Santa Paula Blog

There will be a ribbon-cutting for the new Harvard Place Apartments on
Thursday March 2 at 2:30 PM at the complex, 320 W. Harvard Blvd. This
is 40 unit affordable housing complex for mostly special needs residents
developed by Partners in Housing, the Santa Paula Housing Authority and
the Santa Paula Redevelopment Agency among other funders. This is a
great project that took a run down former motel and built on the site
much needed housing in the community. For further info, contact the
Santa Paula Housing Authority at 525-3339.

Today Superior Court Judge Frederick Bysshe issued a preliminary ruling upholding the City Clerk's decision to certify the referendum petition to rescind the City Council's approval of the General Plan Amendment for the Fagan Canyon project and put the issue to a vote. Judge Bysshe indicated he would issue a final ruling later in the week.

The City of Santa Paula and the Limoneira Company will be hosting a
community workshop to receive community input on master planning efforts
for the East Area One expansion area on Thursday, March 2 at 6:30 PM at
the Santa Paula Community Center.

The Limoneira Company is in the final stages of their master planning
work on approximately 500 acres east of Santa Paula prior to their
formal submittal of their development plans to the City in April. This
will begin the City's formal review of the project and the initiation of
an environmental impact report. This will be the third large public
meeting on the project for community input in the last eighteen months.
One aspect of the project to be discussed that has not yet been widely
reviewed is the 80 acres of community/educational facilities being
planned for the site. This includes a new high school and facility for
the Ventura County Community College District. While the College
District has not been directly involved in the planning, the City and
Limoneira have involved other consultants to design a layout for the
College District based on their public statements for needs if a
facility in Santa Paula is built.

The filming of new scenes for the movie "Mr. Woodcock" on Main Street has been postponed until Tuesday because of the coming rain storm. Crews have been getting ready for the film shoot for several days.

This is the movie that was here last Spring with Billy Bob Thornton and Susan Sarandon. Apparently the finished movie was screened and deemed not ready for release. The Internet says that the director was replaced by David Dobkin who directed "The Wedding Crashers." The scenes to be filmed now are to be included in the parade scenes previously done and will now include Thornton's character falling off a guerney as it hits a pot hole on Main Street. Movie folks created hole (now covered with metal plate) in front of Brownnie's Basement. Street will be properly repaired when done.

The race came through downtown at Noon. About 300 people lined the downtown streets. Great job by Santa Paula Police, Fire, Public Works and Community Services Departments with help from many other area communities and a whole group of Santa Paula volunteers.

This evening, the Santa Paula Police Department’s Traffic Unit, in cooperation with the Oxnard Police Department’s Traffic Unit, conducted a license and sobriety checkpoint. As a result of the checkpoint, Officer’s checked 984 vehicles. A total of 46 citations were issued for various California Vehicle Code sections, 15 vehicles were impounded as a result of unlicensed drivers and one arrest was made for DUI.

The checkpoint was funded through grants from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS).

Officials from the City, Elementary School District and High School District met tonight to discuss community and educational uses at the proposed Limoneira East Area One development.

A complete review of the current plan for the community will be held next Thursday night at the Community Center beginning at 6:30 PM.

In support of the "You Drink and Drive, You Lose" national DUI
enforcement and education campaign, the Santa Paula Police Department's
Traffic Unit, in cooperation with the Oxnard Police Department's Traffic
Unit, will be conducting a license and sobriety checkpoint during the
month of February in Santa Paula in an effort to discourage motorists
from driving vehicles after drinking alcohol. The goal is to reduce the
number of alcohol related accidents and to make our roadways and
community safer.

The checkpoint will be conducted on February 24th 2006. It will begin at
approximately 6:00 pm and end at 11:00 pm. The checkpoint location has
not yet been determined.

These checkpoints are funded through grants from the California Office
of Traffic Safety (OTS).

GRAND SLAM: 50th Anniversary of the Santa Paula Little League” is the newest presentation by the Santa Paula Historical Society at the City of Santa Paula’s California Oil Museum. The exhibit runs from February 12 through March 19 in the Gallery Room of the Museum, home to the Museum’s arts and history presentations. There will be an exhibit reception on Sunday, February 26, 2006, from 1 - 3 PM, and a speaker program at 1:30 PM. Veteran coaches and players like Richard Reese, Ray Frutos, and Tony Vasquez, Sr., will speak about their experiences in the dugout and on the field. The public is invited and refreshments will be served. The California Oil Museum is operated by the City of Santa Paula’s Community Services Department (1001 E. Main St., Santa Paula, 805-933-0076, Adults $4, Seniors $3, Children $1; www.oilmuseum.net).
This exhibit takes visitors on a sentimental journey through fifty years of Little League play in Santa Paula. The league began in 1956 on the playground of Barbara Webster School in Santa Paula and moved a year later to its present location at George Harding Park. The park property was formerly the grounds for the annual Santa Paula Rodeo, which began in 1939 and ended in the early 1950’s. Santa Paula civic leader George L. Harding and the Santa Paula Junior Chamber of Commerce made the arrangements for the Little League to find a permanent home at Harding Park in 1957.
The exhibit features vintage uniforms, gear, banners, memorabilia, newspaper clippings, and many photographs. The authentic look of a ballpark sponsor wall shows the many local businesses that have supported baseball teams over the past half-century. “You will probably find yourself in one of these photos, or a loved one!” said Joe Jauregui, who served as a guest curator for the exhibit, with Museum Curator Jeanne Orcutt.
The exhibition is a presentation of the Santa Paula Historical Society. The Society presents new exhibits about the history of Santa Paula throughout the year at the Museum. Historic local materials are preserved in the Society archives.

There has been some confusion recently on how announcements get on
Adelphia Channel 10, the City's government access channel. As a
reminder, the channel is only available for announcements for
individuals to provide greetings (Happy Birthday etc.) and for the City
and community groups to announce events. We do not allow commercial
advertisements. Announcements on Channel 10 are handled through the
Community Services Department. For further information and/or to get a
copy of the announcement form, please contact the Community Services
Department at 933-4226.

This morning's Ventura County Star has 2005 crime stats for cities served by the Sheriff's Department. Here is how Santa Paula stacks up with those cities on an index of major crimes per 1,000 population:

Moorpark 14.3
Thousand Oaks 18.0
Camarillo 21.7
Ojai 34.6
Fillmore 34.7
Santa Paula 39.0

In 2004, Ventura had a crime index of 39.7 and Oxnard 31.7 by comparison. Thousand Oaks was one of the ten safest cities over 100,000 in the county last year and Moorpark was the fourth safest city of any size in California. FYI.

The very popular “Destination Mars” exhibit at the City's California Oil Museum will be extended to April 16. It was scheduled to close this Sunday but the Space Science Institute has allowed us to extend the exhibit two months without additional cost. If you know of a school that would like to tour the exhibit, please ask them to call the Museum office to set up a tour date.

Meeting is on Tuesday because of the President's Day Holiday

1. Discussion of creation of a monument to farmworkers in the
community.
2. Action to add Cesar Chavez to list of names eligible for naming
a street after in Santa Paula
3. Discussion of events for 4th of July. The Council will consider
sponsoring fireworks, a pancake breakfast and discuss hosting a car show
on Main Street. Fillmore has traditionally had a car show on the
4th, but they are not this year.
4. Presentation by Police Chief Steve MacKinnon on 2005 Crime
Statistics for Santa Paula and his new strategic plan for policing in
the community. Both documents will be available on our website by
Friday at http://www.ci.santa-paula.ca.us/police
5. Consider a new ordinance for tighter controls on responding and
charging for false burglar alarms.
6. Receive FY 2005/06 Midyear Budget Report. The report will be
found on our website at http://www.ci.santa-paula.ca.us/finance.htm

The sample ballot is now posted on the City's Adams Canyon website.

In their March issue, Sunset Magazine has a short article on Santa
Paula. Its says that Senator Arnold Vinick "has good taste in
hometowns."

A few folks have commented about the nature of the number of housing units assigned to the various General Plan Expansion Areas. These numbers have all been set by the City Council through the General Plan approval process several years ago. None of these assignments have received voter approval and they do not require voter approval under law. The setting of these housing unit allocations are a regular City Council action. Voters can become directly involved through the initiative process. The Adams Canyon initiative, Measure Y, would set by voter approval the maximum number of housing units in the Adams Canyon General Plan Expansion Area.

The tension between representative democracy and direct democracy is one of those things that make community governance an interesting exercise to watch. FYI.

The City's California Oil Museum has a great new website.

The City has set up a website with official information about the April
18, 2006 special election on Measure Y, to include Adams Canyon in the
CURB. The website is: http://www.ci.santa-paula.ca.us/adamscanyon

From Caltrans.......The California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) will close portions of State Route 126 as part of a 13-mile
pavement replacement project. The entire project extends from the
Ventura Freeway (U.S. 101) to Hallock Drive. The following closures are
weather permitting and subject to change:

Nightly, Sunday, February 5, through Thursday February 9:
9 p.m. to 6 a.m. - full freeway closure of eastbound Routh 126 from
Peck Road to Hallock Road
8 p.m. to 6 a.m. - eastbound SR-126 on- and off-ramp at peck Road
8 p.m. to 6 a.m. - eastbound SR-126 on-ramp at Briggs Road
8 p.m. to 6 a.m. - eastbound SR-126 on-ramp at Palm Avenue
8 p.m. to 6 a.m. - eastbound SR-126 on- and off-ramp at 10th Street

The $10 million project involves replacing deteriorated concrete
pavement slabs with rapid-setting. high-strength concrete on the freeway
mainline, placing concrete overlay on various on-and off-ramps, sealing
cracks, grinding the pavement and restriping. The project is estimated
to complete by the end of 2006. When complete, the result will be a
smoother riding surface that will last longer and require less
maintenance. A signed detour for the full eastbound SR-126 closure will
be posted for motorists convenience. Caltrans advises motorists to
please, SLOW FOR THE CONE ZONE

Superior Court Judge Ken Riley has set a hearing date of Monday,
February 27, 2006 at 1:30 PM to hear arguments on the Centex Homes
petition regarding the Fagan Canyon referendum petition.

Below is a summary of the current status of City capital projects:

Roof Repair Project: This project is to repair/replace roofs on 5 City buildings. The project is out to bid. The non-mandatory pre-bid meeting was held on January 25, 2006. The bid opening was February 1, 2006.

Harvard Street Tree Project: The project is currently under construction. The contractor is preparing to purchase the trees for installation. The project is anticipated to be complete in mid March.

Green Street Alley Improvements: This project is currently out to bid. The non-mandatory pre-bid meeting was held on January 23, 2006. The bid opening is February 9, 2006.

Bike Trail Project: This project is currently under design. The design team is in the preliminary design stage and is anticipated to be 30% complete with design by late February.

Fire Station 81 & 82 Veh Exhaust: The manufacturer of the specialized equipment has met with Fire Department staff to decide on location of the equipment. It is anticipated this work will be complete in early March.

Teague Park: The Teague Park Project conceptual plan is nearly complete. The plan will be brought forward for design review and to City Council in February.

Public Works Construction Standard Drawings: Building and Safety staff reviewed the proposed package and their comments were incorporated. At this time, Public Works staff is finalizing the package for approval. It is scheduled to go to Council for approval in March.

Well 12 Rehab: This project is being advertised for construction bids. The bid date is March 13, 2006. The well is a critical facility for the City and routine well rehabilitation is required.

Well 12 Filter Media Replacement Project: This project is being advertised for construction bids. The bid date is February 22, 2006. The media is part of the original installation and is past its useful life.

Well 11 Piping Modifications: This project is being advertised for construction bids. The bid date is February 13, 2006. This project will connect a piping configuration between Well 11 and Well 13, improving efficiency of both wells.

Well 6 & 7 Abandonment: This project is complete.

Water Pipeline Replacement Projects: These projects are in the design phase, which is 95% complete. It is anticipated that these projects will be advertised for construction bids in early March.

The City Council will hold a special meeting Thursday night at 6:30 PM
in the City Council Chambers to consider a one item agenda: the
extension of the interim moratorium on condominium conversions. The
moratorium is set to expire on February 7, 2006. Staff is recommending
a final one year extension of the moratorium, but this action require a
4/5ths vote of the City Council. The City Council will only have three
members at its scheduled regular meeting on February 6, 2006, therefore
a special meeting is necessary to consider the extension when four or
more Councilmembers are present at the meeting prior to February 7. The
meeting will not be televised.

A suit was filed today in Ventura County Superior Court by Fagan Canyon
Partners LLC (Centex Homes) against City Clerk Josie Herrera's
certification of the referendum petition to rescind the City Council's
action amending the number of housing units allowed in Fagan Canyon.
With the filing of this suit, the City Attorney has advised that the
City Council not take action at its February 6 meeting to set a date for
a referendum election. This item will therefore not be on Monday's
agenda.

The info on the race website, http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com, for
Santa Paula is apparently not correct according Santa Paula Police Chief
Steve MacKinnon. Here is a more accurate route and timing through Santa
Paula:

From the City Line on Route 150 Southbound Turn Left(east) on Santa
Paula Street Turn Right (south) on 12th Street Over the bridge on to
South Mountain Road.

Based on their estimates the bikers will be through the City between
11:45 am and 12:00 pm on Saturday, February 25th. There will be 15-16
professional cycling teams in the race. From the very first advanced
vehicle through the lead vehicles and then the vehicle trailing the
racers the entire procession is estimated to be 2 miles long.