At the site of the first-ever Carpinteria City Council meeting, city leaders and residents met at Veterans Memorial Building in Carpinteria on Monday night for the annual State of the City event.

The meeting closed out the city’s 60th anniversary celebrations as city staff discussed the city’s budget, upcoming projects and city history in the same room where the first council meeting was held on Sept. 28, 1965. 

“It felt only fitting that we gather here tonight to reflect on Carpinteria’s past and to celebrate and look forward to its future,” Vice Mayor Monica Solorzano said.

Solorzano led the gathering as Mayor Natalia Alarcon was unable to attend. 

City Manager Michael Ramirez gave residents a look at the city’s finances and explained how the city is working to address dwindling available funds as city expenses are exceeding the city’s revenue. 

“By fiscal year (20)28, we’re estimating that if we do nothing, we’re going to have to start making some serious decisions,” Ramirez said. “Whether it’s reduction in service or reduction in staff, it will be a very tough decision at that point for the community.”

Ramirez explained that when expenses are exceeding revenues, the city won’t be able to invest in capital improvement projects that become more expensive as time goes on. 

To make up for declining revenue, Ramirez said the city is raising costs for facility rentals, such as Veterans Memorial Hall, so the city can collect what it costs to clean the facilities.

“Our goal would be to break even and invest in your infrastructure,” Ramirez said. “So when you see those costs going up, some of them might be shocking, because they have been so shockingly low, but we are getting them up, and as we’re raising them, we’re finding that we’re still the lowest in the area, even with some of those increases.”

The city is also bringing services such as street sweeping in house, rather than paying another agency, which is expected to save the city $200,000, Ramirez said.

City leaders may also ask voters to approve increasing assessment district funds to help the city’s finances. 

Despite financial concern, Ramirez said the city has enough reserves to keep going for six months in case of an emergency such as a pandemic or a natural disaster. 

The gathering kicked off with a land acknowledgement and Chumash blessing from Julie Tumamait-Stenslie, celebrating the land and the Indigenous Chumash people who lived on the land long before it became a city. 

Former city manager and interim Public Works director Dave Durflinger gave a presentation of the city’s 60-year history, sharing how some people were concerned about Carpinteria becoming a city, how the city became an early leader in sustainability, and how the construction of Highway 101 impacted the downtown area.

City staff also gave an update on projects such as the Surfliner Inn and community pool repairs. 

The Surfliner Inn is a proposed 36-room hotel on city-owned land at 499 Linden Ave. The Carpinteria Architecture Review Board granted the project preliminary approval last December.

Community Development Director Nick Bobroff said the city is working on the environmental impact report to evaluate all of the potential impacts that the project would have as well as ways to reduce impacts.

Bobroff said they hope to release the draft environmental impact report this winter. At that time, the public will be able to review the report and will have 45 days to provide feedback. 

The project also will be reviewed by the city’s environmental review committee, during which time the public also can provide feedback.

After that, the Carpinteria Planning Commission will make the final decision on the project. Bobroff said they expect to go to the Planning Commission next spring or summer. 

As for the community pool, Jeanette Grant, the city’s Parks, Recreation & Community Services director, said that in October the city will request proposals for a consulting architectural service to work on the project. 

Once a consultant is chosen, the city will begin to work on the design phase. 

Gant said the city also has submitted two grant applications to fund the project, including  a $500,000 grant that requires a 50% match, and another for $250,000.

“We’re continuing to pursue additional funding options, and we’re always on the lookout for any grant opportunities that may arise,” Gant said. “As soon as we have a more accurate cost estimate for the project, we’re also going to explore launching fundraising campaigns and identifying other potential sources for funding to pay for the entirety of the project.”

A consultant engineer reviewed pool conditions earlier this year and told the city that they would need $969,382 to repair the pool deck, replace the filter system, pumps, pool heater, the chlorine delivery system, and address other equipment issues.