Author Archives: Jaime Shaw

Is It Your Time to Paint?

The artists of the Goleta Valley Art Association invite you to unleash your inner artist and learn about your art community.

Each month in the “before Covid time”, members of the Goleta Valley Art Association showed their works of art at the Goleta Library Multi-Purpose room. Now, as we look forward to a time when we can gather together again, we encourage you to take up a paint brush and join us. The pandemic didn’t stop us: we’ve mounted three successful online shows, have “gathered” via Zoom to share our work in progress, continue to have a robust monthly newsletter filled with information about classes, techniques, awards, other local opportunities for art, and more. But most importantly, we’ve kept painting.

You can see the latest work from local artists on our website as well as information on how you can participate: https://www.thegoletavalleyartassociation.org/about-us.html

Whether you are an artist or are just curious about art – you will be inspired by your friends and neighbors who are the heart of your art community.

Pictured: Painting by Janet Hart

Winter Bird Count 4 Kids A Success

Santa Barbara Audubon Society (SBAS) protects area birdlife and habitat and connects people with birds through education, conservation, and community science. We thank the City of Goleta for helping to conserve our unique open spaces and for continued support of SBAS’s annual Winter Bird Count 4 Kids (WBC4K), one of our key education and community science outreach programs. SBAS is excited to bring the joys and wonderment of birds to young families filled with aspiring naturalists. 

This year, due to Covid guidelines, we pivoted the WBC4K from our traditional in-person group gathering to a “socially distanced” event, where individual families went birding at Lake Los Carneros on their own schedules. We were thrilled by the tremendous community enthusiasm for the modified program. Within twenty-four hours, 100 participants were preregistered. Within three days, all 200 spots were full. The majority of families have children who attend schools in Goleta. Participants received a Birding Checklist to identify birds at Lake Los Carneros, a Bird Bingo card, a signature Santa Barbara Audubon Society t-shirt, and other educational and fun goodies. For those who missed registration, the Bird Checklist and Bingo are available on our website. We thank our fearless event co-leaders, Judy Blue and Joan Cotich, and other Audubon volunteers for their tireless work making this event a success.

We are truly fortunate to have all this birding action right here in our own Goleta backyard. We appreciate the City of Goleta for sharing the beauty of Goleta birding with our community and for providing a grant to support our growing WBC4K. Goodland readers, we invite you to watch our new video Why are Birds Important? and learn more at https://santabarbaraaudubon.org.

Pictured: Councilmember Stuart Kasdin and his son participating in the Winter Bird Count 4 Kids event.

MTD Seeks Public Input, Resumes Fare Collection May 10th

Throughout the pandemic, Santa Barbara MTD has continued to provide robust public transit service throughout the South Coast, and the essential workers of Goleta have remained dedicated riders. MTD’s dedication to maintaining the health and safety of passengers and bus operators has not wavered, and COVID-19 best practices are still in effect. While service on certain lines serving a few neighborhoods and the closed campuses of SBCC and UCSB have been suspended over the past year, the lion’s share of bus service has stayed at normal levels and ridership is now on the rise. In an effort to continue operations and restore service as the economy reopens, MTD will soon collect fares again and is proposing service changes to go into effect in August 2021.

Santa Barbara MTD recently reopened the renovated Transit Center in Downtown Santa Barbara in anticipation of resuming fare collection on Monday, May 10th, 2021. On that day, buses will return to traditional front door boarding and fares will be required to board. Fares are the same as they were pre-pandemic–$1.75 for adults and youth, and $0.85 for seniors 62+ and riders with disabilities. Riders are encouraged to get their passes before the 10th, in order to avoid a rush.

In addition to returning to fare collection, MTD is currently seeking input on its annual proposed service changes. The public is encouraged to learn more about the proposals and to weigh in by taking a brief survey. There is also a virtual community meeting on these changes scheduled for Tuesday, May 11, 2021 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. To take the survey (in English or Spanish) and to register for the virtual meeting, visit https://sbmtd.gov/servicechanges.

For questions about service changes, bus fares, and bus safety, the public can call 805-963-3364.

Be Water Aware for National Water Safety Month and Year-Round

While May is officially National Water Safety Month, it’s important to be water aware year-round. Swimming is one of life’s great pleasures. It offers many health and fitness benefits, cools you off in the summer, and provides a great opportunity to socialize with family and friends. Make sure you and yours stay safe in the water by being water aware. Follow these safety tips from the World Waterpark Association:

  • Learn to swim: Swimming Lesson Save Lives.™  The best thing anyone can do to stay safe in and around the water is to learn to swim. This includes both adults and children. Note: The American Academy of Pediatrics now supports swimming classes after the age of 1 if the child is emotionally and developmentally ready.
  • Never leave children unattended: Parents are the first line of defense in keeping kids safe in the water. Never leave children unattended near water, not even for a minute. If your child’s in the water, you should be too! Constant, careful supervision and barriers such as pool fencing are necessary even when children have completed swimming classes.
  • Wear a life jacket: If you or a family member is a weak or non-swimmer, wear a life vest. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about and many facilities provide them at no charge.
  • Read all posted signs: Follow posted safety rules and warnings. Teach kids that being safe in and around the water is a personal responsibility – yours and theirs.
  • Never swim alone or in unsupervised places: Teach your children to always swim with a buddy. 
  • Look for lifeguards: It is always best to swim in an area supervised by lifeguards, but remember, lifeguards are the last line of defense when all other layers of protection fail.
  • Don’t drink alcohol: Avoid alcoholic beverages before or during swimming, boating or engaging in other water-related activities. Never drink alcohol while supervising children around water. Teach teenagers about the danger of drinking alcohol while swimming or boating.
  • Spit it out: Teach kids not to drink the pool water. To prevent choking, never chew gum or eat while swimming, diving or playing in water.
  • Avoid water wings: Do not use air-filled swimming aids (such as “water wings”) in place of life jackets or life preservers with children. Using air-filled swimming aids can give parents and children a false sense of security. These air-filled aids are toys and are not designed to be personal-flotation devices.
  • Watch out for the dangerous “too’s”: Don’t get too tired, too cold, too far from safety, exposed to too much sun or experience too much strenuous activity. Don’t take chances by overestimating your swimming skills.
  • Note the weather: Pay attention to local weather conditions and forecasts. Stop swimming at the first indication of bad weather.
  • Use sunscreen: Apply sunscreen on all exposed skin to ensure maximum skin protection. Hats, visors and shirts are recommended to prevent overexposure.
  • Keep toddlers in shallow play areas: Zero-depth entry pools have water games, sprays and fountains with no appreciable water depth.
  • Follow age & Height instructions as well as health restrictions: Restrictions apply to many rides and attractions at pools and waterparks.  Size and coordination is critical to safety inside open water flumes.  Guests with neck or back problems, heart conditions, prevalence toward motion sickness or pregnancy should not ride high-speed or rapid-descent rides.
  • Use plastic swim diapers: Many parks require them. Note where changing areas are located and use these designated, sanitized changing spots.

National Water Safety Month is an annual awareness campaign coordinated by the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance with support from the American Red Cross, National Recreation and Park Association and World Waterpark Association. For more information go to https://nwsm.phta.org/.

Don’t Be a Crime of Opportunity Victim

The Goleta Police Department is reminding residents that there are criminals out there looking for crimes of opportunity. To avoid becoming a victim, please be vigilant about locking your doors to both your residence and vehicles. 

Goleta Chief of Police, Sheriff’s Lt. Rich Brittingham said, “Typically, thieves are looking for crimes of opportunity and unlocked vehicles or residences are easy targets.  Just the simple act of locking your car and home is enough of a deterrent to cause some thieves to move on and to prevent the crime from occurring.”

The Goleta Police Department wants to take this opportunity to remind residents to:

  • Always lock your car and residence.
  • Close your windows.
  • Never leave valuables in plain sight. Lock all valuables in your vehicle’s trunk or take them with you.
  • Remove personal information such as a driver’s license from unattended vehicles.
  • Always take your keys with you after you park your vehicle.
  • Do not use spare keys hidden on or in your vehicle. Consider a spare key in your wallet instead.
  • Park and lock your vehicle in your garage whenever possible.
  • Remove or hide your garage remote when you leave your vehicle unattended.
  • If you have a car or residential alarm, set it.

To report suspicious subjects or vehicles, call 911. If you have any information regarding thefts from autos or residences, please contact the Sheriff’s Office at 805-683-2724 or to leave an anonymous tip call 805-681-4171.

The City of Goleta contracts with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office for police services.

The Green Room: Landscaping and Gardening

Spring is here and it’s a great time to spruce up your garden! Here are some tips for an eco-friendly and stormwater friendly garden:

  • Consider plants that attract beneficial insects to your garden.
  • Go Native: Native plants are low-water, fertilizer and pesticide users. They require little maintenance and they provide habitat for local wildlife.
  • Be Careful of Invasive Plants: Some semi-arid exotic plants grow like crazy. This seems great for your garden however, some can take over wild native plants that keep our watersheds healthy and provide habitat and food for wildlife. Here are a few examples of invasive plants: Pampus Grass, Fountain Grass, ice plant, etc.
  • One way to save water is to transform your landscape to a more water wise garden. It is important to put in plants that do not need a lot of water and are climate appropriate. Learn about sustainable landscaping here.
  • Use mulch: Mulch is a great ground covering that retains water in the soil so you can water less. Using mulch in your landscape also helps control weeds and reduces erosion on slopes.
  • Use less toxic alternatives to herbicides or pesticides. Find out how to manage pests naturally with our Healthy Garden Guide in English and Spanish.
  • Follow manufacturer’s instructions and do not apply pesticides or herbicides within 48 hours of predicted rain, or when wind speeds are above five miles per hour.
  • Mix or use only what you need; more chemicals are not better.
  • Use a funnel and handle gasoline, diesel, oil, and grease carefully when using landscaping equipment.
  • Do not blow leaves, grass clippings, and dirt into street or storm drain inlets; instead, sweep it up and dispose of it in the correct container.
  • Lawns can look beautiful without using pesticides and fertilizers. The tips in our Beautiful Lawn Guide in English and Spanish will help you maintain a healthy and beautiful lawn that can outcompete weeds and other lawn pests.
  • Don’t forget you can direct gutter downspouts away from pavement and into vegetation, or install a rain barrel, or create a rain garden to capture run-off and conserve water!

Find more information about eco-friendly practices at home on our website and check out our Homeowner’s Guide to Best Management Practices (BMPs) in English and Spanish, and our Gardener’s Guide to Clean Water in English and Spanish.

New Environmental Services Webpages

The City of Goleta Environmental Services Division is pleased to announce the complete re-design of the Environmental Services webpages! Our new pages are intuitive, user-friendly, and packed full of great information for our community. Explore our stormwater and solid waste programs and services, check out our Creek and Watershed Management Plan, and learn about sustainability and climate adaptation for a cleaner, greener Goleta. The new webpages have something for everyone! For example, find how to recycle certain items, learn when there are free bulky item collection events, discover how you can protect our creeks and oceans, stay in the know about upcoming green events, check out our Green Business Program, learn about stormwater requirements for construction, and browse many more additional resources.

Our mission in the Environmental Services Division is to help create a clean, sustainable Goleta through watershed protection and responsible materials management (recycle, reduce, reuse), while complying with environmental regulations. Our new webpages provides our community with resources and tools to help protect our ocean and watersheds, and to reduce, reuse, and recycle, with the ultimate goal of zero waste. Visit the pages now at https://www.cityofgoleta.org/city-hall/public-works/environmental-services.

Pictured: City of Goleta Environmental Services Coordinator Melissa Nelson participating in Coastal Clean-Up Day

Get Outside: Stay Active and Visit the EZ Bike Pop-Up at Goleta City Hall

As spring rolls in, and the days are getting longer and warmer, it’s the perfect time to get outside and enjoy the fresh air. One great way to get around and take advantage of the beautiful Goleta weather is through the means of active transportation. Active transportation refers to any human-powered method of travel, which generally includes walking, bicycling or skating to get from one place to the next. Not only does it improve public health and physical activity, but it also reduces transportation costs, greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion. There are fun events going on through the month of May that allow Goleta residents to try out new forms of active transportation! In the coming months, keep an eye out for an opportunity to provide your feedback through a community wide survey on a Goleta bike share program.

How can I get involved?

Experience the joys of biking during the whole month of May, as we celebrate the 12th annual CycleMAYnia Bike Month on the South Coast. This year’s activities include both online presentations and in-person physically-distanced bike rides and small outdoor group activities. Community members can join a Bike to Nature Ride or demo electric bikes at the EZ-Bike Pop-Up, hosted by the City of Goleta and EZ Bike Project on May 8. Other activities throughout the month include Taco Tuesday e-bike demos, City Cycling Skills online class, an outdoor bike-in movie, and a Mother’s Day bike ride. Go to CycleMAYnia.org for a full listing of the Bike Month activities, or click here for a flyer with all of the fun activities.

The EZ Bike Project, a new electric bicycle (e-bike) demo program operated by SBCAG Traffic Solutions, offers a wide range of free e-bike demos of various models to local residents and commuters as a measure to reduce traffic and air pollution in Santa Barbara County. During May, Goleta residents can test ride these bikes on Saturday May 8 at Goleta City Hall (130 Cremona Drive, Suite B) or in downtown Santa Barbara on a “Taco Tuesday” demo day. Resuming in June, you can borrow an e-bike over the weekend to ride around your neighborhood, take it to work, the market or any other errands, and even to the beach! Those interested in participating in an EZ-Bike event or reserving an e-bike must either live or work in Santa Barbara County and can visit www.EZBike.org to sign-up.

Pictured: Electric bicycles with a view, photo by Steve Miley

City Receives $3 Million Highway Safety Improvement Grant

The City of Goleta is pleased to announce that we have been awarded a $3,120,100 Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) grant from Caltrans for our Citywide Systemic Traffic Signal Upgrade Project. The work includes upgrading and modernizing existing city traffic signals including retroreflective back plates, advanced dilemma zone detection, LPIs, cabinets, controllers, BBS, and 12-inch LED lenses at various locations throughout the City.

Public Works is working with our Caltrans Division of Local Assistance Engineer (DLAE) to submit the paperwork for the funding allocation and begin the work. Once the funding allocation process is complete, the City will issue a Request for Qualifications/Request for Proposals (RFQ/RFP) from firms, review, evaluate, and recommend the best team to assist the City in designing the upgrades. The replacements/upgrades will follow once the designs and equipment are completed.  

For the HSIP grant, Caltrans selected 266 projects total $227.6 million out of 429 applications. The HSIP program is part of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST) signed into law on December 4, 2015, and is a core federal-aid program to States for the purpose of achieving a significant reduction in fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads. The HSIP funding is State-only funds (and not Federal funds). 

Click here to view the approved project list.

Pictured: Example of a newer traffic signal installed by the City of Goleta

Old Town Sidewalk Project Receives Top Honors Again

The City of Goleta’s Old Town Sidewalk Improvement Project continues to receive award recognition. It recently took home the Project of the Year Award from the American Public Works Association Year in the Transportation $2-5 Million category for projects completed in the 2020 year. Earlier this year it received the American Society of Civil Engineers Santa Barbara-Ventura Branch’s (ASCE SBV) 2021 Project of the Year award.

The project, which was completed in 2020 on time and under budget, improves the safety and livability for residents in one of the area’s most disadvantaged communities by providing a continuous sidewalk path of travel on 10 residential streets in Old Town Goleta. The work included constructing sidewalks for several residential streets in the neighborhood north of Hollister Avenue between South Fairview Avenue and Mallard Avenue, as well as on Pine Avenue south of Hollister Avenue. Additionally, the project improved drainage, reconstructed driveways, constructed ADA curb ramps, replaced or relocated trees and repaved streets. After a request from the community and direction from City Council, 39 back-in angled parking spots were added on Magnolia Avenue.

Watch our video on the completion of this project here.

Key personnel involved from the City of Goleta included James Winslow, P.E., Teresa Lopes, P.E. and James Campero, P.E.