California Energy Commission schedules such hearings once KRCD actually files their application, which as of now is slated for May.

"There's plenty of opportunities for them [residents] to have input and be responded to by the energy commission," said Tufenkijian.

After a 12 to 14 month permitting process that looks at 23 different elements, KRCD can begin construction on the plant that would supposedly save five percent on generation costs with a cumulative savings of over $780 million over a 20 year period. That's about $42 a year for the average resident in one of the 13 cities that make up the San Joaquin Valley Power Authority.

The San Joaquin Valley Power Authority is the governing body of Community Choice, which allows cities to combine their efforts to meet the electrical needs of their residents, businesses and municipal facilities. Selma, Parlier, Kingsburg and Reedley are just some of the cities in the San Joaquin Valley Power Authority.

Selma citizens and Selma council members are opposed to KRCD's plans, and have made their opinions known at not only KRCD's open house, but also at Selma City Council, Fresno County Board of Supervisors and Tulare County Board of Supervisors meetings.

Heusser even asked at the April 19 open house if KRCD would have such a hearing in Selma in the near future. While a date has not been set yet, Abajian said she'll be there.

"They say this is all based on community choice," said Abajian. "Well, the community doesn't want it."

April 25, 2007