Montecito Association

Also at last week’s MA meeting, Montecito Fire’s Division chief of operations Kevin Taylor urged the audience to register for our local notification system, Aware & Prepare, following the release of discouraging notification statistics from the County Office of Emergency Management. According to the County, only 12 percent of residents countywide are signed up for emergency alerts, and 55 percent of Montecito residents are signed up. “We can do better than that,” Taylor said. 

With “two mega fires” burning in other areas of California, the Camp Fire and the Woolsey Fire, Taylor said it’s an opportunity for residents of Montecito to realize that the fire season is year-round. “We are still at risk for wildfire, especially in drainage areas and the areas between burn scars,” he said. To sign up for emergency alerts, visit www.readysbc.org. 

Diane Gabriel with Montecito Sanitary District reported that the District will receive the remainder of the $1.5 million used for emergency repairs by the end of this year. She also announced a sewer main extension on Olive Road between East Valley Road and Tollis; the road is closed during construction, and the main will serve 10 more homes once the work is complete. The Montecito Sanitary District Board of Directors, the day following the MA meeting, appointed former MA board member Tom Bollay to a seat left vacant by Warner Owens. Bollay will join newly elected board members Dana Newquist and Woody Barrett, who will take their seats in January. Board members Judy Ishkanian and Bob Williams, both of whom ran for re-election, will be termed off the board at the end of the year. 

The MA board received a presentation from Michael Ditmore, executive director for NOVIM, and Bill Macfadyen, founder and publisher of Noozhawk, regarding a new public engagement project called Montecito 2.0. The endeavor includes the launch of a community interactive website acting as a sort of “electronic town hall.” A series of study groups, with themes such as geology and threat analysis, protection and emergency response, infrastructure, local governance, sustainability, and finance will be formed on the site, and residents will be encouraged to submit ideas and opinions on the topics. Noozhawk, plus other local media, will then report on the progress and conclusions gleaned through the site. 

Local collaborative partners include UCSB Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, Partnership for Resilient Communities, Montecito Community Microgrid Initiative, Santa Barbara Environmental Council, Montecito Association, Westmont College, and Santa Barbra County and City, in addition to numerous regional advisory partners. “The ideal situation is to identify four or five priorities and gather ideas from residents on what they’d like to see moving forward,” Ditmore said. For more information, visit www.novim.org. 

Also at the meeting, it was announced that Cori Hayman has resigned from her position on the board as Land Use chair, due to her election to the Montecito Water District Board of Directors. The MA also announced that the organization has surpassed 1,000 memberships, which is a record high. 

For more information, visit www.montecitoassociation.org.