Local representative secures $11.9-million for Central Coast projects
Representative Salud Carbajal.
Projects will help protect the water supply, make housing more affordable, and update community buildings for people with disabilities, among other things
–This week, Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) announced he has secured funding for eight community projects in CA-24 totaling $11.9 million in the fiscal year 2022 House-passed appropriations bills.
The projects set to receive these funds have garnered community support and will help improve quality of life for residents of California’s 24th District. The projects will help protect the water supply, make housing more affordable, and update community buildings to be more resilient and accessible for people with disabilities, among other things.
“I have, and always will, use my seat in congress to work to deliver real results for Central Coast residents. I am proud to have secured over $11 million for local projects that will make our community safer and stronger,” said Carbajal. “With these funds, we will be able to make long overdue improvements to community centers, create more affordable housing units for families, and protect our water supply. These projects will go a long way toward improving quality of life on the Central Coast and I will continue fighting for our district as the spending bill progresses through the senate.”
Cambria Community Services District Water Tanks
Amount of Request: $375,000
Background: The existing water tanks have surpassed their operational life expectancy. This project includes refurbishment of existing 125,000- and 212,000-gallon tanks, representing approximately 20-percent of the storage available within the potable water distribution system. Reliable system storage is critical to ensure adequate flows for fire suppression, sanitation, and human consumption.
“We are thrilled! This funding will enable our agency to complete a project which will benefit the community for decades to come,” said Cambria Community Services District General Manager John Weigold. “A reliable distribution system not only provides one of human kind’s most valuable life-sustaining resources–water–it also ensures adequate pressure and flow for fire suppression, which means our forest, homes, businesses, and other structures are safe. The Cambria Community Services District is grateful to have been considered and selected for this timely appropriation.”
Housing Authority of San Luis Obispo Anderson Hotel
Amount: $2,000,000
Background: The Anderson Hotel is a 5-story 1920’s era building in downtown San Luis Obispo that has provided deeply affordable housing to the extremely low income, frail seniors, and the people with disabilities for the past 40-50 years. The average age of residents is approximately 70 years old, and the average monthly income is around $1,000. This project would allow the Housing Authority of San Luis Obispo to control and operate the property through a lease with the owners, 955 Partnership, with subsidies provided under a Housing and Urban Development multifamily subsidy contract. The project will also allow HASLO to provide 68 Project Based Vouchers at the Anderson Hotel, so that permanent affordability is guaranteed for current and future residents.
“We are extremely pleased with Congressman Carbajal’s leadership trying to preserve the Anderson Hotel as affordable housing for the elderly and disabled,” said HASLO Executive Director Scott Smith. “This could be an important first step toward making that happen.”
City of Guadalupe LeRoy Park
Amount: $1,700,000
Background: This project would restore the park to be able to provide the community facility that the LeRoy family intended the park to be in 1871. LeRoy Park and the community center was the community’s unofficial town square where community events and family activities have occurred for generations. The park has been a popular site for family gatherings, cultural/national holidays, or other community events like easter egg hunts and boy scout campouts for decades. This funding will be used to provide further park enhancements such as additional barbeque areas and picnic areas, an exercise area, and an amphitheater. The projects invest taxpayer dollars back to the local community to bring back LeRoy Park as a community gathering and event spot for families in the City of Guadalupe.
“For the community of Guadalupe, LeRoy Park and Community Center has been a park, community center, Boys and Girls Club, a place for family picnics, for community events, and a meeting place for over a 100 years,” said CEO of Los Amigos de Guadalupe Tom Brandeberry. “These funds help finish the project and allow for LeRoy Park and Community Center to be back to its best, if not better!”
County of Santa Barbara Lompoc Health Clinic
Amount: $900,000
Background: The project includes the connections of two separate structures of the Lompoc Health Clinic campus (the Wellness Center and Primary Care) to create additional capacity for the clinic, improve patient flow and overall experience. In addition, a generator for the primary care facility needed to support the information technology infrastructure and facility resilience in the event of power outages will be procured. $750,000 will be dedicated to renovations and the linking of two buildings on the clinic campus to expand patient and program capacity and $200,000 will provide for the generator purchase. The Lompoc Health Clinic is the flagship Federally Qualified Health Care Clinic within the County of Santa Barbara Health Care System serving 7,410 individuals in 2020 with over 34,000 patient visits annually. The clients of the Lompoc FQHC are the under-resourced and underserved populations. The total number of patients served at the Lompoc Health Care Center represents nearly one-fifth of the city’s total population. Of the 7,410 patients served in 2020, 87-oercent of patients served live at 200-percent of poverty or below.
“The Lompoc clinic is the flagship Federally Qualified Heath Care Clinic within the County of Santa Barbara Health Care System, serving 7,410 individuals in 2020 with over 34,000 patient visits annually. Support from the appropriations bill for Community Project Funding will allow for facility expansion, providing greater access to our high quality healthcare and will further enhance the overall client experience,” said Santa Barbara County Public Health Director, Dr. Van Do-Reynoso, PhD, MPH. “We thank Congressmember Carbajal for his leadership and advocacy for strategic investment in the expansion of healthcare in the community of Lompoc.”
Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Waste Water Treatment Plant
Amount: $112,340
Background: This project will support the initial engineering analysis required to implement the preferred alternative to expand the waste water treatment plant to serve the town of Santa Ynez. Once the analysis is complete, the project is expected to be funded through a partnership between the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians and the Santa Ynez Community Services District (which provides wastewater services to the town of Santa Ynez today). The project promotes responsible water policy in a portion of Central California that is experiencing a prolonged period of drought. Further, it promotes inter-jurisdictional cooperation between the indigenous community and the neighboring residents of the town of Santa Ynez.
“Achieving this funding would allow us to bolster our already successful wastewater treatment plant on our reservation and give us an opportunity to expand the use of recycled wastewater to the surrounding community. Decreasing groundwater pumping and recharging our groundwater basin would be a significant benefit to all residents in Santa Ynez,” said Kenneth Kahn, Tribal Chairman for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.
Goleta Valley Community Center
Amount: $3,000,000
Background: This project will help the city reopen a key community asset that has been partially closed since January 2021 due to a critical need for seismic upgrades. An ADA evaluation of the GVCC and Building D (Boys and Girls Club) approved in August 2012 found that the Main Building had some Priority 1 items (pose the greatest risk to life-safety because they can generally contribute to local areas of collapse) and Priority 2 items (pose less risk to life-safety as they are typically associated with structural and non-structural damage but are not usually linked to local area collapse). These required improvements include but are not limited to accessible entrances, accessible routes to the improved areas, accessible restrooms, telephones and drinking fountains. The 2013 ADA evaluation found several areas of needed improvements. The city will work to complete these improvements, which include but are not limited to making all areas of the building ADA compliant, including the restrooms and all the access points to the building, and finally all paths of travel in, out and through the building will be improved. The GVCC has between 90,000-120,000 visitors each year including an average of 250 seniors participating in programs at the Goleta Valley Senior Center. Over 90 non-profits and over 50 commercial establishments use the facility on a monthly basis. By providing a venue and rental equipment for meetings, classes and activities the GCC serves all facets and age groups of the Goleta community, from child-care to senior services, with a special commitment toward other non-profits. It also serves as an American Red Cross shelter site that has been used during recent fires in the Santa Barbara South Coast area.
On behalf of Goleta residents, I want to express our deep gratitude and appreciation to Congressman Carbajal and his staff for advocating for these funds for Goleta’s Community Center to be included in the House budget bill. The $3,000,000 for the Goleta Community Center is critical to allowing the Community Center to continue to provide wonderful services to Goleta in an upgraded, resilient, and safe facility,” said Goleta Mayor Paula Perotte. “We truly appreciate this funding that will enable us to fully reopen this “Jewel in the Crown” of Goleta much sooner than otherwise possible.”
County of Santa Barbara Veterans Building Seismic Upgrade
Amount: $1,300,000
Background: The Santa Barbara Veterans Memorial Building is owned by the County of Santa Barbara and serves as an important community resource for the area’s veterans, non-profit groups, and other residents. Veterans of foreign wars are often overlooked, forgotten, and misunderstood. Giving them a place to interact with other veterans is an important way to recognize their service and support them. The requested funding is for necessary health and safety improvements:
- Seismic Safety: This includes seismic retrofitting, foundation stabilization, and deteriorated wood framing components. Total cost estimated for this work is $390,000.
- Electrical Systems: This includes main panel, subpanel upgrades, internal wiring systems, and aging light fixtures. Total cost estimated for this work is $520,000.
- Energy: This includes water distribution systems, HVAC, utility regulation equipment, and window upgrades. Total cost estimated for this work is $390,000.
“The Santa Barbara Veterans Memorial Building is an important community resource for the area’s veterans, non-profit groups, and other residents. The Memorial Building provides veterans from different eras of war and peacetime a space where they can congregate and connect with one another,” said Santa Barbara 2nd District Supervisor Gregg Hart. “This Federal aid will support seismic, electrical, and energy upgrades that will help ensure the availability of this building for veterans and the public for many years to come. I’d like to thank and acknowledge Congressman Carbajal for his continued advocacy for our local veterans and the community.”
Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara – Escalante Meadows – Guadalupe
Amount: $2,500,000
Background: The requested $2,500,000 will be spent on the construction costs of the Escalante Meadows Community Center. The Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara (HACSB) is the largest property management organization for affordable housing in Santa Barbara County and a leader in supporting low-income families to improve their lives. For nearly 80 years, the HACSB has functioned primarily to build, acquire, manage, and maintain rental units for persons of extremely low income (less than 30% of the area median income), very low income (less than 50% of the area median income) and to obtain rental payment assistance for similar households in the private real estate market.
“The Escalante Meadows Community Center will be open to all residents of Guadalupe, in addition to the new residents of the affordable housing development,” said Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara Executive Director, Bob Havlicek. “The Community Center features early childhood education and wellness services, that help meet the unserved needs of City residents. This funding is a critical piece that will help make this community asset become a reality.”
About Community Funding Projects
Earlier this year, the Chair of the House Committee on Appropriations announced the committee would accept Community Project Funding requests from Members of Congress. Each member was limited to submitting no more than 10 Community Project Funding requests for Fiscal Year 2022 and there was no guarantee all requested projects would be funded.
The next step in the funding process, completed earlier this summer, was the inclusion of Community Funding Projects in the 12 individual appropriations bills which were marked up and passed by the House Appropriations Committee. The full House then considered and voted to pass 9 of the appropriations bills which included the Community Funding Projects through a series of legislative packages to fund the federal government for Fiscal Year 2022. The bills are awaiting Senate consideration as part of the negotiation on the final government funding package.
More information on the CPF requests Rep. Carbajal submitted to the House Appropriations Committee can be found here.
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