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FAA approves plan Santa Barbara Airport to rename taxiways, add $3.5 million in improvements
Board of Supervisors to review $1.4B budget Workshops planned for this week By KAITLYN SCHALLHORN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO
Officials at Santa Barbara Airport are finalizing a design plan for its taxiways. The project includes renaming them and adding improvements such as LED lights.
By KAITLYN SCHALLHORN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Santa Barbara Airport is forging ahead with its plans to update its taxiway designations to comply with Federal Aviation Administration regulations. The renaming plan has been approved by the FAA, a spokesperson for the federal agency, told the News-Press. Now airport officials are finalizing the design plan and are slated to begin construction in 2023. The crux of the project is standardizing the airport’s taxiway nomenclatures — something the FAA has required of all airports. And not only will Santa Barbara Airport rename its taxiways to make them more uniform, the renaming will also make intersecting taxiways less confusing for pilots, Bradley Klinzing, a supervising engineer for Santa Barbara, told the News-Press. Mr. Klinzing noted current taxiway designations could confuse new pilots as to which way to turn to get to the terminal. The renaming will re-designate the intersecting taxiways so it’s clearer which way to turn. “It can be confusing to a pilot who is landing here who has not operated at our airfields much in the past,” Mr. Klinzing said. “We’re just trying to simplify it for the pilots so there’s less incursions or safety issues.” “Knowing that the pilots won’t have as many decisions to make out there — it’s simpler and safer — I think that’s a win-win,” he continued. Aside from the renaming, the project will update to signage and pavement markings and a switch to LED lighting, which is expected to cut energy and maintenance costs. In total, the construction is expected to total $3.5 million, officials said. As it is an FAA-eligible project, the federal agency will cover about 90% of the costs with the airport on the hook for the rest. Construction will not begin until 2023 and will take place on various dates between midnight and 5 a.m. Airport officials are wrapping up the design plan, which includes construction documents and a schedule for phasing the construction. “We can’t just say, ‘Here’s the airfield. Have at it.’ They need to break it up into little segments that are manageable for them to complete,” Mr. Klinzing said. For example, the first phase is expected just to tackle the runway and its signage and pavement markets. The next phase will handle needed improvements with Taxiway Alpha and so on. Some designations are expected to remain the same, including Taxiway Alpha and Taxiway Charlie. The airport is working on a nighttime remediation project to remove contaminated soil from a 2019 crash. This undertaking is expected to last until early June. email: kschallhorn@newspress.com
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SB City Council to vote on redistricting map This diagram shows how taxiways are currently designated at the Santa Barbara Airport.
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Approval expected at Tuesday’s meeting By KAITLYN SCHALLHORN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
PHOTOS COURTESY SANTA BARBARA AIRPORT
This map shows how taxiways will be named in the future at the airport.
The Santa Barbara City Council is slated to approve the redistricting map at its weekly agenda meeting Tuesday. The Santa Barbara Independent Redistricting Commission chose a map late last month with updated boundaries for each of the five districts, which elect members of the city council. Under this new plan, District 1 is focused on the Eastside community but does have a presence on State Street and East Beach, including the Funk Zone. District 2 includes the Mesa and keeps all of West Beach. That district extends east of Modoc Road. District 3 includes the Westside as well as La Cumbre
Junior High School and the Westside Neighborhood Center. District 4 includes a small coastal presence and is centered on the Riviera. District 5 also has a small coastal presence but remains largely in the upper State Street area and includes the airport. District 6 includes the downtown area without crossing the freeway. District 1 has a Latino citizen voting-age population (CVAP) of 50.4% whereas District 3 has a Latino CVAP of 43.4%. The minority CVAP for District 3 is 50%. The map chosen has a population deviation of 7.4%. (Population deviation refers to the difference in population sizes among districts; the current Please see COUNCIL on A2
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The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors will hold a series of budget workshops this week — and preliminary estimates are looking positive. The county budget for fiscal year 2022-2023 is estimated to be $1.4 billion. And this will be the fourth consecutive year that no county departments will need to propose a service level reduction. Budget workshops generally occur about one month before the release of the recommended budget and two months before budget hearings. “Budget workshops are an opportunity to collaboratively craft a plan to create and sustain services critical to those we serve and also reimagine the possibilities of the future,” Chair Joan Hartmann told the NewsPress. “I am very proud of the Board of Supervisors’ history of strong fiscal management, which has provided the county with the ability to continue critical services and also advance priorities to meet the emerging needs of our communities and forge a stable and hopeful future.” Final budget decisions will
be made on June 14-15 with the board slated to hold adoption hearings. The budget has a threepronged goal of resetting how work is handled through new technologies and hybrid teams; reimagining a more inclusive and equitable future that includes health, safety and combating climate change; and reconnecting with community members, residents and other individuals in the post-pandemic environment, according to the memo. The general fund contribution costs will increase by $15.3 million to cover salary and benefits, operational changes, and other board policies, according to the memo. “The County’s stable fiscal outlook results from strong fiscal management and prudent budgetary practices forged by the Board to promote resiliency and ensure future stability,” said a memo to the board regarding the budget. “The preliminary budget is balanced through careful consideration of Board policies and commitments, service level impacts and longterm sustainability.” Today the board will review departmental budgets from Please see BOARD on A2
Sudoku................. B3 Sports ................A3-4 Weather................ A4
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 2-7-12-33-37 Mega: 11
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