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Garden In The Sun Park

Creating recreational areas in the City of Arvin is essential for the quality of life and promotion of healthy living. In 2010, the City of Arvin was awarded a Proposition 84 Park Grant which provided the means to construct a new park in the center of the City. The 5-acre park is near the City’s proposed civic center and the Jewett Square mixed-use development. The park fronts the newly completed Walnut Street alignment –a big step to improving the traffic and pedestrian circulation within the project vicinity and connecting Arvin High School to the City’s main thoroughfare, Bear Mountain Boulevard.

QK assisted the City of Arvin in developing a comprehensive park project and construction plans incorporating proven sustainable solutions. Conceptual drawings and construction plans and specifications were prepared for the entire project.

The park’s design includes the following features:

Feature fountain at park’s main entry with decorative tile surfacing, seat walls, and planters
Large concrete entry plaza
Tot Lot (engineered wood fiber play surface and concrete curbs)
Splash pad (proposed for a later phase of development)
Restrooms building
Storage and equipment building
Gazebo with game tables and large concrete surface chessboard
Picnic arbors
Monument sign
Grass volleyball court
Loop trail, concrete walks, and nearby planter areas
Benches, picnic tables, drinking fountains, bike racks, and trash receptacles

Loop trail, concrete walks, and nearby planter areas
Benches, picnic tables, drinking fountains, bike racks, and trash receptacles
Drought tolerant plantings in the botanical garden
Mural walls at the west perimeter block wall
Exercise stations with DG (decomposed granite) surfacing
Site lighting
Safety bollards at park entry drop-off
Bio-Retention Cell for drainage
New water-efficient irrigation system for the entire park

The park’s ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on September 22, 2017, with a marching band, cultural dancing, and numerous food and specialty booths tucked between the stately palms on Walnut Avenue. Walnut Avenue was designed to be an extension of the park with community celebrations, farmers’ markets, art fairs, and other special events located on the newly opened street.

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South Farmersville Boulevard Safe Routes To Schools Project

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Hanford General Plan Update, EIR, Zoning Ordinance Update, Subdivision Ordinance Update & Infrastructure Master Plans

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Cameron Creek Colony Emergency Water Supply Project

New Well, Tank, Booster Pump Stations, & Pressure Sustaining Valves

New Well, Tank, Booster Pump Stations & Pressure Sustaining Valves

Due in large part to the success of QK’s APA award-winning Hanford Downtown East Precise Plan and our team’s experience with the preparation of policy documents, the team of QK and Zumwalt-Hansen & Associates was selected to prepare a comprehensive General Plan (GP), Zoning Ordinance (ZO) and subdivision ordinance update, as well as the supporting environmental review/reports for the City of Hanford.

The purpose of a General Plan Update is to serve the City for the next 20 years, comply with state, local, and federal regulations, and provide the community with a vision for the City’s future, as well as guidelines for the way land will be developed and used. QK led the public outreach efforts and guided the discussion with the Citizen’s Advisory Committee and led several key discussions about the Citizens’ wants and needs for the GP. Those discussions led to actual policies in the GP.

Four important and distinctive features included:

Goals, objectives, policies, and programs for elements in land use and community design; transportation and circulation; open space, conservation, and recreation; health and safety; public facilities and services and environmental justice;
An extensive public engagement/outreach program including a city-wide bus tour and 14 meetings with the 20-person Citizen’s Advisory Committee;
Preparation of a program-level Environmental Impact Report (EIR);
A ZO update that reflected the City’s desire for a “Red Carpet, not Red Tape” approach.

Development of the GP and the ZO coincided with the construction phases for the California High-Speed Rail, recent State laws like Senate Bill 375, California’s Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act and regional planning efforts like the San Joaquin Valley Blueprint. The GP and the ZO reflect the new State laws as well as changes in housing preferences. The EIR was certified, and the General Plan and ZO were adopted by the City Council in April 2017.

As an extension of the GP/ZO update process, QK concurrently prepared the Infrastructure Master Plans for sanitary sewer, potable water, and storm drainage. By including these Master Plans into the scope of the overall project, infrastructure planning occurred simultaneously with the GP update process. This proactive strategy eliminated a problem that too often plagues cities; a GP update identifies areas for development, and then later it’s discovered that the City cannot efficiently provide services.

Throughout the project, QK also provided grant writing support in coordination with components of the GP. The grant writing team was successful in procuring nearly a quarter-million dollars of funding early in the process that helped reduce the need for using general funds to finance the GP update.

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South Farmersville Boulevard Safe Routes To Schools Project

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Garden In The Sun Park

Cameron Creek Colony Emergency Water Supply Project

The Cameron Creek Water project involved multiple agencies, groups, and individuals to get the project constructed without undue delay. It was a true team effort of the City of Farmersville, Tulare County Board of Supervisors, Tulare County Resource Management Agency, Tulare County Local Agency Formation Commission, Self Help Enterprises, Quad Knopf, Inc. (QK), and West Valley Construction. California State University Fresno and BSK provided additional support during the outreach and preliminary engineering, respectively.

QK provided the engineering design of 7,262 lineal feet of 8-inch water main, installation of 6 fire hydrants, 10 control valves, and 106 new water services to provide domestic water service to Cameron Creek Colony without an impact on Farmersville’s budget or without incurring a debt service that the severely disadvantaged community could not afford. Construction Management was also provided for the project.

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Hanford General Plan Update, EIR, Zoning Ordinance Update, Subdivision Ordinance Update & Infrastructure Master Plans

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Mulcahy Park

The Mulcahy Park redesign project required careful planning to create facilities that met the needs of Mulcahy Middle School, neighbors, and the City of Tulare Parks and Recreation Department. QK was involved in the redesign of the existing Mulcahy Park, including civil engineering services, project management, construction administration, utility coordination, and landscape architecture. With a QK-led outreach effort that encouraged the staff and community to take pride in ownership in their park, our team was able to incorporate the public’s ideas into a revitalized park and plaza.

The park now includes four football/soccer fields, two softball/little league diamonds, restroom facilities, two picnic pavilions with Bar-B-Que and event areas, a splash park, tot playground, pre-teen playground, more than half a mile of trails, benches, and shade trees. The park also features multiple sustainable design features, including a new irrigation system connected to the City of Tulare’s central computer and weather station, drought-tolerant landscaping with reduction of the turf area, and high-efficiency restroom features. The space is currently available for school physical education classes and sports, after-school recreation programs, and community events.

Mulcahy Park was awarded the 2014 “Best Recreation Project – Under $5 Million” award by the American Public Works Association (APWA) Cen-Cal Chapter.

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Fallen Heroes Park

Fallen Heroes Park includes youth soccer and softball areas, a pre-teen and tot playground, two picnic shelters with Bar-B-Ques, a lighted basketball half-court, a splash pad, lighted loop walking trail and trailheads to the future Tule River Parkway trail system, a central community plaza, restroom facilities, and parking.

QK’s landscape architecture team reduced the overall turf area by using drought-tolerant planting, and the water-efficient irrigation system is connected to the City’s central computer and weather station. In addition, the site slopes to a north-west corner bio-swale designed to capture run-off and prevent it from entering the Tule River on the north end of the park.

The park has received multiple awards, including the 2015 “Public Works Project of the Year” from the American Public Works Association (APWA) Cen-Cal Chapter as well as the 2015 “Arbor Day Award” from Tree Fresno.

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Downtown East Precise Plan

The primary focus of the City of Hanford Downtown East Precise Plan was the China Alley Revitalization Plan. China Alley was identified in 2011 as one of the most endangered historic places in America by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Other issues included the need to revitalize and attract new businesses in an area that had remained stagnant for new economic development for years.

The extensive Plan document includes an economic study and fiscal impact analysis, zoning for mixed-use, permitted land uses, a form-based code for frontage types for multiple building types, development regulations, landscape guidelines, street improvements, traffic calming guidelines, parking policies, a focused Environmental Impact Report (EIR), and concept studies that depict how the area could potentially develop. Since its adoption, new businesses have sprung up on China Alley including new multi-cultural restaurants and a tea house.

The plan was given the 2014 Award of Merit for “Comprehensive Planning: Small Jurisdiction” by the American Planning Association (APA) California Chapter, Central Section.

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Mountain Road 319 Bridge Replacement

Working closely with Tulare County Resource Management Agency (Tulare RMA) and Cornerstone Structural Engineering Group, QK served as the primary consultant in the preparation of the field review and Preliminary Environmental Study (PES) for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance through Caltrans for the project area that included a rural bridge site, equipment staging areas, and temporary water crossing accessed through the riparian habitat.

Throughout the project duration, our team actively managed the environmental permitting and compliance process including the completion of environmental studies and consultation with regulatory agencies. QK biologists completed field surveys for sensitive wildlife and plant species, and habitat. Technical documents included a Natural Environment Study (NES), water quality technical memorandum, cultural resources report, hydrology report, and restoration plan for riparian habitat as required for California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and NEPA compliance. Federal and State permit applications were also submitted and approved, and QK provided biological monitoring in compliance with California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) requirements during construction to ensure no impacts occurred within the river or sensitive riparian habitat.

During construction, a temporary crossing was erected downstream from the new bridge for County residents and emergency vehicles. To mitigate construction impacts on the Kaweah River, QK’s environmental team recommended alternatives to some work within the Ordinary High Water Mark (OHWM), and revisions to bridge design to reduce the number of trees that required removal and trimming.

The Mountain Road 319 Bridge replacement was awarded 2013 “Project of the Year – Large” by the American Public Works Association (APWA) Cen-Cal Chapter and a 2014 Engineering Excellence “Award of Merit for Small Firms” by the California American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC California).

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Golden State Corridor

QK was selected to create a comprehensive design to improve the Golden State Corridor area that runs through the Fresno County cities of Kingsburg, Selma, and Fowler. Public input was vital to the planning process and QK organized, publicized, and led community meetings and facilitated discussions during Plan visioning workshops. Stakeholder meetings involved feedback from decision-makers in each of the affected cities including Fresno County officials, bicycle advocates, and railroad specialists.

While planning, our firm focused on design improvements and streetscape enhancements, expanding economic development, improving the flow of transit, and improving safety for motorists and bicyclists. One key feature was a street realignment in Fowler that creates three new urban blocks for future downtown commercial development.

The final package of construction plans included a topographic survey, urban design guidelines manual, 30% engineering plans set, utility report, pavement rehabilitation report, detailed cost estimate, and environmental analysis for future compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The completed package enables the Fresno Council of Governments (FCOG) to continue to move forward with their design plans on all or selected portions of the Corridor.

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Pump Station & Odor Control Facility

The City of Atwater’s existing lift station and alternative site were analyzed to accommodate a short timeline for bidding, equipment delivery, and construction needed to meet a deadline imposed by the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB).

Ultimately, the existing wastewater treatment plant was replaced by a new tertiary treatment plant. This new treatment facility is located 5.7 miles to the south of the community and provides additional capacity for future growth. The new site location was chosen to provide avoidance from existing and future commercial development adjacent to the site and the new lift station was designed to handle the existing flows along with growth up to a flow of 12 million gallons per day (MGD).

The pump station and odor control facility was completed prior to the RWQCB’s deadline and within the funded budget, and our design strengthens the reliability of the facility by adding a generator, improved electrical service, and odor control facilities.

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T-4 3MG Water Storage Tank & Booster Pump Station

The City of Fresno designed its $10M T-4 3MG water storage tank and booster station to address water availability issues within the downtown area and increase water flow to accommodate future redevelopment needs. With extensive redevelopment projects planned for Downtown Fresno and existing land barriers limiting available water during peak times, the new water storage tank and pump station were needed to meet peak-hour demands.

QK worked with the City and stakeholders to design their water storage tank and booster pump station. Environmental permitting and final plans included a three-million-gallon (MG) water storage tank, an operations building, appurtenant exterior facilities including a surge tank and emergency generator, miscellaneous yard piping and site improvements, site landscaping, and architectural treatment of the new tank and operations building.