While construction of Goleta’s long-awaited Fire Station 10 still has no estimated start date, the Goleta City Council did approve a five-year labor agreement for construction of the project on Tuesday.

The proposed Project Labor Agreement with the Tri Counties Building and Construction Trades Council and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) includes requirements to hire local workers.

City Councilman James Kyriaco said he was proud that the agreement gives the city an opportunity to prioritize the local workforce and that he hoped the city could repeat the process on future building projects. 

“There’s really not a legal way, other than this kind of an agreement, to create preferences for different types of workers based on where they live, based on what kind of lived experience they have like being a veteran,” Kyriaco said. “It’s a way to prioritize folks based on gender identity, to be able to give women more opportunities and do types of construction work than they otherwise might not be able to get that opportunity.”

A Project Labor Agreement is a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement with building trades labor organizations that establishes the terms and conditions of employment on a specified construction project. 

The agreement approved by the council on Tuesday includes a provision that at least 50% of all construction labor hours worked on the project come from local residents, with the first priority to Goleta residents, then Santa Barbara County residents and then San Luis Obispo County residents. 

The agreement also encourages the hiring of military veterans and the use of trusted state apprenticeship programs.

The construction of Fire Station 10 has been in limbo for years, with a sign along Hollister Avenue in western Goleta promising a future firehouse to improve fire protection and related emergency services to the Ellwood and El Encanto Heights neighborhoods — as well as much of the Gaviota Coast beyond the city.

Pedro Toscano, a representative of the Local 805 Carpenters Union, said the agreement will change a lot of lives in the community.

“Accredited apprenticeship programs is what we advocate for these types of projects,” Toscano said. “It gives everybody a chance to earn benefits, set a pension aside, and a livable wage to live in the community.”

Joshua Medrano with the Tri Counties Building and Construction and Trades Council said the agreement will help get work and apprenticeship opportunities to underrepresented communities. 

“Although it was going back and forth, I want to assure you that this agreement is the most equitable for the community, not for all of you there, not for me, but for the community of the city of Goleta,” Medrano said. 

The city currently has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department that states that the city is responsible for funding the $27 million Fire Station 10 project; however, that agreement is set to expire in 2026. 

City officials have said they are working with County Fire to find ways to fund the project.

Now that the council has approved the labor agreement, it will be sent to the trades groups for approval.