Author Archives: Jaime Shaw

Our Water Our World: Reminder on Controlling Cockroaches

City of Goleta’s Environmental Services Division wants to remind everyone about tips to keep cockroaches away and avoid harmful pesticides as much as possible.

Controlling Cockroaches

  • If you only have a few cockroaches, you may be able to control the problem with sticky traps and cleanup.
  • Use a strong vacuum with a crevice attachment to pull cockroaches from their hiding places and clean up nests. Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter if possible. After vacuuming, take the vacuum cleaner outdoors, remove the bag, seal it in a plastic garbage bag, and put it in the trash. Wipe down the vacuum cleaner with a damp cloth.
  • Cockroach droppings (frass) attract more roaches and other pests. Clean up frass with soap and water. Then, use a hand duster such as a Pest Pistol to blow diatomaceous earth (DE) or boric acid powder into cracks, crevices, and other openings in walls, under large appliances, or in areas where you have found cockroach nests. Be sure to use DE sold for pest control, not for pool filters. When applying DE or boric acid powder, protect your lungs and eyes by wearing a dust mask, gloves, and safety goggles. Apply a very light coating because cockroaches will avoid piles of dust. It doesn’t take much to kill them.
  • One way to get to a cockroach hiding place behind a wall is to remove the cover plate on an electrical outlet or switch. Always turn off the power before applying products near electrical outlets.

If dusting is not effective, use enclosed cockroach baits.

Keep Cockroaches Out

Keep cockroaches away by blocking access to your home and to their food, water, and shelter. Follow these simple good housekeeping tips to keep them from coming back:

  • Store food in the refrigerator or in containers that seal tightly.
  • Clean counters and eating areas daily. Vacuum or sweep floors. Don’t leave dirty dishes out overnight, even in the dishwasher. Take out recycling and any garbage containing food scraps every night.
  • Place pet food and water bowls in larger bowls of soapy water.
  • Reduce clutter in all rooms (it provides shelter for cockroaches).
  • Keep kitchen surfaces dry whenever they are not in use, especially overnight.
  • Fix leaky plumbing.
  • Check items you bring into your house for cock- roaches or their egg cases. Pay special attention to used furniture and appliances, and cardboard cartons from food stores.
  • Put out sticky traps so that you’ll know as soon as cockroaches return. This is especially important in apartment buildings, condominiums, or other homes that share walls, where cockroaches can easily move from one home to another.

Find more information on controlling cockroaches with eco-friendly pesticide alternatives in our OWOW brochures in English and Spanish. 

The City of Goleta along with the Cities of Buellton, Carpinteria, Solvang, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and the County of Santa Barbara have partnered with the OWOW organization to promote the use of less-toxic products in an effort to reduce pesticide pollution in our communities. By reducing pesticide use and the use of less-toxic products around the home, you can help reduce pesticides and other pollutants such as herbicides and fertilizers from being picked up while watering or when it rains and transported to the nearest storm drain inlet and into our waterways. The OWOW website is a great resource for finding less-toxic products to use around your home or garden.

Monarch Butterfly Habitat Management Plan Workshop on September 12

Community members are invited to the City’s Monarch Butterfly Habitat Management Plan (MPHMP) Workshop on September 12 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Ellwood Elementary School Auditorium (7686 Hollister Ave). The workshop will cover implementation projects for the MBHMP and will feature the project team, detailed project plans, and breakout group activities to encourage more community feedback on the proposed activities at Ellwood. We hope you will join us for this important discussion.

The City held community outreach events on this topic on July 7 and 9 at the Ellwood Mesa Monarch Butterfly Grove to engage with neighbors and the wider community on the City’s proposed Monarch Butterfly Habitat Management Plan (MBHMP) implementation projects. Approximately 50 people attended each event to learn about upcoming vegetation management to reduce fire risk; infrastructure improvements, including upgrades to the pedestrian and authorized vehicle access entryways at the end of Santa Barbara Shores Drive; dead standing and downed tree removals; new eucalyptus, native tree, and native shrub plantings to benefit monarch butterflies; new signage and trail improvements; and creek restoration and pedestrian footbridges to access the monarch butterfly viewing areas. 

Pictured: Parks & Open Space Manager George Thomson presenting to the group on July 7

Monkeypox Info on New Public Health Webpage

Santa Barbara County Public Health has launched a Monkeypox webpage to keep you up to date on the quickly evolving situation. Learn more about symptoms, prevention strategies, and local vaccine availability: https://countyofsb.org/3404/Monkeypox

Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus. This virus is part of the same family of viruses as the virus that causes smallpox. Monkeypox is of public health concern because the illness is similar to smallpox and can be spread from infected humans, animals, and materials contaminated with the virus. Monkeypox is less transmissible and usually less severe than smallpox.

On August 1, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Monkeypox.

 

Parks & Recreation Month Recap

Thanks to everyone who participated in a busy Parks and Recreation month in July.  We hope you took this opportunity to enjoy an activity, event or sport, whether it was one placed on the City’s calendar or something organized by yourself.

As part of the Parks and Recreation Month, the City hosted free clinics throughout the month. It was great to see so many different people of all ages, having fun and taking advantage of these opportunities to get outside and enjoy where we live. Thanks to all the volunteers who helped coordinate and lead these clinics, without them, they would not have happened.

While every clinic (Bocce, Pickleball, Bankshot, Tennis, Handball and Disc Golf) had active and enthusiastic participants, Pickleball was the most popular, with 50 active participants and another 50 individuals on the waitlist.

Thanks again to everyone who participated. We look forward to seeing you continue to enjoy the many parks and open spaces in the beautiful City of Goleta, not just in July, but throughout the year.

Pictured: recreation clinic photos (above: Bankshot)

Pickleball

Bocce Ball

Libraries Mark End to Successful Summer Reading Program

More than 1200 Community Members Participated in 8-Week Program

The Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley Libraries are pleased to report the results of this year’s successful Summer Reading Program. More than 1200 community members participated in the eight-week program which started on June 3rd and ended on July 30th. The participants included 944 children and 191 teens. In all, more than 750 books were read by adults during this time. This is the highest participation the libraries have had since the addition of the Library Bookvan and the expansion of the program to all the branches. 

The entire library team applauds our local community for reading their way through the summer! To celebrate, this past Saturday, July 30, 2022, the Goleta Valley Library hosted a Summer Splash party featuring crafts, games, prizes, activities, and even special guests from Seven Seas Press, Ice in Paradise, The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, UCSB H.E.A.R. and Santa Barbara Face Painting. Solvang Library hosted an Ice Cream Social to celebrate with their readers and to thank the generous donors and volunteers who supported their program this year. Readers at all three libraries redeemed their final prizes and entered prize drawings, whose winners will be announced this week.

Since the start of the program, hundreds of patrons have enjoyed fun weekly events such as magicians, jugglers, musicians, crafts, and a Stuffed Animal Sleepover that even captured national recognition in The Washington Post. The combined attendance at library shows this summer was well over a thousand. The best part about these programs, says Goleta Valley Library Children’s Librarian Elizabeth Saucedo, is the way it brings the community together.

“During the last two summers, we held the Summer Reading Program completely online, including virtual shows and digital reading logs,” she shares. “This year, to see the smiles on everyone’s faces as they came to the library, reported on their reading to earn their prizes, and saw friends at our special events — it was magical.”

Another welcome addition to this year’s program was the return of the in-person Teen Volunteer Program. Over 30 local teen volunteers chatted with young readers about their books, awarded prizes, and helped set up on special event days, all while having fun and earning community service hours toward graduation.

The main goal of the Summer Reading Program is to encourage participants of all ages to read during the summer months. During the gap in between school years, learning loss can occur and lead to academic struggles in the fall and beyond. Reading during the summer is an antidote to that, Elizabeth explains.       

“It’s essential for students to spend time reading during school breaks. To encourage our community to keep reading all summer long, our program includes fantastic prizes that participants can earn based on how much they read,” she says. “We want to say a heartfelt thank-you to all of the generous businesses and our Friends of the Library groups for contributing donations that helped motivate readers to reach their reading goals!”

While the Summer Reading Program has ended, there is still lots to do at your library, including the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Program, book clubs for all ages, storytimes, crafts, and themed programs. For more information on the Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley Libraries, including events, visit www.GoletaValleyLibrary.org.

The 2022 Summer Reading Program sponsors include: Albertson’s, Bennett’s Toys & Educational Materials, Birkholm’s Bakery & Café, Blenders in the Grass, The Book Loft, Brick Barn Wine Estate, California Electric Supply, California Pizza Kitchen, Casa Cassara Winery & Vineyard, Chipotle, The Coffee House by Chomp, The Elverhoj Museum of History & Art, Enjoy Bagels & Sweets, Friends of the Goleta Valley Library, Friends of the Library of Santa Ynez Valley, Golf ‘N’ Stuff, Ice in Paradise, Ingeborg’s Chocolate, Isla Vista Food Co-op, Island Burgers, Kyle’s Kitchen, Los Arroyos, Mother Hubbard’s Restaurant, MOXI Museum, The Mystic Merchant, Nathalie’s Dollhouse, New Frontiers Natural Marketplace, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Ocean Nails & Spa, Old Town Coffee, Pattibakes Bakery & Cafe, Pollofino, Powell-Peralta, Santa Barbara Axxess, The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, Seven Seas Press, The Solvang Bakery, South Coast Deli, South Coast Montessori, South Coast Railroad Museum – Goleta Depot, Space VR, The Stuart C. Gildred Family YMCA, UCSB H.E.A.R, UCSB Gauchos, The Unity Shoppe, The Wildling Museum, Wingstop, and Woodstock’s Pizza Isla Vista. We appreciate your support of our program!

Event photos pictured above and below (above special guest Ice in Paradise polar bear mascot)


Enjoying the beautiful designs by Santa Barbara Face Painting


Fun in the sun with water beads and ocean toys

 

Beautify Goleta Volunteers Collect More than 700 Pounds of Trash

80 Volunteers Participated at Five Locations Throughout the City

The City of Goleta is pleased to announce its Beautify Goleta Community Cleanup event on July 30, 2022, was another huge success! Five community cleanup locations were attended by 80 volunteers who collected 734 pounds of trash to prevent it from polluting our neighborhoods, creeks, and ocean. In addition to trash collected, the Bulky Item Drop-off for Fairview/Kellogg Neighborhood Spotlight also collected 7,967 pounds of furniture, mattresses, and other items! Check out KEYT’s coverage of the event online.

734 pounds of trash collected 
7,966 pounds of bulky items collected 
8,700 pounds of total waste collected 
6,090 pounds of total waste recycled (70%) 

We are so thankful and proud of our volunteers and Neighborhood Captains for taking the time and energy to participate in this event. A special thank you to Elks Lodge #613 for hosting our Neighborhood Spotlight, which included a Bulky Item Collection in addition to a volunteer community cleanup. Also thank you to Big Green and MarBorg for their continuing support of Beautify Goleta events, and to Caltrans and Clean California for their Bulky Item Collection support at the Elks Lodge. 

Here are the results from each cleanup site: 

Neighborhood Spotlight – Fairview/Kellogg
30 volunteers picked up a total of 219 pounds of trash from the Fairview/Kellogg neighborhood area! Plus, an additional 7,966 pounds of bulky item waste was dropped off by nearby residents – that’s 8,185 pounds of total trash collected for this site! Thank you to Elks Lodge for providing the use of their parking lot, and thank you to our special guest Captain, Councilmember and Beautify Goleta Founder, Roger Aceves.

Girsh Park
15 volunteers, including returning Captains and volunteers from the Goleta Evening Rotary Club, picked up a total of 174 pounds of trash! A special thank you to the Goleta Evening Rotary Club for their hard work and support during each Beautify Goleta event this year. We are so lucky to have such a dedicated organization as a Beautify Goleta partner!

Lake Los Carneros
A total of 15 volunteers met at the Lake Los Carneros parking lot to clean areas around Lake Los Carneros and the surrounding neighborhood. In just two hours, they were able to collect 180 pounds of trash! Thank you to returning Captain Jerry Lucera of Waypoint Church for leading this effort. Jerry has lead multiple Beautify Goleta events and helped prevent hundreds of pounds of trash from polluting our neighborhoods, creeks, and ocean.

Evergreen Acres
Our cleanup at Evergreen Acres Park was led by Susan Klein-Rothschild. Susan has been an amazing Beautify Goleta volunteer, and it was great to have her Captain this location. Thanks to Susan and 11 volunteers, 33 pounds of trash was removed from the park and nearby neighborhoods!

Ellwood Bluffs
We were lucky to have two amazing Captains for our second round of Ellwood Bluffs – Chris Briones of Okeanos Swimwear and Jennifer Smith. Chris and Jennifer, along with 9 volunteers, collected 128 pounds of trash! Thank you to our returning Captains for helping organize and lead this cleanup.

The City is grateful to all the volunteers who came out on Saturday to help Beautify Goleta. If you were not able to be part of this event, you can still join future events! We will have an announcement soon about how we will be participating in Creek Week. Keep an eye out for press releases and we’ll let you know when you can help #BeautifyGoleta next! For more information visit https://cityofgoleta.org/beautifygoleta.

A special thank you to all our Beautify Goleta Neighborhood Captains! 

A special thank you to all our Beautify Goleta Volunteers! 

Roll Off Bin: MarBorg Roll off Container ready for bulky items from Goleta Residents. Thank you to MarBorg, Big Green, CalTrans, and Clean California for their support in helping residents get rid of their bulky item waste.

Planet Fitness Grand Opening

Welcome to Goleta Planet Fitness!  On Wednesday, July 27, 2022, Mayor Paula Perotte had the honor of cutting the ribbon at the gym’s grand opening. Several City Council members also attended the festive event. Planet Fitness is located at 7127 Hollister Ave.

“I am so excited to welcome Planet Fitness to Goleta,” said Mayor Perotte. “This is a great location on the western end of Goleta that can benefit so many community members – families, students, and more to help promote a healthy community.” 

Planet Fitness’ General Manager, Matthew Curry said. “We’re excited to bring our Judgment Free fitness experience to Goleta. We want to grow and give everyone an opportunity to exercise at a gym that welcomes individuals of all fitness levels and backgrounds.”

The new facility is 23,1000 square feet and offers strength equipment, 30-minute express circuit-PF360, nearly 100 state of the art cardio machines, full equipped locker rooms with day lockers and showers, numerous flat screen televisions, HydroMassage loungers, massage chairs, tanning beds, total body enhancement booths, and more.

The new location will is open 24/5; from 5:00 a.m. Mondays through 9:00 p.m. on Fridays, and from 7:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. 

Goleta Lemon Festival Returns on September 24th and 25th

The Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber is excited to announce the return of the Goleta Lemon Festival, presented by Rusty’s Pizza Parlor, on September 24 & 25 at Girsh Park. Serving as the only trade show in Goleta, the Lemon Festival hosts 70+ booths featuring local non-profit organizations, as well as food, beverage, and merchandise in addition to lemon accessories, hats, and souvenirs. The Community West Bank Food Court will include treats like lemonade, lemon tacos, lemon cotton candy and Rusty’s pizza!

While 30,000+ festival goers’ explore and shop, they will enjoy live entertainment on the American Riviera Main Stage in a wide variety of musical styles, including Rock, Country, Blues, R&B, and more. The Lemon Festival has always been known as a fun, informative, and exciting event for kids of all ages, with rides and games such as archery tag, inflatable bubbles, and obstacle courses. The festival also features the largest interactive display of Fire, Police, and Emergency Services in the County. Be sure to stop by Safety Street sponsored by ExxonMobil to meet the people who help keep us safe and get an up-close look at their state-of-the-art vehicles and technologies.

On Saturday, September 24, the festival will feature the 15th Annual Goleta Fall Classic Car Show which showcases a variety of classic cool cars ranging from Corvettes and Camaros to trucks and pick-ups along with motorcycles and bicycles. Enjoy refreshing lemon ale or lemon meringue pie while admiring these classic automobiles.

The festival could not happen without the many volunteers, ages 14 and up, who spend time planning for the festival and lending a helping hand over the weekend. Applications for volunteers, vendors, and entertainment for the 2022 Goleta Lemon Festival are now being accepted:

For more event details, visit LemonFestival.com.

Keep Your Dog Safe this Summer

As we enjoy our sun-filled weather in Goleta, we want to remind everyone to help keep our beloved pets cool during rising temperatures and do not fall prey to heat stroke. Heat strokes can happen when our pets are left in confined spaces with little or no ventilation. They can happen anywhere – even when taking our animals friends on walks during a semi-hot day.

Thanks to Santa Barbara County Animal Services for providing the following information:

Tips to care for your dog in the summer:

  • Never leave a dog in a hot car. Heatstroke can occur within minutes.
  • Schedule early morning walks before the day gets too hot.
  • Check pavement temperatures to avoid dogs burning their paws.
  • Ensure pets have access to shade, ventilation, and water while outside.
  • Keep dogs inside or in a shaded area if temperature is higher than 80 degrees with humidity at 90 percent.
  • Trim hair short to ventilate skin. – Remember. dogs don’t sweat.

Overweight, elderly, and dogs with short noses are heat sensitive. Take extra precautions if you know your dog may be at risk.

Beware of signs of heat stroke:

  • Uncontrollable panting and drooling
  • Depression, lethargy, or agitation,
  • Vomiting, diarrhea, loss of consciousness or sudden collapse.
  • Higher Heart Rate and Body Temperature

Summer can be a picnic if you follow these simple tips and remember: “Hot dogs belong on the grill, not in your car!”

MTD Service Changes Occur August 15

Additional morning trips added to Lines 12x & 24x

Santa Barbara MTD makes service changes to local bus service every year in mid-August. This year’s service changes will go into effect at the beginning of the day on Monday, August 15, 2022.

Due to a shortage of bus operators, temporary schedule reductions were made on April 25, 2022 in order to improve system reliability. Because the bus operator shortage continues, the majority of these temporary reductions will remain in effect through August 15th.

After the April reductions, MTD staff heard from regular riders that specific early morning trips on the Line 12x (Goleta Express) and Line 24x (UCSB Express) had been suspended, making it difficult to make it to work and other morning obligations. Taking this feedback, MTD staff worked to identify specific trips to reinstate on these lines.

The following trips will be added to the schedule for August:

  • Two Line 12x weekday AM outbound trips departing the Transit Center at 6:05 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.
  • One Line 12x weekday AM inbound trip departing Hollister & Storke at 7:58 a.m.
  • One Line 24x weekday AM outbound trip departing the Transit Center at 7:25 a.m.

Additionally, a minor routing change will happen for the Line 17 (Lower West/SBCC). Due to circulation improvements at the San Andres and Carrillo intersection in Santa Barbara, the inbound Line 17 route will now turn left on Canon Perdido from San Pascual, then right on San Andres before turning right on Carrillo to head to the Transit Center. This one block change does not affect any stops or schedules for the Line 17; it simply makes an operational improvement for the buses. This change now means the inbound and outbound routes are identical.

The new schedule guide reflecting these changes is available online here. The printed version of the schedule guide will be available at the Transit Center and onboard buses at the beginning of August.

Customer Service Representatives are available for assistance at (805) 963-3366.