Great Wolf Resorts filed a fictitious business name statement last month with the San Joaquin County Recorder.
The filing is required under California law before you can do business in the country.
What the filing means is anybody’s guess.
McWhinney Development  of Colorado has exclusive rights to negotiate for a water park operator for city property along the 120 Bypass and west of Costco.
City officials said they have been told by McWhinney that they are not currently negotiating with Great Wolf.
McWhinney is in talks with another firm that ultimate wants to develop 60 acres instead of the 30 acres Great Wolf had negotiated for before indicating essentially they wanted to think about it for a while.
The second suitor reportedly wants to add numerous other family recreation features such as bowling, some amusement rides and other entertainment features that Great Wolf doesn’t offer. The other firm negotiating to operate the resort also reportedly would make it possible for non-guests to also access the indoor and outdoor waterparks.
The environmental approvals have been secured for a 500-room  resort complete with a 75,000-square-foot indoor water park, a 15,000-square-foot outdoor waterpark, 37,500 square feet of restaurants and a 30,000-square-foot conference center .
The new player needs more land to make the investment work for them. That could mean if they ultimately are the operator their long term plans beyond the first phase may call for significantly more than the 200 to 300 additional rooms that Great Wolf envisioned in a future phase.
McWhinney is expected to present an update on the progress of negotiations to the Manteca City Council  at a meeting in the coming weeks.

Sleep Train moving
to East Yosemite
The Sleep Train is apparently pulling out of the Stadium Retail Center anchored by Kohl’s.
Plans have been submitted to the Manteca Community Development Department to build a new store for the mattress retailer between Panera Bread and Manteca Bowling & Family Fun Center in East Yosemite Avenue.
The project also includes a restaurant with a drive-thru window. The developer hasn’t let on who they have lined up. Given that Panera Bread has a drive up window and they are categorized as a fast casual dining option the new concern might not be a traditional fast food restaurant.

Manteca firefighters
battling Kern wildfire
Manteca Fire has sent their first strike team to battle blazes as California’s wildfire season picks up steam.
The four-man crew has been dispatched to Kern County near Lake Isabella where they are now two active major fires. They  left on Friday and aren’t expcted to return before Monday morning.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com