The Abridged version:
- The Winters City Council approved a permit application by Kiewit Infrastructure to build a new concrete batch plant on the eastern edge of town.
- Representatives from the company said the facility will add nearly 100 new jobs, many of which will be filled locally.
- The site is not far from the parcel of land where the newly approved Farmstead subdivision will be built.
More growth is coming to Winters.
On Tuesday, the Winters City Council voted unanimously to approve the permit for a new concrete factory on the eastern edge of town. Kiewit Infrastructure West Coast will build a concrete batch plant with plans to employ nearly 100 people.
Representatives from Kiewit, a Nebraska-based construction and engineering company with California offices in Fairfield, said the new facility in Winters will be more centrally located to some of the projects they are supplying concrete for, including highway and road construction.
During its presentation to the planning commission last month, the company said it aims for the majority of its hires to be from the area.
“It’s a big project and we’re really excited about maybe having some opportunity for people to work in town and not have to drive so far to find any kind of work,” said Councilmember Jesse Loren during the City Council meeting.
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Sticking points
Before approving the permit, the council had some questions for the applicant related to traffic, water use, environmental effects and transportation.
According to a third-party review of the project, the potential increase in traffic around the facility could lead to congestion at peak periods, but minimal impact otherwise. That evaluation translates to a level D traffic rating for the project, one level above a distinction that would require applicants to build in traffic calming mitigations like roundabouts or stoplights.
To alleviate some of the traffic coming from employees, the company agreed to install bike parking and work with the city to make improvements to the bike path along Matsumoto Lane.
“It’s an opportunity not only to have employees, but have them ride their bike to work,” Loren said.
Representatives from the company emphasized that water use, dust mitigation and noise will comply with applicable local and state regulations.
Growth on the east end of town
The greenlighting of the facility comes on the heels of the approval of another major development on the east end of Winters.
Just a stone’s throw away from Kiewit’s proposed plant is the land that will become the Farmstead subdivision, which will add more than 300 units of housing on a roughly 60-acre parcel.
Officials in Winters hope the new concrete facility will complement that growth.
Mayor Pro Tempore Bill Biasi said that the city has built a lot of housing recently, but generating new jobs has been a slower process.
“Something that we’ve been trying to do here in Winters for a long time is to have a better jobs and housing balance,” he said during the meeting. “We desperately need more jobs in town.”
Now that it is approved, the Kiewit project is on track to help balance the scales by adding dozens of local employees.
Daniel Hennessy joins Abridged from the California Local News Fellowship. He’s a reporter covering Yolo County.