Montecito Association Meets

At this month’s Montecito Association (MA) Board meeting, Coast Village Association president Bob Ludwick addressed board members to give an update on the CVA’s initiatives and mission. Representing about 125 businesses, 85 of which are retail or restaurants, as well as nearby residents, the CVA has three active committees, including Beautification, Events & Promotion, and Traffic & Safety. 

“We see room for collaboration with your organization,” Ludwick said. “The Montecito Association is very supportive of what you’re doing,” said MA board president Charlene Nagel.

During Community Reports, MFPD chief Chip Hickman reported that fire season is in full swing, and that some of his crews have been in Southern California helping fight fires. “They came to help us and we are going to help them,” he said. He noted residents will be receiving the District’s Annual Report in the mail, as well as a hazard abatement postcard. Hazard abatement inspections will take place the first week of July. 

Chief Hickman also reported that residents will be asked to vote again on Prop 4; if it fails the District is set to lose 30 percent of its revenues, in addition to the 13 percent decline in revenue from the Thomas Fire and January 9 debris flow. “It’s a challenging financial time for the District,” Chief Hickman reported, adding that it cost the District $11 million to fight the fire and subsequent debris flow. The majority of that money may be able to be recovered from State and federal monies. On a more positive note, Chief Hickman invited everyone to attend the Annual Pancake Breakfast at the fire station on the 4th of July. 

Dr. Amy Alzina, superintendent and principal of Cold Spring School, reported that a celebration was held on campus in May, when a memorial bench was installed near the playground in memory of the two Cold Spring students lost in the debris flow. The bench was created from a local member of the community, out of a fallen sycamore tree that fell during debris flow. “It gave us great closure as a school community,” she said. 

Dr. Alzina also reported that preliminary test scores are up; those numbers will be released in September. The school is open for two weeks for summer school, for 30 students who need a little help. Montecito Union School superintendent Dr. Anthony Ranii also reported an increase in test scores and said the board is looking into increasing campus security and adding 30 spots to the parking lot using reserve funds. 

The Montecito Sanitary District (MSD) approved its next fiscal year budget; general manager Diane Gabriel said the District has earmarked $2.9 million for several projects. Those include the facilities project for the new Essential Services building on the MSD campus, as well as a pilot facility for recycled water to be used for District landscaping. “We’ll be able to demonstrate to the community how using recycled water will work on our own garden,” Gabriel said. The budget is on the MSD website at www.montsan.org. 

Several members of the Montecito Community Foundation were in attendance at the meeting, as the Montecito Association donated $10,000 to the Foundation to help pay for the replacement of street signs in Montecito. The funds were raised through the purchase of Montecito Strong shirts and ball caps. 

Pat McElroy, representing the Partnership For Resilient Communities, reported that the group recently funded its first project: a geo-mapping study of local drainages. “We are looking at the technology, engineering, and science to help mitigate the scale of another debris flow or flood,” he said. The group is enlisting university-based scientists and engineers. 

The board discussed hosting a series of community forums to discuss the idea of cityhood, which was last seriously discussed about 10 years ago. “We are not advocating cityhood, we just want to learn about it and share that information with our community and our membership,” Nagel said. The board discussed the pros and cons of scheduling the forums, and the decision was made to form an ad-hoc committee to continue to research the idea and come back to the full board with ideas on how to move forward with hosting educational forums.