Santa Barbara council recognizes long‑service employees and approves consent calendar items including airport and water agreements

At its Feb. 3 meeting the City of Santa Barbara City Council opened with employee service recognitions and then moved through the consent calendar and several introductory ordinances.

Staff announced employee award recipients for service milestones (5, 10, 20 and 25 years). Named honorees included Julian Fennesi (5 years), Eric Bedel (10 years), Catalina Moran (5 years), Todd Newwell (parks superintendent), and Lieutenant Ryan Dejean, who was recognized for 25 years of service and gave brief remarks thanking family and colleagues.

The clerk read a series of consent items and ordinance introductions that the Council later adopted as part of the consent calendar (subject to the pull of item 0.6). Items included airport agreements (Agreement No. 202507 with Kenneth Hall and Agreement No. 202500 with another airport tenant), a proposed Municipal Code amendment to establish a Water Resources Department chapter, authorization to execute a second amendment to a Clean Water State Revolving Fund loan for the Braimar pump station rehabilitation project (project references and budgeting were read into the record) and a Waterfront resolution authorizing the director to treat boats as abandoned property under California navigation code Section 522 with standardized notification/removal procedures.

The consent calendar was adopted with one item removed for separate discussion (item 0.6).