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This week’s listings on the back page
School portables in poor condition
Twist and shout
District considers replacement with modulars By Lea BoyD
“The intention when [portables] are installed is that they are temporary. They are not, and have never been, intended to be permanent, and yet we have portables on our school sites dating from the 1960s going forward.”
Hopes that most of Carpinteria unified School district’s portables could serve as classrooms for another decade or more were dashed on Feb. 4, when the board of education learned at a special meeting that 51 of the district’s 63 temporary structures had been recommended for demolition as soon as possible. An assessment of CuSd’s portables was requested by the board in order to better inform the district’s draft facilities master plan, a list of top priority projects that the district will likely seek to fund through a bond measure in this November election. When first presented to the board last November, the draft facilities plan included $60 million in district-wide projects that ranged from a new science ––assistant wing at Carpinteria High Superintendent School to reconfigured Cindy abbott parking lots at the elementary schools. the precise condition of the portable classrooms, which exist at each school site but are most abundant at Canalino and CHS, was uncertain, and the district contracted an independent study of the structures by its former facilities manager david Weniger to determine how critically they need replacing. “the intention when they are installed is that they are temporary,” Assistant Superintendent Cindy Abbott said of the portables. “they are not, and have never been, intended to be permanent, and yet we have portables on our school sites dating from the 1960s going forward.” Portables from the 1960s have proven to be in better condition that those purchased in the last 20 years. Weniger stressed that the quality of building materials in portables has plummeted over the years. “All of these portables can be reconditioned, but when we get done we’ll still have poured a lot of money
SCHOOL BOARD continued on page 23
Submitted
GARRett CombS
Female fans join the tearaways onstage at Plaza Playhouse theater on Feb. 8 to pay homage to the Fab Four and their unique place in musical history. the concert was one of several components of the Beatles Invasion Weekend at the local theater, which served as a fundraiser for a new, larger movie screen. For more photos of folks who caught the Beatles bug last weekend, see page 11.
Planners approve Sanitary District upgrades, IBC expansion By Peter Dugré
the City of Carpinteria Planning Commission used its stamp of approval twice on Feb. 3 when reviewing plans to upgrade the process by which area wastewater is handled and when supporting island brewing Company’s plans to expand. As a result, Carpinteria Sanitary district can install new digester tanks, a move that will likely reduce the potential for sewage odors to roam away from CSd’s processing facility. And ibC will be able to accommodate more beer tasters while brewing more to taste. CSd General manager Craig murray called plans to remove two over 50-year-old digesters at the 5351 6th Street plant “the final piece of the puzzle” in a complete overhaul and modernization of equipment and processing methods that began in 1993. “We are putting in state of the art equipment in terms of diffusion and aeration blowers … so from a process control standpoint and odor generation standpoint, we fully expect the new tanks and new process will be markedly
better than what we have now,” murray told planning commissioners. Since the public utilities project does not increase capacity at the sewage treatment facility, which has been rated at 2 million gallons per day since its inception, planners agreed with the CSD finding that the proposal was exempt from an environmental impact Report under CeQA. instead, planners considered the removal of old digester tanks and related chemical storage facilities in exchange for the newer equipment “a moving of structures” within the same established footprint, according to staff reports. the unanimous planning commission issued the Coastal development Permit while restricting construction hours to monday through Friday between 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. murray anticipated that ground would break soon on the $5 million dollar project to install the new aerated sludge holding tanks.
PLANNING continued on page 7