Author Archives: Valerie Kushnerov

City of Goleta and State Lands Commission Partner to Address Beach Hazards

The March 1st winter storm eroded the beach at Ellwood Mesa and Haskell’s exposing remnant oil field debris. The debris includes broken seawall boards and metal parts of abandoned piers. Since the storm, the City has been working with the State Lands Commission to evaluate and clean-up these hazards.

The Goleta City Council declared local emergency conditions and directed staff to work with the State Lands Commission to clean up the debris. Because of that emergency declaration, the City was allowed to formally seek assistance from the State Lands Commission. The Commission is supporting the clean-up efforts, and their contractor completed the work in late March/early April. The City is grateful for the Commission’s quick response to clean-up our beaches.

Love of Goleta Results in New Mural, Dam Dinner

Last spring, the City hosted a Love of Goleta workshop in which participants shared what they love about Goleta and brainstormed ideas for how to engage the community even further. (Read more here.)  Two of these ideas came to fruition – the Dam Dinner and a mural in Old Town.

The Dam Dinner, held last August, invited people to share a meal at the Lake Los Carneros Dam.  The event was a huge success and planning is already underway for the 2014 Dam Dinner scheduled for August 23rd.

The mural in Old Town Goleta was recently completed thanks to a $500 donation from the Goleta Valley Art Association.  Artist Larry Maser created a beautiful design for the east wall of Santa Cruz Market.

This new artwork is in-line with the City Council’s Strategic Plan goal to “preserve and enhance the quality of life.” This includes a desire to develop a public/cultural arts program.

What do YOU love about Goleta?  Join our Facebook conversation.

Goleta City Council Supports County’s Decision on Goleta Beach

Last month, the County Board of Supervisors took action on Goleta Beach 2.0.  The Board unanimously voted to recommend to the California Coastal Commission (CCC) to keep the rock revetment in place. The County staff will prepare an application to go before the CCC to permit these rocks that were originally placed under an emergency permit. The City had been advocating for a solution of this nature in which the rocks remained in place to protect Goleta Beach and Goleta Beach Park as public assets.

The Goleta City Council is concerned about a lack of compliance with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in the County’s decision-making process. In the interest of conserving public dollars, the Council will not pursue legal action at this time. The Council instead fully supports the County’s application and plans to actively pursue Coastal Commission approval of the County’s request.

“We are very pleased that the County Supervisors unanimously agreed on alternative 5.  Preserving the rock revetment, which has protected the beach and the park for years, is a solution that we can all support,” said Mayor Michael T. Bennett. “I look forward to working in partnership with the County to protect this important local resource.”

To read the Environmental Impact Report on the project, visit: http://www.sbcountyplanning.org/projects/11DVP-00000-00016/.

To read the City’s position on Goleta Beach communication in advance of the 3/18 meeting, visit: http://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/CAGOLETA-aad28a.

Rain, Runoff and Revisions: Stormwater Rules Changes for Development Projects

Development projects are now subject to new stormwater runoff rules. Drafted by the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, the Central Coast Post-Construction Stormwater Management requirements for development projects on the Central Coast are designed to reduce the impact to waterways from urban storm water runoff.

During rain events, urbanized areas with extensive impervious surfaces (roofs, roads, parking lots, sidewalks, etc.) can generate tremendous amounts of runoff. This runoff is concentrated and conveyed (via storm drain systems) to nearby creeks, wetlands and other water bodies in volumes, rates and duration that do not typically occur in natural settings. This can lead to streambed scouring, stream bank collapse and elevated levels of sedimentation that can harm aquatic eco-systems.

The new regulations contain tiered performance measures based upon the square footage of impervious surface area added by a project. These performance measures are cumulative, with projects in higher tiers required to implement the performance measures from lower tiers. The performance measures include site design and runoff reduction, water quality treatment, runoff retention and peak flow management.

In preparing to implement the new regulations, the County of Santa Barbara, in cooperation with the City of Goleta, developed technical guidance materials to assist the development community in designing projects that comply with the new regulations. These materials will also guide municipal planning and engineering staff on how to review project applications to ensure they are in compliance. A series of workshops on implementing the new regulations and use of the guidance materials were held in recent months.

More information on the new regulations may be found at the Central Coast Water Board’s web page and the County’s Project Clean Water web page.

Safer Routes to School and Work

The City is pleased to have completed two projects over the last month to improve pedestrian access within the City.

The Cathedral Oaks Santa Marguerita Crosswalk Improvements added a pedestrian-activated push button that will activate solar lights in the crosswalk. In addition, there was some reconfiguration of the traffic lanes. The City painted the first green lanes within Santa Barbara County. The solid green bike lane delineates the bike lane. The striped/dashed green area indicates a transition area as a second lane opens up and the bike lane moves back to the far right. The use of the green color is used to help further alert drivers that they are crossing over a bike lane. The dashed lines also give a visual cue to bicyclists warning them that vehicles may cross over the bike lane striping in these areas.

Additionally, the City completed a sidewalk project on South Patterson Avenue between Debbie Road and Hollister Avenue where there was no existing sidewalk. The City received Measure A grant funds to help fund this project to fill the gap in the sidewalk.

Patterson Sidewalk

In Goleta, your safety is important to us!

Personnel Changes Ahead For City

People are on the move in Goleta.  Two key City of Goleta staff members are in the process of making career changes, one was named to fill a vacancy on the Goleta Union School Board of Trustees and a City Council member is moving out of the City.

Public Works Director, Steve Wagner, has moved over to the Goleta Sanitary District after 11 years of service at the City of Goleta. There he will serve as the Assistant District Manager/Assistant District Engineer.  Rosemarie Gaglione has been appointed Interim Public Works Director while the City looks to permanently fill the position.

The City’s Finance Director, Tina Rivera, has accepted the Chief Financial Officer position at the United Water Conservation District in Ventura County. She will be leaving the City in mid-April after 7½ years of City service.  She has helped guide the City through difficult financial times with a prudent budget. Rivera has been recognized every year for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association.

Management Analyst Luz Reyes-Martin has been appointed to fill a vacancy on the Goleta Union School District Board of Trustees.  She was selected by the Board on a unanimous vote from a pool of six candidates.  She will fill the position through the duration of the term which ends in November 2014.

Finally, the City Council expects to have a vacancy in the near future with Councilmember Ed Easton’s decision to purchase a home outside the City limits. Once the resignation is official, the Council will determine a replacement process – likely through appointment or a special election. More information will become available as the Councilmember’s escrow process moves forward.

While these changes are significant, the City is working to create a smooth transition plan that will continue to move us forward.

Arbor Week Contest Winners Featured

Congratulations to our First Annual Arbor Day Art Contest Winners for 2014! And thank you to all who participated in this year’s event! We had a phenomenal number of submissions, and it was wonderful to see the abundance of talented artists we have in our community.

People of all ages were invited to submit four drawings or photos of their favorite trees from anywhere in the world. We received many beautiful images. Some were images of trees that have stood for centuries, some were of young trees, while others were of trees that have fallen. All of the drawings and photos carried a history and personal story that was reflected very well in each artist’s work.

The City of Goleta maintains over 6,000 street trees in addition to the trees located in the over 500 acres of parks and open spaces. The City is proud to be named Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Association for the past six years.

The winners were selected by the City’s Public Tree Advisory Commission and were honored at the March 4th City Council Meeting. Their art will continue to be featured in an exhibit in City Council Chambers for public viewing throughout the spring. We look forward to continuing this new tradition and invite everyone to participate next year.

 

Fighting for Goleta’s Tax Dollars

Lawmakers in the state capitol have repeatedly taken revenue from local government to balance state budgets over the past decade. These raids on local dollars have resulted in lower levels of services for communities throughout the State and Goleta is no different. While we have weathered these shifts, the State’s action to eliminate redevelopment agencies created a significant financial burden that demands the city re-examine the revenue structure envisioned during our incorporation.

As a condition of Goleta’s incorporation, the City of Goleta and the County of Santa Barbara were required to enter into a tax-sharing agreement called a Revenue Neutrality Agreement (RNA).  Governed by State Law, RNAs are designed to protect counties from completely losing the revenue that becomes part of the tax base for the new City.  The agreements provide a smoothing effect over a number of years to help the County transition from its reliance on those monies while the city matures its tax base to pay for its own resident’s needs.

Because they are intended to help the city and county through a transitional time, neutrality agreements generally sunset after a fixed number of years. But the agreement for Goleta is an exception in that a significant amount of local taxes are taken by the County of Santa Barbara in perpetuity. Approximately $5 million per year – or 20% of the cities entire budget – leaves Goleta and passes through to County administrators.

While the perpetual nature of this agreement with the county is unfortunate for Goleta residents, the agreement did anticipate the need to reexamine the financial arrangement if structural changes if structural changes to Goleta’s financing were to occur – which it has as a result of the state’s elimination of redevelopment funding.

The City Council will be considering the opportunity to educate the community on the current agreement and investigating ways to encourage the County of Santa Barbara to come back to the negotiating table to establish a more reasonable agreement.

State Lands Considers Venoco Project

The California State Lands Commission (CSLC) is reviewing an application by Venoco, for the recommissioning of the oil well located on what is commonly referred to as the 421 Piers adjacent to the Ellwood area of Goleta. Venoco holds a lease from CSLC for these wells and oil field, which have been inactive and shut-in since an oil spill in 1994. The PRC 421 Recommissioning Project (Project)proposes to resume oil and gas production of PRC 421

The project includes the following components:

  • Well 421-2 would be recommissioned using an existing pier (Pier 421-2) located on Haskell’s Beach adjacent to and partially within the City of Goleta;
  • Water and gas from crude oil emulsion extracted from Well 421-2 would be separated at the existing Ellwood Onshore Facility (EOF) in the City of Goleta;
  • A second well (Well 421-1), which is located on an adjacent pier (Pier 421-1), would be decommissioned and removed;
  • An oil transport line and electrical/communication cables are required to support recommissioning and would connect the Pier 421-2 with the EOF.
  • The estimated productive life of PRC 421 is a minimum of 20 years

The Revised Draft EIR was in circulation over the past several months.  City staff submitted a public comment letter on the EIR.  CSLC held a public hearing in early December and accepted written public comment through December 20.  CSLC now has the option to consider and respond to comments, hold a duly noticed public hearing and consider whether or not to certify the EIR, or request further study, alternatives and/or mitigation measures. If the EIR is certified, CSLC may consider approval of the project.

The CSLC has exclusive jurisdiction over approval of the project.  The City has no independent authority to grant or deny permission to resume oil and gas processing on the Piers or to certify or decline to certify the Revised Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR).  If Venoco receives the CSLC-required approvals for this project, the City will be required to process related permits for the portions of the project that take place within the City’s jurisdiction.

For more information on the project visit the CSLC internet website at www.slc.ca.gov (under the “Information” tab and “CEQA Updates” link).

Capital Improvement Projects Update for the New Year

2014 starts off with a bang as a number of capital improvement projects will be kicking off over the next six weeks.  Here’s an update:

Los Carneros Overhead Bridge Replacement Project – This project will replace the Los Carneros overhead bridge. The Council awarded a contract to Granite Construction on December 17 and the project will break ground this spring (weather permitting).

Pedestrian Improvements at Cathedral Oaks at Santa Marguerita – The project will construct solar powered pedestrian activated Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFBs) to provide an additional visual alert to motorists when a pedestrian wishes to cross the street. In addition to the flashing beacons, the project will also include removing the dedicated turn lane from westbound Cathedral Oaks Road to northbound Santa Marguerita Avenue, providing curb extensions at the crosswalk and install a  pedestrian refuge in the median, which will be widened to accommodate the refuge. The project will take approximately 15 working days to complete and will begin this week.

Las Vegas San Pedro Culvert Project – This Caltrans project will replace the culverts that carry Las Vegas and San Pedro Creeks under Calle Real and Highway 101 near Fairview Avenue.  While the project is underway, the Fairview northbound on-ramp is expected to be closed for 12-18 months, and the Fairview southbound on-ramp is expected to be closed for six months.  Caltrans expects to break ground in March.  The City will be working closely with Caltrans to distribute information about the project.

San Jose Creek Project – Work inside the creek has been completed and roadway improvements on South Kellogg Avenue are underway.  The project is expected to finish up this spring.

Patterson Avenue Sidewalk Infill Project – After a competitive bidding process, a construction contract was awarded to DPM Construction on December 3rd. Construction is expected to begin this month to create curb, gutter and sidewalk on the north side of Patterson Avenue between Debbie Street and Hollister Avenue.

Old Town Crosswalk Enhancements – The City Council will hear a presentation and have a discussion on proposed crosswalk enhancements on Hollister Avenue across from the Goleta Valley Community Center and on Orange Avenue at their February 4 council meeting.  The City was recently awarded $180,000 from the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) in a highly-competitive grant process.  This money will provide the funding for this important project.  Look for the Council agenda and staff report for February 4 on the City’s website at www.cityofgoleta.org.  (Information will be posted by 6 p.m. on Thursday, January 30.)

A number of other projects are moving forward and are listed on our city website at www.cityofgoleta.org.