Santa Paula Blog

The City Council took action on the following items:

1. Directed staff to work with our Washington DC lobbyists for flood relief assistance for Santa Paula Creek and Santa Paula Airport.

2. Approved Ventura Council of Governments proposed by-laws and legislative agenda.

The CBS TV series "JAG" will be in Santa Paula filming on Tuesday, March 1. They will be filming on the 700 block of Santa Paula Street on Tuesday morning and at the Oil Museum Tuesday afternoon.

The City Council took action on the following items:

1. Approved fee increases in Planning, Building and Safety and Fire
Departments. Delayed action on increases to Police Department fees pending
additional information.

2. Approved 41 unit affordable housing project at 622 E. Main Street.

3. Approved transfer of the City's property rights in The Mill to the
Ventura County Transportation Commission and authorized City Manager and
City Attorney to negotiate an amendment to ground lease for railroad right
of way property to remove The Mill property from the lease.

4. Extended Exclusive Right to Negotiate with the New Group LLC through
March 31, 2005 to develop a retail project on site of current City Hall.

The Santa Paula Fire Department will be having a grand re-opening of their
Fire Station 2 on Saturday, February 26, 2005 at 11:00 AM at the fire
station located on Main Street, just west of Steckle Drive and the Santa
Paula Community Center. The ceremonies will include a ribbon cutting by ax
by the Santa Paula City Council and a review of the City's firefighters in
their dress uniforms. At the conclusion of the ceremony, there will be an
open house for the public.

On February 1, the City began staffing Fire Station 2 full-time,
twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, for the first time since the
station was built in 1988. This is being done using three full-time Fire
Captains and newly appointed Reserve Firefighters. The Reserve
Firefighters replace the long time use of "Paid Call" Firefighters to
supplement the resources of Fire Station 1, which is staffed by three
full-time firefighters around the clock. Last December, the City Council
made budget cuts and revenue enhancements of almost $300,000 to open
Station 2 full-time.

A lot of activity today in providing assistance to Santa Paula Airport.
The National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), a unit of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, seems to be the best bet for significant
assistance at the airport. Their representatives met with Fire Chief Paul
Skeels this morning and again this afternoon with representatives from the
Airport Association, SP Public Works Director Cliff Finley and Jeff Pratt,
the head of the Ventura County Watershed Management Agency. The NRCS could
be able to provide 75% of funding for long-term riverbank improvements.
The County has tentatively volunteered to be the local sponsor of the
project and maybe able to to provide the remaining 25% match.

Pratt from the Watershed Management Agency also pledged to fund $15,000 for
a pilot channel diversion in the River that could happen as soon as
tomorrow. Kudos to the County of Ventura from Supervisor Long to Mr. Pratt
for their creative thinking and fast action today. Congressman Gallegly
toured the airport today and we owe him a debt of gratitude for the great
response fo NRCS.

While all of this was going on, SP Deputy Public Works Director Rene Salas
was busy working with the Watershed Management Agency and the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers on their plans for a pilot channel in Santa Paula Creek
and debris removal in the Creek. These projects seem to be picking up
momentum.

Assemblymember Audra Strickland is scheduled for a visit tomorrow to the
Airport. VCTC Executive Director Ginger Gherradi has been in touch with
potential funding options for the Airport improvements.

City staff has been doing an outstanding job as a facilitator between all
the various parties involved in the Creek and Airport issues. Things look
a lot brighter today than 24 hours ago. FYI.

As of 9:30 AM, much of the City is doing fine. What is not fine is Santa Paula Airport. The airport is experiencing substantial erosion. City staff is working with the Airport Association to stem tide as best as possible. Work will be required once the Santa Clara River subsides.

1. Consideration of a series of fee increases to help support Council
budget adjustments in December to support increased Fire services.
Increases include fees from Planning, Building and Safety, Fire and Police.
In particular, Police fees will increase by $35,000 annually.

2. Consider final approval of 41 unit afffordable housing development on
Main Street.

3. Final disposition of The Mill.

4. Consider extension of exclusive right to negotiate through March with
developer looking to develop existing City Hall site for retail
development.

5. Midyear budget report. Things are tight, but not expecting any
deficits at this point.

Mayor Krause was on radio station KCLU's Crosstalk program this morning to
discuss the "West Wing" and other issues. FYI.

As of 10 AM Saturday morning, we seem to be doing OK. Three public works crews are out cleaning storm drains and catch basins. Mud moving around in places, but nothing significant. There is a sink hole at intersection of Glade and Dana (about four foot wide and deep). Staff assessing how best to handle at this point.

12th Street Bridge remains closed. County Public Works wants engineers to look at some erosion around supports of bridge. As of 9 AM, water was higher than area that needs to be investigated, so bridge will remain closed.

The County of Ventura has released information about a disaster recovery center now open. Document is in PDF format and can be found on the Sheriff's Department website

The City has started a website to keep the community informed on the proposed Fagan Canyon development. It can be found at: http://www.ci.santa-paula.ca.us/fagancanyon

The first of the joint workshops with the City Council and the Planning Commission on the Fagan Canyon development, to be held on Tuesday February 15 at 6:30 PM at the Community Center, will be shown live on Adelphia Cable Channel 10 and replayed on Thursday February 17 at 6:00 PM and Sunday February 20 at 1:00 PM.

The City Council took the following actions at their meeting Monday night:

1. Directed the City Attorney to file suit against SP West LLC to
recover costs owed to the City related to mobilehome rent control matters.

2. Directed the City Manager and City Attorney to prepare appropriate
documents to bring issues related to The Mill to a conclusion for February
15, 2005 meeting.

3. Directed the City Manager to return to the City Council in March with
funding strategies for hiring two additional police officers and
identifying funds for salary increases for all employees. The City Council
reviewed suggestions for budget reductions and revenue enhancements and
asked the City Manager to return with an analysis of the selected
suggestions in March.

4. Adopted on ordinance imposing a 45 day moratorium on condominium
approvals and condominium conversions.

5. Continued item on appointments to The Mill Preservation Advisory
Committee to February 15, 2005 meeting.

6. Directed the City Manager to arrange for 4th of July fireworks for
2005 and begin a fundraising campaign to recover costs of event.

7. Approved request from Assemblymember Audra Strickland for use of City
Hall office space two or three days a month.

The Skate Park is closed because it has been hit with graffiti this weekend. The skate park will be re-opened for use on Thursday, (2/10). A sign has been placed within the skate park notifying the public.

The Santa Paula Kiwanis Club and the City of Santa Paula are sponsoring a
contest for the design of the poster for this year's annual Citrus
Festival, America's largest celebration of oranges, lemons and avocados.
This year's 38th annual festival will be held July 15-17, 2005 at Santa
Paula's Harding Park.

Artists, young and old, are invited to submit entries. The deadline for
submitting entries is Friday, March 18, 2005. The prize for the winning
entry has been increased this year to $500.00 to attract a greater range of
entries.

For further information, please call 805-525-4968 or check the festival's
website at www.santapaulafestival.org

The City of Santa Paula has proposed to the television program, "The West
Wing," to have one of their characters who is running for President hail
from Santa Paula. Actor Alan Alda has recently joined the cast of "The
West Wing" as Senator Arnold Vinick from California. Vinick is running for
President to succeed the character played by Martin Sheen on the program.
On the January 26, 2005 episode of "The West Wing" the Alda character in a
speech mentioned that he grew up in an area that produced citrus. In the
eyes of Santa Paula Mayor Mary Ann Krause, that could be only one place:
Santa Paula.

The Mayor sent a letter to Alan Alda and "The West Wing" Executive Producer
John Wells on January 28 offering Santa Paula as Senator Vinick's hometown.
The Mayor also sent Alda a box full of Santa Paula related t-shirts,
sweatshirts and a Santa Paula High School baseball cap to wear on the
program. In addition, the Mayor sent a box of oranges from the Limoneira
Company to Alda, Wells and the writing staff of the program.

Last Friday, the Mayor received a letter from Lauren Schmidt, a writer on
"The West Wing" thanking the Mayor for the writer's oranges. In her letter
Schmidt said, "We are still in the process of developing his (Alda's)
character, and thus, are not ready to commit ourselves to all the intricate
details of his past. However, we will definitely keep Santa Paula in mind,
if we ever take a journey back to Vinick's home for campaign events."

The City of Santa Paula plans to keep up its campaign to be the home of the
next President of United States.

1. Update on efforts to re-open Highway 150 and repairs and cleanup to
Santa Paula Creek and Santa Clara River.

2. Discussion on increased funding for Police and Fire Services.
Council made approximately $300,000 in budget reallocations in December to
the Fire Department and left $115,000 in abeyance for future funding
decisions. Staff is asking for direction on expenditure of these funds.

3. Consideration of moratorium on Condominium conversion.

4. Appointments to The Mill Preservation Advisory Committee.

5. Discussion of alternate funding for 4th of July fireworks. Council
cut funding for fireworks as part of December budget reallocations.

6. Consider request of Assemblymember Audra Strickland for use of City
Hall for office space two or three times a month.

More detailed information is now available from our Building and Safety Department on home improvements. The "Help for the Homeowner" site provides detailed information and diagrams for various home improvements that require a building permit.

The New York Times ran an interesting article last week on changes in the lemon industry and the place our very own Limoneira Company holds in these changes. You must register on the NYT website to see the article.