Tag archives: Tom Fayram

On Monday, government officials, staff, contractors, and community partners broke ground at the future site of the Randall Road Debris Basin; a project outlined at length two weeks ago in the Montecito Journal.  “It’s amazing we’ve gotten to this point,” said County Public Works Deputy Director Tom Fayram. “A project like this can often take […]

At this month’s Montecito Association Land Use Committee meeting, the committee heard from Flood Control Deputy Director Tom Fayram, who gave an update on the Randall Road debris basin project.  The project, which includes the acquisition of seven parcels on Randall Road and one on East Valley Road, will offer improved debris catchment from San […]

Following a November decision by the Board of Supervisors to negotiate with eight property owners on Randall Road and East Valley Road, Santa Barbara County Flood Control has started the environmental process to build a debris basin along the San Ysidro Creek channel, filing a Notice of Preparation (NOP) of Environmental Impact Report with the […]

At this month’s Montecito Association monthly board meeting, SB County Water Resources Deputy Director Tom Fayram reported on Montecito’s debris basins following the strong storms over the last several weeks. “We’ve been going full throttle since January,” Fayram said, adding that hundreds of trucks have been in Montecito clearing debris basins, sometimes 24 hours a […]

At this month’s Montecito Association Land Use Committee, deputy director of Water Resources Tom Fayram reported that the County continues to move forward on a hazard mitigation grant to look at modifying the three debris basins above Montecito: Cold Spring, San Ysidro, and Romero. “We’re trying to expand the size of the basins and improve […]

Last week, the SB County Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted unanimously to adopt the FEMA Interim Flood Map in an effort to expedite and control the rebuilding process in Montecito. As chair of the BOS, supervisor Das Williams noted, “I can’t say I’m comfortable with the option of the Interim Flood Recovery map, but the […]

On Tuesday, June 19, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to adopt the use of the new FEMA Interim Recovery Map, which was released last week and was the basis of our cover story (MJ #24/24). “This map is not gospel, I don’t think it’s perfect,” said First District supervisor Das Williams. […]

On June 5, Matt Pontes, assistant County CEO, presented the SB Board of Supervisors with a draft of the Strategic Recovery Plan, which outlines the County’s approach to ongoing recovery efforts following the Thomas Fire and January 9 debris flow. “We’re all after building a resilient Montecito,” said Pontes, who has taken the role of […]

At a standing-room-only Land Use Committee meeting on Tuesday, April 3, several County staff members gave updates on mudslide recovery, including Water Resources deputy director Tom Fayram, who assured the Committee that FEMA officials are working hard on finishing revised flood maps for Montecito. The maps, which are expected to be finalized in June, will […]

While last week’s rains brought more than four inches of rain to Montecito, a Stage 3 drought continues, and the County is helping residents conserve and use water more efficiently. Last week, the Santa Barbara County Water Agency produced the Greywater Handbook specifically for county residents.  The 62-page handbook highlights the importance that greywater systems […]

Heal the Ocean (HTO) has received numerous (some irate) phone calls regarding the mud being deposited on Goleta and Carpinteria beaches. Television media has also called for a response from us. We told them, and everyone else, we were investigating and would let everyone know when we knew the answer. We at HTO don’t believe […]