The Clovis City Council met on Monday, Oct. 21 and approved a site plan review amendment to allow construction to proceed on .8 acres of land at David McDonald Park on Temperance Ave.
This piece of land, which lies adjacent to Miss Winkles Pet Adoption Center, will be the new home of the Fresno Wildlife Rehabilitation Nature Center. The center will take in injured wild animals, rehabilitate them and prepare them to be released back into the wild.
The facility will include an education center, surgical center, triage, and flight cages for injured raptors.
The Council would like to see “Clovis” included in the name.
City Council approved approximately 117 acres of land located at 15679 Auberry Rd. to extend the buffer zone around the Clovis Landfill. This land will be utilized only as a buffer zone with no proposed improvements or development.
Tom McLoughlin, Director of Planning for California Health Science University gave a presentation, updating the City Council on progress being made on the building of the university located in the Research and Technology Business Park at 2500 Alluvial Ave. The groundbreaking took place in May of 2018, construction began in late July and they are pushing for completion by Dec. 1 to receive a Certificate of Occupancy. Their target move-in date is early January with all signs pointing to success.
Dr. John Graneto, Dean of the Proposed College of Osteopathic Medicine, gave an update on the administrative aspect of the project. They are presently at the pre-accreditation level which is the highest level they can presently achieve until they graduate their first class. They received their pre-accreditation status four months early. So far, they have hired 39 full-time faculty and staff and 28 part-time and they still have several more positions to fill. Over half of the full time staff are from out of the area and have all moved into Clovis. The university has received over 3,000 applications from students and applications continue to come in. They have begun interviewing students and have already sent out acceptance letters.
Classes are set to begin July 21, 2020.