$1
including tax
Supevisors review Youth Commission News, Page 2
Volunteers support STEM experiences Features, Page 1
Volume 142, Number 09 — Locally-owned since 1884
The hometown paper of Lauren McNees
Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Students select Youth, Educator of the Year Express staff The Winters Youth Day Committee announced the recipients of the 2025 Youth of the Year and Educator of the Year awards. These awards celebrate exceptional contributions to the community and highlight leadership, dedication and the ability to inspire others.
Reviving Youth of the Year For the first time in many years, the Youth of the Year award has been revived to honor a student who exemplifies leadership, service and resilience. Originally established by the city of
Winters Park and Recreation Commission before its disbandment in 2005, the award functioned as a youth counterpart to the Citizen of the Year, recognizing a “longterm active commitment” to the Winters community. This year, Winters Express Editor-in-Chief Crystal Apilado spearheaded the initiative to bring back the award, working with former city manager John Donlevy, the Youth Day board and Winters Joint Unified School District Superintendent Rody Boonchouy to ensure its return.
See YOUTH, Page 5
Crystal Apilado/Winters Express
Winters High School senior Eden Miller
Commissioners approve design review for new neighborhood market By Crystal Apilado Editor-in-Chief
EXPRESS
The Winters Planning Commission unanimously approved a proposed design review and conditional use permit (CUP) for a new business on Railroad Avenue at its March 25 meeting. Applicant and owner Thaddeus Barsotti submitted the proposal for his upcoming venture, the Yolo Fill Station: Farm to Table Retail & Food Trucks, located at 400 Railroad Ave. The project involves repurposing a former auto repair building at the corner of Railroad Avenue and Abbey Street to accommodate two onsite food trucks and a neighborhood market selling farm-to-table retail goods, including beer, wine, seasonal farm products, meats, picnic supplies, garden items andlocal preserves. Contract city plan-
ner Kelly Mumper presented the project details, emphasizing that commissioners were only considering approval of the design review and CUP for the food trucks at this stage. Signage approval will be addressed in a future meeting. “The applicant’s vision is to renovate the building while preserving its original gas-station charm, as well as enhancing the surrounding space. The goal is to transform the property into a dynamic venue for retail and a community hub that connects people to local farm products,” Mumper said. “The space will offer a family-friendly environment where visitors can purchase local farm products, garden supplies, picnic essentials and food truck offerings.” Mumper outlined plans for the food trucks, which will be stationed in designated parking spaces and comply with the city’s stationary food vendor permit requirements. The building will be divided into two areas: Suite A, which will be
open to the public as a retail store featuring regional wines, beers, olive oils, and other farm products, and Suite B, a private office and warehouse space for managing retail and future wine club operations. The proposed project is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to section 15303 of the CEQA guidelines because it is converting an existing small structure from one use to another where only minor modifications are made to the exterior of the structure, according to Mumper. Landscaping plans include installing garden beds and planters along the perimeter fence, selecting plant species to maintain line-of-sight safety, and adding trees and canopies to mitigate the heat island effect. City staff in the police department and engineering initially raised concerns regarding line-of-sight safety for the perimeter fence and traffic
Index
We at he r
Features ........................ B-1 Classifieds ................... B-4 Community .................. A-2 Eventos hispanos ....... A-3
See DESIGN, Page 5
Date
Rain
High
Low
Mar. 26
.00
84˚
49˚
Mar. 27
.00
69˚
53˚
Mar. 28 0.05”
65˚
50˚
Mar. 29 0.01”
66˚
38˚
Mar. 30 0.18”
67˚
45˚
Mar. 31 0.05”
68˚
47˚
Opinion ......................... B-3
Apr. 01
66˚
47˚
Real Estate ................... B-2
Rain for week: 0.34 in. Season’s total: 18.98 in. Last sn. to date: 22.08 in.
Sports ........................... B-5
0.05”
Winters rainfall season began 7/1/24. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m. daily by local weatherman Joe Bristow.
Courtesy photo
Music educator Mike Williams
Annual financial audit completed for city’s 2022-23 fiscal year By Sonora Slater Express staff writer At the March 4 Winters City Council meeting, in addition to presentations by the Winters Police Department and a discussion about Women’s History Month, which were covered in depth in a previous edition of the Winters Express, Erica Pastor, a CPA partner with independent public accounting firm MUNCPAS (Mann, Urrutia, Nelson CPAs & Associates, LLP), presented the completed financial audit for the city’s fiscal year that ended in 2023. The audit was delayed due to turnover in the finance department, missing the March 31, 2024, deadline. The annu-
al audit for the city’s fiscal year ending in 2024 is now in progress, but will also be submitted late. In order to help them close in time in the future, the auditors recommended the city come up with a better defined set of processes to document their accounting. Defining an accounting process involves figuring out what actions trigger each process, determining which procedures are involved in each process, stating which people or positions are responsible for performing the procedures, and defining what the procedures are for reviewing this work and correcting any errors. “For an extended period of time, the city has faced perva-
sive staffing shortages, thus preventing effective year-end close processes,” a related portion of the audit report states. “Management has taken steps to improve the quality of year-end financial reporting and is expecting to have improved year-end close and financial reporting for future audit periods.” The report can be found in its full form attached to the digital agenda packet for the March 4 meeting under the archived city council meetings at www.cityofwinters. org/194/Meetings or view it directly at https://bit.ly/4lfova6.
Recommended changes The
auditor
See CITY, Page 2
Trustees approve second interim budget report By Logan Chrisp Express staff writer Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Russell Barrington presented the 2024-25 second interim budget report, providing an overview of the school district’s financial standing, updates since the first interim report, and a forecast for the coming years at the Winters Joint Unified School District board meeting on March 6. In his report, Barrington outlined that the school district has certification of its financial ability to meet its obligations for the next two fiscal years. Barrington made it clear, however, that the budget reporting cycle is currently awaiting the governor’s budget revision and adoption. This means only the Local
Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) are included in Barrington’s presentation of the budget, while several other funding sources are yet to be confirmed. “From our last meeting to now, we still don’t have any ability to know where those are going to land come the adopted budget, so we are still only including COLA in our projections and waiting on the remainder,” Barrington said. The budget does give good projections despite the uncertainty. Aside from being projected to meet its fiscal responsibilities, Barrington outlined what the health of the budget will be for the rest of this school year. The unrestricted fund balance
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