South La Patera Lane in Goleta will receive roadway improvements as part of the Goleta Train Depot Project, including Class II bike lanes, curb extensions and new sidewalks.
The improvement project was approved by the Goleta City Council in its meeting on Tuesday, minus a few portions of the initially proposed plan such as underground utilities, a Class IV bike lane and road reconfiguration.
Council member Roger Aceves told the News-Press he wasn’t “totally happy” with the project moving forward.
“My biggest issue with the roadway improvement is that we’re not undergrounding utilities,” he said. “They’re just an eyesore.”
Undergrounding the utilities and adding the private bike lane would have cost an extra $1 million, and Mr. Aceves said he didn’t think the staff included that in the original grant application.
“Other than that, it’s a gateway to Goleta and we want to make sure the roadway leads up to a very beautiful train station,” he concluded.
The new train station aims to increase rail ridership and reduce greenhouse gas emissions as it provides service to and from UCSB and the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport.
The council also received key updates from Central Coast Community Energy about annual member agency.
Updates included a new satellite office in San Luis Obispo, a pathway to achieve 100% clean and renewable energy by 2030, leveraging the Community Advisory Council for outreach and non-voting seat participation on operations and policy boards, engaging with the community around development of future programs, and the enrollment of over 140,000 customers in 2021 and 2022 across 12 communities.
The enrollment process for 3CE, a Community Choice Aggregation electricity provider, was delayed from January 2021 to October 2021, due to Southern California Edison undergoing a software update requiring them to lock all records and close the window of enrollment.
However, staff believes it will provide a better customer experience in the end.
“I think it’s an opportunity to learn a little more,” Mr. Aceves said. “The community decided to reduce our energy consumption as much as we can. I think we have an educated community that wants to make an educated decision on whether they want this for their home or business.”
Finally, the city council approved a design for the new splash pad that will be installed at Jonny D. Wallis Neighborhood Park.
The splash pad will feature in-ground jets that spray water upwards, and a mechanical building to store all the equipment.
“This is very exciting for the city of Goleta. It’s very unique. No one has one like this in the area that I know of. It’s the first,” Mr. Aceves said. “The other thing I’m very pleased about is that this project is fully funded.”
City staff shared that the splash pad is funded by money set aside during the construction of the park specifically for that reason.
The splash pad should be ready for “show time” by next summer.
email: gmccormick@newspress.com
