The Montecito Association: 73 Years Old, Still Fighting Tirelessly, and Standing with YOU
By Sharon Byrne   |   August 12, 2021

I came to the Montecito Association in September of 2018, brought over from the Coast Village Association by then-president Charlene Nagel. The Montecito community was hard hit by the first giga-fire in California – Thomas — and resultant Debris Flow. I had disaster recovery experience, from finding my missing parents in the aftermath of Hurricane […]

Montecito Sanitary District Teams with UCSB to Test Feces for COVID-19
By Nick Schou   |   May 7, 2020

Just how many Montecito residents have the dreaded coronavirus, aka COVID-19? Or to put it another way: Just how much COVID-19 is in Montecito’s collective supply of excreta? Thanks to an ongoing COVID-19 tracing project by Dr. Patricia Holden, a professor of environmental microbiology at UC Santa Barbara, and the Montecito Sanitary District (MSD), we […]

 

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More from Montecito

When it Comes to Maintaining the Sewers, the Sanitary District’s Work Never Stops
By Nick Schou   |   April 30, 2020

Earlier this year, before the COVID-19 emergency, I took a tour of the Montecito Sanitary District’s waste treatment facility, where the town’s collective fecal matter is slowly bio-engineered into top-notch soil fertilizer that ends up on the shelves of our local gardening emporiums (see “Montecito’s Most Unusual Harvest,” Montecito Journal, February 12). Part of my […]

Land Use Committee Discusses MSD Plans
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   April 9, 2020

On Tuesday, April 7, the Montecito Association Land Use Committee met via Zoom to discuss an upcoming project in Montecito: a proposed project by the Montecito Sanitary District that includes a new 5,000-sq-ft Essential Services building with a new 17-space parking lot, lighting and landscaping, multiple solar canopies, and a new recycled water treatment system, […]

News from Montecito Water District
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   March 19, 2020

The provision of safe water, sanitation, and hygienic conditions is essential to protecting human health during any infectious disease outbreak, including the current 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Montecito Water District (MWD) is prepared for the rapidly evolving situation and is actively monitoring guidance from local, national, and global health organizations. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) […]

Montecito Association Meets Remotely
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   March 19, 2020

On Tuesday, March 17, the Montecito Association Board of Directors met via teleconference. The Board discussed a proposed project by the Montecito Sanitary District that includes a new 5,000-sq-ft Essential Services Building with a new 17-space parking lot, multiple solar canopies, and a new recycled water treatment system, as well as demolition of the existing […]

Let It Flow
By Nick Schou   |   February 13, 2020

The Montecito Sanitary District (MSD) was formed in 1947 with the sole purpose of collecting, treating and disposing of the community’s wastewater, but it didn’t actually come online as a completed sewage system and treatment facility until the early 1960s. Today, the MSD serves approximately 3,100 customers in Montecito, with only a scattered number of […]

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  • Sanitary District’s New Office
    By Woody Barrett   |   August 22, 2019

    On June 7, 2019 the Montecito Sanitary District Board voted 3 to 2 and approved the expenditure of $4,621,486 for the construction of a new office building. Two ratepayers were present, and both asked the board to vote against the new building. Your elected directors, Dana Newquist and I, voted against the new building. The […]

    Experience That Matters
    By Woody Barrett   |   October 11, 2018

    by Woody Barrett, Dana Newquist, Ken Coates, Brian Goebel and Cori Hayman The Montecito Water and Sanitary Districts are defined as special districts, each led by a five-person, publicly elected board of directors. According to the handbook for special district governance and operations, board members must “serve the best interests of the community, provide services […]

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    Why I am Running for Montecito Sanitary District
    By Woody Barrett   |   October 4, 2018

    I am running for the Board of Directors of the Montecito Sanitary District because I want our neighborhoods to have a diversified and secure source of water for the safety and well-being of our community. Montecito deserves water security. Our family has called Montecito home going on 18 years. Our children all attended Montecito Union […]

    Discovering Essential Services
    By Judy Ishkanian   |   October 4, 2018

    A few years ago, Jean Paul Cousteau spoke at a CASA Conference (California Association of Sanitation Agencies). He said that he was one person who could claim that he was raised on the Seven Seas. He was home-schooled by his mother on the Calypso. He said that it was always a thrill to come into […]

    Election 2018: Sanitary District Voters Have a Choice
    By Bob Hazard   |   October 4, 2018

    On November 6, Montecito voters will go to the polls. This year’s ballot contains an extreme rarity: a contested election for the Montecito Sanitary District (MSD) Board of Directors. For the first time in anyone’s memory, voters will choose among four different candidates running for two MSD seats. Why is this unusual? Because since 2000, […]

    Montecito Sanitary District Latest
    By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   September 20, 2018

    At their meeting on September 17, the Montecito Sanitary District (MSD) Governing Board received a report from its Public Information Committee, which comprises board members Bob Williams and Jeff Kerns. The committee met on September 14 to discuss concerns regarding information that has been in the press and in paid ads that make it appear […]

    Mud in Your Eye
    By Judy Ishkanian   |   September 20, 2018

    Hello, from Judith Ishkanian. Surely nobody expected Mother Nature to inundate Montecito with mud and debris nine months ago. But she did, It has been a remarkable experience for Montecito residents ever since. According to the Sanitary District records, 10 percent of our population is off-line, whether because of total ruin, major repairs, disruption of […]

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