Santa Barbara Waterfront Department Scores FEMA Reimbursement in Excess of $2-million
John Palminteri
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – At a time when funding issues are washing out some of the Santa Barbara financial safety net, a big check is on the way from the federal government.
Between 2022 and 2024 there were historic storms and directional swells that pushed tons of sand into the parking areas from the Yacht club to the Harbor West Parking lot, along with destruction of the asphalt in many areas.
It left the area vulnerable to more storms and damage, to not just businesses in the area, but the U.S. Coast Guard offices. Some of the harbor areas impacted were around the Santa Barbra Fish Market and Brophy’s On the Alley.
It required an all-out effort by the crews to clean the area out and open drains.
Santa Barbara Waterfront Director Mike Wiltshire told the Harbor commission recently a request for repair cost reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been approved.
He says the impact and repairs at the time were “enormous.”
In just days, at the time, “one of the larger actions was to install a 400 foot rock revetment. This was critical,” he said. ‘This revetment followed a previously designed plan.” That sped up the process to defend the property.
T go after FEMA money “is long and tedious and takes a huge amount of staff time,” said Wiltshire.
All along they were unsure about the results.
“We heard back from FEMA and they are going to reimburse us roughly for $2-million of the $2.6-million in claims,” said Wiltshire.
Wiltshire called it “a huge win for the Waterfront department.”
This week, the City Finance Committee received a report showing overall revenues are trending down and expenses are going up citywide. All departments were asked to suggest ways to trim costs or generate new fees.
Also the Harbor Commission recently looked at concerns going forward. Questions have been raised about harbor dredging with dwindling funds for one more clearing possibly in January.
Harbor commissioner John Stedman asked if the Coast Guard Vessel Blackfin would be stuck here in a storm. “Is it conceivable that federal government wouldn’t dredge if we were in emergency conditions given that have that Coast Guard vessel?”
Wiltshire said, “they’ll dredge essentially the minimum about to get passage for that Coast Guard cutter and our operations, as opposed to clearing a channel for the normal width (for all vessels.)”
The city also saw an insurance deductible for Stearns Wharf go up from $250,000 to $3-million in case there is a damage issue there.
The recent FEMA money is going back into the waterfront reserves.