Some Lompoc City Council members might think that a CIP is what you do with a cool beverage, but that’s not the case.
As a city service area grows, additional facilities and equipment are needed to provide citizens with an adequate level of service. The capital improvement program (CIP) is the long-range overarching management tool used to estimate the future needs of the city; usually this program is geared to span a 15-year growth period.
For example, in the early 1980s, that’s more than 40 years ago, Lompoc saw a substantial growth period because the space shuttle program was being established at nearby Vandenberg Air Force Base. With that project came thousands of new workers, so housing and commercial growth occurred to accommodate their needs.
Two public safety facilities were renovated, and Fire Station 2 was constructed. One of the renovated facilities was the Police Department; because of budget cuts made by the City Council during construction, it was undersized on the day it opened. It remains so today, as every available square foot, including former closet spaces, are used for administrative, interview, and storage spaces.
Fire Station 2 was supposed to be a temporary facility; however, it seems to have become a permanent fixture on the north end of town near the library. At the time it was built, it was adequate, but as the build-out of their service area continued at a rapid pace and their calls for service increased, it soon became apparent that the station needed to be moved; but council members, with an apparent lack of vision, have not supported this need in the past.
Fire Station 1, in the old downtown area, was renovated in the late 1970s; however, age has not treated this building kindly. If an objective engineering assessment of the building condition were made today, it would likely cost millions just to repair structural and electrical/mechanical system issues.
An important part of the CIP is the master facilities plan (MFP), which is a comprehensive document that lists all the capital improvements, specifically fixed assets such as fire/police stations, support buildings, power distribution systems, stormwater handling systems, and any other permanent improvement that a city would need if the growth envisioned by the general plan is realized.
The importance of the MFP is that it establishes a metric for the assessment of developer fees to cover the cost of additional city facilities and equipment that may be needed to support projected growth. In 2017, the total cost of the 174 MFP 15-year projects exceeded $342 million.
In years past, the various City Council members have not clearly understood how to fund growth needs. They have consistently demanded that “developer fees” either be waived for some improvements or significantly reduced, believing the developers when they claim that “increased property and sales taxes will support your needs.” Of course, this isn’t the case and never has been.
Currently the city is experiencing stagnant growth. Some minor projects are being built; however, there has only been one 44-unit housing project started in the last decade. There are other much larger projects in the queue, but most have been there for well more than a decade with little progress. Besides, even if the current council were to increase development fees to support the master facilities plan, these projects would still pay the fees that were in place at the time they were originally approved.
So, why should you be interested in this subject? Suppose Fire Station 1 were to be closed because it was unsafe to occupy; that means that an emergency allocation would be needed to relocate the staff and their equipment to another temporary location while a project was developed to either repair or replace the station. Seismic upgrade costs are currently estimated to be more than $4 million; to fully renovate the station would be substantially more expensive considering new building code requirements.
And if Fire Station 2 isn’t relocated, it means that residents on the north and west ends of their district are underserved because the crew can’t meet national response time standards. And any new construction or annexations would be irresponsible until the appropriate level of emergency services could be provided.
I know that many of you don’t have much interest in how the city is run, but this is your town, and if you don’t start caring about it, it will continue to deteriorate as you sit idly by and watch.
Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc. Send your thoughts, comments, and opinionated letters to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 28 – Feb 4, 2021.