Santa Paula Blog

The City Council hired the executive search firm of Bob Murray and Associates Monday to conduct the search for the new City Manager. Information about the recruitment process and info on how to apply can be found on the Bob Murray and Associates website.

I have received several inquiries about the work being done at Laurie Lane and Harvard Boulevard. It is a staging area for the contractor that is working on water pipeline project in the area.

Continental Wind Power announced today that they have chosen the City of Santa Paula to locate their wind turbine manufacturing plant. They plan to open office space here in the next month or so and announce the specific location of their new plant in the next 60-90 days. The plant should generate 300 jobs over the next few years. In addition, they are encouraging their supplies to locate facilities in Santa Paula as well. The plan should be operational sometime next year.

1. Council will interview executive search firms to select one to conduct the recruitment of the new City Manager.

2. The Council says thank you and good luck to the following employees who will be retiring in the next few weeks: Trini Bonilla, Becky Bolanos, John Dunn, Audrey Ellington, Liz Garcia and Tony Villanueva.

3. Updates on the Citrus Festival and the Citrus Classic Balloon Festival.

4. Review of revised Plaza Amistad project (now known as "Paseo Santa Barbara). See details in this blog posting. The Council will also consider settlement agreement to end ongoing litigation with Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation.

5. Council will consider appointments to the Planning Commission and the Design Assistance Committee.

Full agenda can be found here (PDF). This is the last Council meeting until August 17, 2009.

The City of Santa Paula will not be sponsoring a fireworks display this year as we continue to work to keep the City's budget in balance during challenging financial times.

United Way of Ventura County invites the community to participate in its 2nd annual Day of Action taking place on Sunday, June 21— the longest day of the year. This event differs from United Way’s more well-known volunteer engagement activity — Day of Caring — which takes place in the fall.

Day of Action was created in 2008 by United Way of America as an opportunity for local United Ways across the country to declare their intention to improve lives in measurable and lasting ways by mobilizing people around a common goal: Advancing the Common Good. With more daylight hours than any other, June 21st is the perfect day and way to show, by example, what it means to LIVE UNITED.

This year, Day of Action will be an opportunity for Ventura County residents to support the local efforts of Ventura County Together — a new countywide coalition formed to address the increase in basic needs; specifically food, shelter and access to health care that county residents are experiencing as a result of the current economic downturn.

United Way of Ventura County is asking the community to donate any of the following items throughout the day on Sunday, June 21 for Day of Action: • Food: Tuna, canned meats, canned soups, canned beef stew, canned fruits, canned vegetables, canned beans (pop-top cans when possible) • Shelter: Personal care items for the homeless including deodorant, hand lotion, chapstick, athletic socks, diapers (especially the larger sizes) • Health: Supplies for the free clinics such as band aides, boxes of latex gloves, 2 x 2 gauze, toothbrushes, toothpaste

A large collection bins will be placed at Century 21 Buena Vista 123 N. 10th Street, Santa Paula for local dontations. For information regarding Day of Action, contact United Way of Ventura County at (805) 485-6288, ext. 226.

The City and Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation issued the following press release last night:

"The Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation and the City of Santa Paula announced today that they have reached an agreement on plans to develop the site located at 210 W. Santa Barbara Street in Santa Paula.

While the original design, known as Plaza Amistad, featured 150 units, the redesigned development, now known as Paseo Santa Barbara, will feature 90 affordable rental homes which will benefit low-income residents of Santa Paula. Paseo Santa Barbara will serve to enhance housing choices for Santa Paula residents by increasing the availability of rental housing affordable to Santa Paula’s working families, including agricultural workers. Marketing will be targeted first to residents of the City of Santa Paula. In addition, CEDC property managers will provide all City public safety employees with early notification of the opportunities to rent at Paseo Santa Barbara. The new development will increase the child care capacity in the community by providing a child care center that will serve as many as 40 children. CEDC will provide a center for after-school programs such as homework clubs, tutoring and leadership development classes, and will provide space for programs and services for local youth service organizations. The child care center site will be 0.3 acres and will be located near Paseo Santa Barbara at 141 Dean Drive.

Features of the new development include 11, two-story, Craftsman-style apartment buildings on the 6.48-acre site, and will include 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom apartments. A community center, a community park and property management offices will be located in the center of the site, surrounded by apartment buildings. Residential parking spaces will encircle the perimeter of the development.

“Through a series of meetings and good faith efforts to resolve differences on the scope of this project through mutual respect and open dialogue, we believe we’re reached a compromise that will enable CEDC to build a residential community that will benefit people in the Santa Paula area who need affordable homes in which to live and thrive,” says Tom Malley, CEDC Board Member. Mr. Malley, along with CEDC Board Member Dennis Mitchem and CEDC Real Estate Development Director Karen Flock, negotiated the settlement for CEDC. The City of Santa Paula’s negotiating team included Mayor Ralph Fernandez, Councilman Bob Gonzales and City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz.

“The community response to the initial design for the property was very clear, they wanted the density of the housing reduced. We are pleased that through negotiations with CEDC we were able to achieve this. The project now better meets the needs of the community and we will continue to work with CEDC in order to provide the best project for our City,” says City of Santa Paula Mayor Ralph Fernandez.

The project will serve the City with an economic stimulus that is much-needed in Ventura County’s current economy. The Paseo Santa Barbara development represents a total economic investment of $35 million. Additionally, CEDC has agreed to make an annual $16,727 public service fee contribution to the City of Santa Paula and will pay the following additional fees:

$1,632,000 local development impact fees to the City of Santa Paula
$1,153,676 permit fees to the City of Santa Paula
$225,000 school fees to Santa Paula elementary school district
$240,000 school fees to Santa Paula Union High school district.

The development will serve to reduce overcrowding in the City, because CEDC has agreed to work with prospective residents to identify existing substandard or overcrowded housing. Subsequently, the City could ensure that substandard housing is brought up to code and overcrowded housing conditions are not perpetuated. CEDC has successfully conducted this type of effort in other jurisdictions."

1. Public hearing on proposed increase to Water and Wastewater rates. A public notice was sent to all customers in late April and provided for a protest vote against the rate increase. In order to not allow the rates to increase, we would need to receive over 3,000 protest votes. To date, we have received about 300 protest votes.

2. Consider continuing hearing on Plaza Amistad to June 29, 2009.

3. Discussion of Santa Paula/Fillmore greenbelt amendments. The last time the City Council discussed this item, they requested additional information on the terms of other greenbelt agreements in the County and pros/cons on resolution versus ordinance greenbelt agreements.

4. Update on Santa Paula Creek dredging project.

5. Discussion of process to recruit for new City Manager.

6. Interviews to fill vacancies on the Planning Commission.

For more details on the meeting, see the full Council agenda (PDF).

Blog commenters have also asked about status of the grocery store/Super A project at 10th and the railroad. The City continues to discuss the project with the proposed developer. They are working with the area property owners to assemble the land needed for the project. No firm timeframe on next steps for the project.

I announced this week that I have accepted a position as City Manager in Evanston, Illinois. Details can be found in Evanston's press release (PDF).

Not sure about future of this blog. I need to see if the City Council would like it to continue and if I can find a staff member to take it over. I plan to start a new blog in Evanston.

I have real mixed emotions about this change. It is a great professional and personal opportunity, but I will miss Santa Paula very much. My last day in Santa Paula is July 16, so more on all this later.

Busy several days....so I am catching up on some blogging. I received several comments from posts protesting the installation of wind turbines in Santa Paula. I am sorry if I did not make clear that we are working with Continental Wind Power to locate a manufacturing facility for wind turbines in Santa Paula, not a wind farm. No plans for a wind farm within the City.

From the Santa Paula Police Department:

"Approximately two weeks ago, a mountain lion was seen at approximately 08:00 AM in the 200 block of West Main Street; Glen City School officials were notified of that sighting. The reverse 911 system was used to notify residents who lived near the area of the sighting. Since then, residents near the 200 block of West Main Street and the area of Moultrie Place have reported infrequent sightings of a mountain lion described as approximately the size of a smaller German Shepherd.

On Friday, June 4th, Police officers along with Wardens from the California Department of Fish and Game checked the area near Glen City School and discovered possible areas that could easily lend itself to conceal or offer shelter to wildlife, including mountain lions. Glen City School officials were notified of the sighting and the proximity to the school. During this canvass of the adjoining yards near Glen City School, no mountain lion was observed, nor any confirmed indication that it had made the area a permanent or temporary home.

Fish and Game Wardens asked officers to keep them informed of any movements or sightings of a mountain lion. Should a mountain lion be located that poses a threat to the public, they will respond and attempt to return the mountain lion to the wild.

On Monday morning, 6-8-09, at approximately 01:00 AM, residents on Moultrie Place observed a mountain lion in the neighborhood however it was not reported to police until daylight. Glen City School was again notified and school officials are working on procedures for ensuring safety to students.

Santa Paula Police reminds residents of Santa Paula if they see a mountain lion to remain inside their residence or vehicle and immediately dial 911; Residents are reminded to never approach or attempt to capture a mountain lion under any circumstances."

The City Council's regular meeting scheduled for Monday night has been canceled and a special meeting scheduled for Wednesday night in its place.

The Council was to have heard the Plaza Amistad project, but Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation has asked that the item be continued until the Council's next meeting on Monday June 15. With that item being continued, the only major item of discussion will be reviewing options for changes to our animal control operations. With the retirement of long time animal control officer John Dunn, Police Chief Steve MacKinnon is looking at options to save money on these services without impacting the quality of services we provide our residents in this area.

The full agenda can be found here (PDF).

The League of California Cities has started a new website to highlight the concerns of cities as the State tries to balance its budget. The website is SaveYourCity.net

The State is trying to take money from cities and counties that is protected by the State Constitution through passage of Proposition 1A a few years back. If successful, this will mean a reduction of $500,000 to Santa Paula in addition to the close to $1 million in reductions we have already taken for FY 2009/10.

My Santa Paula "Google Alert" spotted this press release about a new glass coating being introduced this week at a trade show by Abrisa Glass. Abrisa is one of the great quiet success stories in Santa Paula. They continue to expand their operations nationwide by acquiring smaller glass specialty companies as the global leader in glass fabrication and thin film optical coating. They provide some of the best paying skilled labor jobs in SP. We are glad they call Santa Paula home.