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City budget brims with new projects and full funding
This week’s listings on the back page
Sliding into summer
By Cat Neushul
The 2014-15 draft budget for the City of Carpinteria, which was approved by the city council during its June 9 meeting, anticipates a general fund surplus of $35,000 and includes a number of projects for the benefit of residents. The city’s three major revenue sources, property tax, sales tax and transient occupancy tax, are all expected to grow modestly for the fourth consecutive year. While looking forward to the upcoming year, the city council also learned that Carpinteria will close the 2013-14 year with a general fund surplus of $345,947, a substantial improvement over the $6,235 estimated a year ago. Most of the line items in the 2014-15 budget reflect a continuation of the status quo, with some notable additions, like increased funding for the public library and allotments for zone code updates. The budget also includes funding for city hall improvements, the Santa Barbara County’s 211 Helpline, and the development of the 5,000-foot-long Carpinteria Rincon Trail. City Manager Dave Durflinger characterized the 2014-15 budget as exemplifying “more of the same” as
CITY BUDGET continued on page 5
BILL SWInG
Carp skate garden player Nick henry slides past the tag of David lamar of Cabo’s Cantina during a preseason adult co-ed softball league game on June 10. though henry was safe at second, Cabo’s got the last laugh in a 13-12 victory. City of Carpinteria adult Co-ed softball action has kicked off and will have moonlighting athletes competing at Viola Fields on tuesday and thursday evenings throughout the summer.
Blueberries bursting onto local ag scene By Peter Dugré
When Ralph Whitney was battling root rot at his avocado and lemon orchard off of Lambert Road near Summerland about a decade ago, a new option had just emerged for plants that could replace the failing trees at the 3.5-acre Whitney Ranch. Innovations in blueberry growing had made it possible to cultivate the popular and nutritious berries in frost-free climates, and the unique harvest window that could be had on the Central Coast presented an opportunity to fetch premium pricing. “We just happened to be taking out dead lemons and avocados—so we grabbed the tiger by the tail and now we can’t let go of it,” Whitney said. His organic blueberries are in high demand at local farmers markets. Since then, the valuable plants have gone into the ground throughout Carpinteria Valley, including more recently at large farms on Foothill Road and Rincon Road in addition to a new several-acre patch behind Tee Time on the Carpinteria Bluffs. Whitney explained that word has gotten out about blueberry cultivars developed by the universities of Florida and Georgia in the late 1990s, and unlike blueberries before them, the new plants do not need cold winters in order to bear fruit. Mark Gaskell, Ph.D., a farm consul-
tant and researcher with the San Luis Obispo office of the University of California Extension System, said that since the advent of new blueberry varieties, more than 7,000 acres of blueberries have been planted in California. Carpinteria currently has only about 50 to 100 of those acres, Gaskell said, but in all 2,000 acres of coastal blueberries have been planted between San Diego and Monterey counties because milder coastal regions are ideal for growing the berries. “Blueberries here taste better. They ripen more slowly. That’s my opinion,” Whitney said. The varieties that were developed for growth in the warmer Southeastern U.S. PETER DUGRé still needed further adjustments to take root in Cali- Blueberries have taken root on the Carpinteria Bluffs behind tee time in addition to fornia. Blueberries require several other farms in the area. acidic soils, and California’s according to Gaskell, and each acre supis conditioned by an onsite sulfur burner. ground is alkaline. The fix for the soil ports about 1,760 plants. All of the trouble to get the berries to issue has been treating the soil with adgrow has been worth it. If sold through ditives like sulfuric acid, recycled wood farmers markets, each plant in the and yard waste and, in Whitney’s case, BLUEBERRIES continued on ground grosses around $100 annually, watering with an irrigation system that
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