Two city councils hear about Measure D

 

Members of both Buellton and Solvang city councils heard presentations about Measure D during their first meetings of the year, held Jan. 10 in Buellton and Jan. 14 in Solvang.

In other matters, Buellton’s council heard the first reading of an ordinance to prohibit medicinal marijuana dispensaries within the city, which could be finalized as early as Jan. 24, and also received an update on the Botanic Garden at River View Park.

Measure D Renewal, a presentation by Gregg Hart and the staff with the Santa Barbra County Association of Governments, was given before both city councils during their separate meetings. A third presentation will be open to the public on Jan. 24, at 8:30 p.m. at the Solvang City Chambers, 1644 Oak St., Solvang.

 

Giving the highlights of the measure, Hart said that the group putting together the latest measure – members of city councils throughout the county, as well as tax group and business representatives, decided to keep the measure at one-half cent instead of the originally suggested rise to three-quarters of a cent, which did not receive a two-thirds majority vote during the last election.

The new Measure D also divides the funds equally between north and south county, allowing communities from both regions to select their projects and use the funds where citizens see the most need. The proposed fund expects to raise, over a 30-year period, an estimated $1.05 billion, of which $140 million will be used to widen Highway 101.

 

The remaining amount, divided in half, will give north and south county sub-regions $455 million each to spend on selected road projects – projects that residents and city groups decide upon.

For example, projects for the northern region so far include Highway 101 interchanges in Santa Maria, Highway 246 widening between Buellton and Lompoc, and circulation improvements in Guadalupe, Solvang and Buellton. In the southern region, commuter-passenger rail service, bike and pedestrian programs, South Coast Transit programs, and an overpass improvement in Goleta, are on the list of expenditures. All of these projects were determined by the local governments and citizen groups.

While all the Measure D funds allocated for the projects will be only a contribution because of the expected cost of the construction, Hart reported that SBCAG has determined that the additional funds needed would be available from state and federal money. “Measure D will give the county leverage to tap into state funds,” Hart explained.

 

“The income generated from the current Measure D amounted to much more than originally estimated,” Hart said. “Depending upon how the economy holds in the county, the total generated from the passage of the next Measure D could be much more than the conservative estimate on the drafted Measure D Renewal Investment Plan.”

The next step for the SBCAG and the plan is to complete a county-wide public poll that would test public acceptance of the new measure. The poll results should be available by February, with city councils and the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors considering endorsements in March. The measure needs local government approval before being placed on the county’s November ballot this year.

 

During the Buellton City Council meeting, with a 5-0 vote after the first reading of the ordinance and very little discussion, the council agreed to permanently ban medical marijuana dispensaries within the city limits. The second reading, along with possible approval, is on the Jan. 24 council agenda.

Marc Bierdzinski, Buellton City Council planning director, gave the ordinance report, citing numerous instances where crime increased in communities that allowed such dispensaries.

For example, before Buellton had a city code about such businesses, the Hezekiah Inc. dispensary opened in January, 2005, within the city limits. For two years, until it was closed in July 2007 by federal agents, a series of crime reports were filed about marijuana being stolen from the facility, which was located on Second Street. Finally, the business was evicted by the property owner.

Crime reports included a felony conviction for selling marijuana to a person without a valid medical marijuana identification card, burglaries at the Hezekiah site, and discovery of an illegally cultivated medical marijuana in Buellton last February.

 

After the Hezekiah dispensary opened, Buellton City filed an emergency temporary moratorium, banning the establishment and operation of other medical marijuana dispensaries within the city limits. Within a month, and again a year later, the council approved an extension of the moratorium that will expire Mar. 28 of this year.

The code to prevent medical marijuana dispensaries locally is necessary because in 1996 a majority of California voters approved Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Initiative, allowing marijuana to be given to qualified patients by a physician’s prescription.

However, federal law still prohibits marijuana for any use and federal agents do not recognize state law. A few days before raiding the Buellton dispensary in 2007, federal agents also closed down similar businesses in Los Angeles.

 

The Buellton City Council also listened to a report by the Multi-Jurisdictional Solid Waste Task Group, which was informational only. The council also heard a report from Buellton Recreation Coordinator Kyle Abello and representatives of landscape architect Bethany Clough of Buellton about the Botanic Garden at River View Park, which is 80 percent complete.

Groups and private citizens are already donating funds to have their names placed on trees in the garden. The garden will include approximately 65 trees to be planted before Arbor Day in April. The trees will include sycamores, cottonwoods, oaks, and alders, as well as a few small pines. The park also will have native grasses and chaparral, required by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which will serve as a habitat restoration for endangered species such as the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher, discovered when the park was being created.

 

Also during the meeting, the council recognized Joe Meehan for his 20 years of service to the city.

During the Solvang City Council’s meeting, presentations were given to Sgt. Dan McCammon, who is leaving the local Sheriff’s Department after 18 years of service for a position with the Santa Barbara Courts. Carey McKinnon received a plaque for her service on the Parks and Recreation Commission, and Stu Gildred was honored for his service on the Solvang Planning Commission. Gildred has moved to Buellton but remains on Solvang’s Beautification Committee.

Councilman Edwin Skytt reported that construction on two bathrooms for the city, one in the downtown area and another at a local park, were on schedule and should be finished by late spring.

Council members also discussed response times given in a quarterly report by the county fire department’s Solvang office. Councilman Jim Richardson commended the department for its average of 5.3 minutes in responding to emergencies, while Councilman Eugene Boyle asked the department for more details in future reports to determine why some responses could be delayed.

 

At the beginning of the Solvang meeting during the public communications period, Leo Mathiasen of Solvang said he was “dismayed and disgusted” while watching the Dec. 10 Solvang City Council meeting on cable television, when he saw “the council members ostracize and polarize a fellow council member” during the vote for the new mayor of Solvang. He added that the rotating position was supposed to allow for “cohesion and consistency,” which the council had “thwarted” by going against its own guidelines when selecting the mayor and committee members. Historically, the council has elected the city’s sitting mayor pro tempore each year to be mayor the next.

 

Richardson, who was mayor pro tempore of Solvang in 2007 and who was bypassed when the council unexpectedly elected Linda Jackson mayor in December, added his comments after Mathiasen spoke, saying that he watched the taped proceedings several times after the Dec. 10 meeting and could come to only one conclusion – that the council did not follow protocol nor council guidelines for rotations and committee appointments. He said the city’s residents will select its next mayor in November’s elections, which will be a first for Solvang, and that means council members in the future will no longer be able to decide such an important position.

The next meeting for the Buellton City Council will be Jan. 24 at 6 p.m. at the City Chambers, 140 W. Highway 246, Buellton. The next meeting for the Solvang City Council will be Jan. 28 at the Council Chambers, 1644 Oak St., Solvang.