Author: Lea Boyd

Come out and pitch in to beautify Santa Monica Creek Trail while creating habitat for important pollinators and helping native plants thrive. The beautification event will take place on Saturday, July 30, and volunteers can drop in and lend a hand anytime between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Led by trail steward Ray Kolbe, volunteers will lay down cardboard and spread mulch to keep invasives from crowding out native species. The workday is part of an ongoing effort to plant native species and beautify the often overlooked creekside trail that runs along Santa Monica Creek from Via Real to Foothill Road. Volunteers are encouraged to bring work gloves, a hat and water. Join the effort at El Carro Lane and Santa Monica Creek. To learn more, contact Ray at rwkolbe@gmail.com or (805) 705-3429.

The City of Carpinteria works hard to keep public roadways clean, and that effort includes monthly street sweeping of all public roads and weekly sweeping of the downtown commercial district and other heavily used streets. If cars are parked along the roads on street sweeping days, we cannot clean those sections! Please help by parking off-street during street sweeping days. If you’re not sure when your street is swept, check out the maps here: bit.ly/StreetSweepCarp.

The Carpinteria City Council will hold its next regular meeting on Monday, July 25 at 5:30 p.m. In accordance with State guidance, the City will provide both in-person and virtual attendance and participation options for the meeting.

Members of the public may attend the meeting at City Hall, 5775 Carpinteria Ave. or view the meeting live at www.carpinteria.ca.us, on Government Access Television Channel 21 or by logging into the Zoom webinar.

The following topics are highlights of the agenda. Additional details and numerous ways for the public to provide comments can be found at https://bit.ly/3RXKJPi. Comments posted on social media will not be provided to council members.

• Designation of Voting Delegate and Alternate for the League of California Cities Annual Conference
• Cancellation of the regular City Council meeting of August 22, 2022.
• Amendment to the Agreement with Geosyntec Consultants to provide engineering support services for the City’s Via Real Stormwater Project.
• Annual Review of Fire Protection Mitigation Fee Program and approval of an adjustment in the fee amount.
• Consideration of extending a temporary moratorium on the issuance of certificates of occupancy and/or business licenses or any other entitlement for the establishment of formula businesses within the City of Carpinteria, with the exception of Casitas Plaza and Shepard Place Shops.
• Approval and authorization to enter into a revised Memorandum of Understanding with the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments; County of Santa Barbara; and the cities of Buellton, Goleta, Guadalupe, Lompoc, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, and Solvang concerning the preparation of the Santa Barbara County Regional Broadband Strategic Plan.
• 2021 Annual Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Report.

CLIMATE COLLABORATIVE LAUNCHES BUSINESS ADVISORY SUBCOMMITTEE

The Santa Barbara County Regional Climate Collaborative, in partnership with the Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce, is launching a Business Advisory Subcommittee (BAS). The BAS will identify and discuss challenges faced by businesses in adapting to climate policies and adopting climate-related programs and make recommendations on how the Collaborative can advocate for and/or develop policies and programs that would encourage more business participation. A meeting will be held on Thursday, July 28 at 10 a.m. to provide information about the BAS and its role in advancing regional and local climate resilience.

The Santa Barbara County Regional Climate Collaborative is a growing multi-sector network of organizations working together to advance climate mitigation and resiliency efforts in Santa Barbara County. The Collaborative advances regional scale climate solutions through coordination and partnership. The Collaborative has successfully helped local jurisdictions obtain $865,000 in funding for collaborative projects. To learn more, visit http://www.countyofsb.org/collaborative. Register in advance for the July 28 meeting at

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAvcuugqzsqHtValjuV4Ty0GfjIeQzL_Mcd

A reception in recognition of the students and families participating in the Carp Connect Summer Wellness Program for Teens will be held on Tuesday, July 26 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the patio behind Carpinteria Community Library (entrance on Walnut Avenue). Piloted this summer, the Carp Connect program has provided enrichment classes and counseling services for local teens.

The reception on July 26 is a joint venture of the City of Carpinteria, a primary funder of the summer program for teens; the Carpinteria Community Library, which will display books on subjects taught during the summer program; and Carp Connect, the program organizer.  Students in the cooking class will prepare tasty treats for the event. The public is invited. Please RSVP by July 24 to carpconnect2022@gmail.com or (805) 689-9640 with the number of attendees. Additional teen classes, including drama and podcasting, will be offered during the fall. For more information, email carpconnect2022@gmail.com.

Three seats on the Carpinteria City Council will be up for election in November of this year. The period for potential candidates to file papers opens on July 18 and closes on August 12.  If an incumbent does not file, the deadline will be extended to Aug. 17. The Nov. 8 election will be the first district election for the City Council; in this cycle candidates must reside in districts 1, 3 or 5.  More information on the election can be found at https://carpinteriaca.gov/city-hall/city-clerk/#election and a map of the districts is available at https://bit.ly/3OzZh5C.

Little ones and their accompanying grown-ups are invited to attend Preschool Story Time on Wednesday mornings at the Carpinteria Community Library. Captivating her audience with stories, songs and games, Jena Jenkins will lead the free weekly program geared toward ages 2 to 5. Story Time starts on Wednesday, July 13, and takes place from 10 to 10:30 a.m. Carpinteria Community Library is located at 5141 Carpinteria Ave. To learn more, call (805) 684-4314.

The Carpinteria City Council will hold its next regular meeting on Monday, July 11 at 5:30 p.m. In accordance with State guidance, the City will provide both in-person and virtual attendance and participation options for the meeting.

Members of the public may attend the meeting at City Hall, 5775 Carpinteria Ave. or view the meeting live at www.carpinteria.ca.us, on Government Access Television Channel 21 or by logging into the Zoom webinar.

The following topics are highlights of the agenda. Additional details and numerous ways for the public to provide comments can be found at https://bit.ly/3uD3Rbp. Comments posted on social media will not be provided to council members.

• Agreement with Sweeping Corporation of America for street sweeping services.
• Initiation of changes to Carpinteria Municipal Code concerning the regulation of Formula Businesses in Carpinteria.
• Issuance of the report describing the measures taken to alleviate the conditions that led to the City’s new temporary moratorium on the establishment of formula businesses in the City of Carpinteria, with the exception of Casitas Plaza and the Shepard Place Shops.
• Acceptance of the Dune and Shoreline Management Plan
• Approval of Measure A Project Cooperative Agreement to receive Measure A Cycle 5 funds.
• Review of home sales prices and and possible adjustment of the 2022 affordable housing in-lieu fees for condominiums and single-family dwellings.

Our beach store is now open and stocked with all the necessities for fun in the sun! Drop by between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. most days of the week to grab your sunscreen, water toys and Carpinteria gear just steps away from the waves at Linden Avenue. Right now the store is accepting cash only, but we hope to take cards later this summer.

Carpinteria Community Library will host a program for adults and teens with the popular book, “The Artist’s Way.” A program for personal renewal, “The Artist’s Way” will help you rediscover your passions, and take the steps you need to unblock creativity and may be the perfect antidote to pandemic isolation and loss. As author Julia Cameron writes in the book, “The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.” This is a free program for teens and adults, on 12 Thursdays beginning July 14 and taking place from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Weekly gatherings take place at the library at 5141 Carpinteria Ave. Copies of “The Artist’s Way” can be borrowed from the library. Please call 805-684-4314 to let library staff know that you will be attending.