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Flood-control concerns could delay interchanges project
“Sisters” act
BY DALE MYERS
FEMA asserts that the bridge replacement plans do not meet federal requirements for flood control, despite the plans, specifications and engineer estimates being 95 percent complete.
The City of Carpinteria has found itself entangled in a dispute with the Federal Emergency Management Agency that threatens to stall the Linden Avenue and Casitas Pass Road Interchanges Project. At its Feb. 23 meeting, the city council received a status report on the Linden Avenue and Casitas Pass Road Interchanges Project, one element of which is an alteration to the floodplain that pulls hundreds of homes off the course of a 100 year flood but increases the chances that a handful of homes lie in the path of floodwaters. The Linden Avenue and Casitas Pass Road Interchanges Project consists of replacing both the Linden Avenue and Casitas Pass Road U.S. 101 overcrossings, reconfiguring the northbound on- and off-ramps at Casitas Pass Road, extending the northbound Linden Avenue on-ramp, extending Via Real to Casitas Pass Road and to Linden Avenue and replacing the U.S. 101 freeway bridges over Carpinteria Creek, which were constructed in 1955. However, the project faces delay due to legal challenges and unresolved flood-control concerns with the Carpinteria Creek bridge replacements. FEMA asserts that the bridge replacement plans do not meet federal requirements for flood control, despite the plans, specifications and engineer estimates being 95 percent complete. Subsequently, the council voted unanimously, with councilman Wade Nomura recusing himself, in favor of authorizing the Department of Public Works to initiate work on preparing a letter of map revision for the Carpinteria area FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map. “When you have a floodplain and floodway, regulatory standards are much higher,” said Charlie Ebeling, director of Public Works for the City of Carpinteria.
CITY COUNCIL continued on page 3
DAVID POWDRELL
Carpinteria’s annual Talent Showcase had performers, from left, Ceylon Horton and Toby Theule singing to a rapt audience. The duo, who developed musical inclinations as church songstresses, performed “Sisters” at the Feb. 21 Plaza Playhouse Theater show. For more images and a review of the Carpinteria Rotary Club production, see pages 14 and 15.
Girl Inc. National awards $20K scholarship to local girl
the organization offers. She has comArianna Lopez, a Carpinteria High pleted over 2,600 community service School senior and a long-time Girls Inc. of Carpinteria participant, has been hours and spent six years successfully campaigning to ban smoking in the selected as a 2015 scholarship winner City of Carpinteria. In 2014, Lopez in the competitive Girls Inc. National was recognized for her community Scholar Program. She was among 31 service by Radio Disney with a “Hero young women around the nation to be awarded the $20,000 college scholarfor Change” award for highlighting the risks smoking holds and helping make ship, and she is the most recent of 19 Carpinteria a smoke-free city. National Scholars to come out of Girls “(Lopez’s) journey has always been Inc. of Carpinteria. positive by her own doing and she has “We are beyond thrilled to see had an undisputed impact on her peers (Lopez) receive this prestigious, welland younger girls through her empadeserved award and be named a Girls Inc. National Scholar,” said Victoria thy, strength and leadership skills,” said Asa Olsson, former cultural arts Juarez, executive director of Girls Inc. SUBMITTED PHOTO director at Girls Inc. of Carpinteria. “(Lopez) is an incredLopez plans to attend Santa Barbara ible young leader who proves that with Arianna Lopez is among 31 the right support, all girls can achieve high school girls around the City College in the fall and ultimately success and change their communities country chosen to receive a transfer to U.C. Santa Barbara. She plans to study graphic design, photogfor the better.” National Scholarship from As a young girl, Lopez battled ill- Girls Inc. raphy and journalism. “I am ecstatic and feel so fortunate to have been ness, including a head injury at the age of 5. She has been with Girls Inc. of Carpinteria for 14 selected as a Girls Inc. National Scholarship recipiyears and has participated in nearly every program ent,” she said.