Council approves bridge consultant amendment, midyear budget changes and accepts housing progress report; ballots set for two benefit districts

The Carpinteria City Council on March 9 approved a set of administrative and budget actions and set the schedule to count weighted protest ballots on two proposed benefit-assessment districts.

The council authorized a consultant contract amendment to continue right-of-way and design work on the Carpinteria Avenue bridge replacement project, approved midyear budget adjustments and position authorizations, and accepted the city’s annual housing element progress report for submittal to state agencies.

Why it matters: the consultant authorization moves a major capital project forward while preserving previously budgeted funding; the budget amendments adjust reserves and realign revenues and expenses mid-year; accepting the housing progress report keeps the city in compliance with state reporting so the city keeps its certified housing element status.

Contract approval: council authorized the city manager to sign an amendment with the bridge design consultant (listed in the staff report as Duberry/Duberri/Duperry — contract language uses the consultant’s legal name) for additional right-of-way work and related services. Staff said the amendment does not ask for new local appropriations because the project is already budgeted; the staff report cited external utility relocation delays (Southern California Edison and telecom providers) that required extensions of consultant work. The motion (as read to the council) set a not-to-exceed additional amount of $205,282 and an amended contract total reported to the council of $2,376,168. The motion was seconded and approved by roll-call vote as recorded in the meeting transcript.

Midyear budget and personnel authorization: Administrative Services Director Lizeth Maldonado told the council that the recommended midyear adjustments increase projected revenues in several funds (including Measure X and transient occupancy taxes) and propose modest increases in operating expenditures and transfers. The staff report recommended increasing a restricted reserve toward the city’s $1,000,000 target and authorizing several full-time positions with explanations for temporary overlap when employees retire to preserve institutional knowledge. The council adopted the staff recommendations by vote.

Housing progress report: Planning staff presented the city’s annual housing element progress report summarizing permits and program activity for the reporting cycle. Staff said the state Housing and Community Development (HCD) had certified the city’s housing actions earlier in the cycle and that the year’s activity included ADU permits, certificates of occupancy, and a range of housing programs. Council voted to accept and file the report and direct staff to submit it to state agencies as required.

Assessment-district hearings and ballot counts: the council concluded two statutorily required public hearings and adopted resolutions to close public comment and schedule public ballot counts. The first hearing concerned a proposed Landscaping Maintenance District (2025-1) to fund street, median and park planting and tree maintenance; the second concerned creation of a winter beach berm maintenance district to fund seasonal berm construction, maintenance and permitting activities. Staff and the consultant described the engineer’s reports and the AB 2257 / AB 218 weighted-ballot procedures; the council scheduled public ballot counts for March 9–10 (public counting to be held and results to be reported back at the March 23 council meeting).

Votes at a glance: - Contract amendment (Carpinteria Avenue bridge — Duberry): approved; motion set amendment NTE $205,282; amended contract amount reported $2,376,168; roll-call vote recorded for councilmembers present. - Midyear budget adoption and position authorizations: approved by vote. - Acceptance and filing of annual housing element progress report and direction to submit to state agencies: approved by vote. - Resolutions concluding public comment and scheduling ballot counts for Landscaping Maintenance District (Res. 6468) and Winter Berm District (Res. 6469): approved; public ballot counts scheduled.

What’s next: staff will proceed with the contract work and continue to coordinate with utilities on right-of-way matters; the city will carry out the scheduled public ballot counts and return results to council on March 23; midyear budget adjustments will be reflected in updated financial statements and the city will submit the housing progress report to state agencies.