Santa Paula Blog

City is conducting a survey to determine extent of flood damage to businesses from storms in mid-January. Please complete the form (PDF) and fax back to City by 12 Noon Thursday. For further information contact the City's Economic Development Department at 805-525-2873.

The 68th Annual Santa Paula Art and Photography Show opens Tuesday at the
Blanchard/Santa Paula Public Library. The annual show reception and awards
ceremony is Saturday February 19 from 4 PM to 7 PM.

Details on the show and a short history of the show can be found on the web.

There are few continuous community events in Ventura County that are almost
70 years old. This is one of those gems of Santa Paula that is often
overlooked.

Today is the day every year the life of Saint Paula is celebrated in the Catholic Church.

Saint Paula was born in 347 in Rome. She was the mother of five children and widowed at the age of 32. She spent the rest of her life helping the poor and is the patron saint of widows. She died in 404.

I have never found a record as to why our fair city was named after Saint Paula, but I hope everyone takes a moment today to remember her.

The City's audited annual financial statement as of June 30, 2004 is now on the website in PDF format.

Mayor Mary Ann Krause gave the 2005 State of the City Address at the Chamber of Commerce's annual awards dinner Saturday night. The text of the speech can be found on our website. The speech was videotaped and will be replayed on January 25 at 4:00 PM, January 26 at 6:00 PM and before each Council rebroadcast in February on Adelphia Cable Channel 10 in Santa Paula.

1. Consideration of 2005-2009 Redevelopment Agency Implementation Plan.
Every RDA must adopt an implementation plan of projects and initiatives
every five years. This plan continues current efforts and expands efforts
on retail retention and attraction.

2. Consideration of adding items to City's Vision Implementation Plan.
The City Council approved an implementation plan for the Citywide Vision
Plan a few months ago. The citizen oversight committee charged with
overseeing the plan is recommending adding additional items.

3. Consideration of taking on the County's role in the senior nutrition
program. The County is getting out of the business of providing senior
lunches and the cities in the county are now being asked by the Area Agency
on Aging to take over. Staff is recommending that we get into this
business, with funding provided by the Aging Agency.

At its January 12, 2005 meeting, the Santa Paula City Council directed the
City Attorney to prepare the necessary legal property documents to have
ownership of The Mill cooperatively transferred to the City and the Santa
Paula Community Fund. The City Attorney and City Manager were also
directed to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding with the Santa Paula
Community Fund for the joint restoration of The Mill. The City Attorney
was also directed to not take any action to enforce the Writ against The
Mill that might result in the forcible taking of the property until
receiving further direction of the City Council. City hopes that the
property transfer and MOU will be completed in February. In the meantime,
City staff will be working on preparing a grant application to the Ventura
County Transportation Commission for the costs associated with the
restoration of The Mill.

The City Council meeting of Wednesday January 12 will be rebroadcast on Adelphia Channel 10 in Santa Paula on Thursday January 13 at 6:00 PM and Monday January 17 at 6:30 PM.
The meeting of Tuesday January 18 will be rebroadcast on Wednesday January 19 at 4:00 PM and Thursday January 20 at 6:00 PM.

The City of Santa Paula is soliciting interested individuals to serve on The Mill Preservation Advisory Committee. This seven member committee will be made up of two members of the City Council, one member of the Hengehold family (selected by the family), three Santa Paula residents and one Santa Paula business owner. Individuals interested in serving on the committee should contact the City Clerk's office at 933-4208 or by e-mail at info@ci.santa-paula.ca.us no later than Friday, January 28, 2005. For further information, please contact the City Clerk's Office.

A list of City accomplishments for 2004 are posted here on our website.

The City has issued a boil water notice for the area North of Bridge Road and Steckle Park ( 10 services including RV park) and the water services (13) off Santa Paula Street. Notices were hand delivered on Monday to each residence.

Santa Paula Street Customers
Water service was back on for the 13 residence off Santa Paula Street as of Monday evening at 6:00 pm. These customers are still under the boil water notice until water test results are available. We expect the test results to be available from the Lab by this afternoon. This morning Public Works is going door to door to each of these residence to remind them of the boil water notice until further notice. We will keep the County and State Health Department up to date on the results of the tests.

Bridge Road to Steckle Park
The Case Water storage tank that serves this area was completed drained due to a pipeline break as a result of the high river flow that washed out a private road located at 5682 Pine Grove in the Steckle Park area. On Monday City crews were able to isolate the break by closing valves. On Monday, boil water notices were hand delivered to the customers in this area. On Tuesday, Caltrans allowed passage along Hwy 150 to Public Works personnel and a contractor (J.H. Engineering from Camarillo) to reach the pipeline break to assess the damage. Also, Public Works hand delivered each residence five gallons of water in this area. The contractor came up with a solution and stated that he could start Wednesday morning.

The contractor plans to arrive about 9:30 am to the site to begin work. Public Works will distribute more bottled water to the residence of this area. The level of the Santa Paula Creek (River) has gone down at the pipeline break location. This will help the contract during the repair. the contractor will have to remove rocks and trees brought down by the river to stabilize the area for doing the repair work.

1. Consider creating an advisory committee to advise the City in the
preservation of The Mill.

2. Receive a status report on the implementation of the City Council's
housing creation goals and Housing Element priority policies
implementation. 33 affordable units were constructed in Santa Paula in
2004, with 110 units approved for construction in 2004.

3. Consider adopting a job creation strategy for the City of Santa
Paula. Staff is recommending a strategy that incorporates a recent report
from the Workforce Investment Board of Ventura County to focus City and
Redevelopment Agency resources on "high paying jobs." The full WIB report
can be found at http://www.wib.ventura.org

4. Consider scheduling two "Town Hall Meetings" to allow for greater
citizen participation in City issues.

The Wednesday edition of the Santa Paula Times will be delayed. The paper, which is printed in Santa Barbara, can not be delivered to Santa Paula because of continued closure of Highway 101 between Ventura and Santa Barbara. Paper will be delivered as soon as possible.

Tonight's Santa Paula City Council meeting has been postponed due to expected severe weather overnight and the need for staff to remain on duty in their emergency operations roles. The meetings (a special 5:00 PM closed session and special 6:30 PM general business meeting) will occur instead on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 at the same times in the Council Chambers.

Santa Paula High School will be closed Tuesday, January 11 and will re-open Wednesday, January 12.

City Emergency Operations Center has been scaled back for the evening. Santa Paula sustained only moderate damages throughout the day. A mobile home at 3672 Ojai Rd. fell into Santa Paula Creek when the ground beneath it collapsed. There were also various minor landslides along hillsides in the City. Only one home on View Drive sustained a major slide when the retaining wall below their patio collapsed. Police and Fire will be monitoring the City throughout the night including the flood levels of the Santa Clara River and Santa Paula Creek.

The City opened its Emergency Operations Center at 10:45 AM. Four fire engine companies, four public works crews and six police units are 0n-duty. There have been voluntary evacuations of homes of Fuchia and Dana Drive. We are closely watching Santa Paula Creek and the Santa Clara River. For further info, call the City's EOC at 933-4252.

To stay on top of weather in Santa Paula, go to:

http://www.spweather.net

Santa Paula residents can now have their City utility bills (refuse, water and sewer) each month deducted automatically from their bank accounts. To begin this service customers must complete an enrollment form and return it, along with a voided cancel check, to the City's Finance Department. To receive an enrollment form or to get further information on the program, please call 525-4478 or go here (PDF File) on the City's website.

Vice Mayor Rick Cook was elected Chair of VRSD this morning for 2005.

Information is available here on this year's show, one of the oldest juried art shows in California happening February 1 -23, 2005.

The City Council schedule for meetings through May, 2005 is now posted on-line. This includes a series of workshops on the proposed Fagan Canyon development. These meetings will be held at the Community Center.

Beginning this month, the replay of Santa Paula City Council meetings on
Adelphia Cable Channel 10 in Santa Paula will now be the same week as the
live City Council meeting. Previously, the meetings were played back the
following week.

Meetings will be replayed on Tuesdays at 4 PM and Thursdays at 6 PM. If
the City Council meets on Tuesday, the meeting will be replayed on
Wednesday at 4 PM. This new schedule will begin this week with the replay
of the Monday January 3, 2005 City Council meeting.

Please check our blog at http://www.santapaulablog.org for the appropriate
replay schedules for instances where the City Council meets more than once
in a week.

1. Creation of "The Mill Preservation Advisory Committee." Committee would be seven members: two City Council members, member of family currently which currently owns The Mill, three members of Santa Paula community and one member of Santa Paula business community. Committee would advise the City Council on future uses of the building.
2. Consider authoring legislation in the California Legislature to have Caltrans place "Santa Paula Freeway" signs at the interchange of State Highway 126 and I-5 and Highway 126 and U.S. 101. Also to place additional signs along State Highway 126 noting designation as Santa Paula Freeway. Highway named after Santa Paula by California Legislature in 1967.

The City Council held 48 meetings in 2004. With the occasional special meeting held earlier than 5:30 PM (when there would be a special meeting and regular meeting on same night), the Council met on 43 separate days in 2004.

In 2003, the City Council had 65 meetings, held on 45 separate days. In early 2004, the Council changed its rules to allow certain business at 5:30 PM before the regular 6:30 PM meeting on the same agenda. Had this rule been in effect in 2003, there would have been 20 fewer meetings.