Jim Mosby

Hundreds of children and parents dressed in colorful costumes attended the family-friendly "Tricks & Treats" Halloween event in the old Baker's Square parking lot in Lompoc on Saturday evening.

Access to the estuary at Ocean Beach Park near Lompoc opened for public recreation Thursday for the first time in nearly four decades.

It was due to a high anticipated cost, as well as uncertainty surrounding the vendor that currently provides the Lompoc Police Department with its vehicle dash-cameras, that the City Council decided to table the discussion until at least December, at which time it is expected the city will have a better idea of the costs and possible funding sources for introducing body cameras.

The program, which is slated to go into effect at some point before Oct. 2, will begin with 30 days of educational outreach to anyone caught illegally digging through trash, with the possibility for fines for offenders scheduled to begin after that first month. The entire program, which was approved by the Lompoc City Council in early August, is slated to last six months.

The governing body looked at various aspects of bringing back a downtown swap meet during its Aug. 4 meeting, but ultimately decided to hold off on further discussions — and possible action — until after the COVID-19 pandemic has passed and public health restrictions are eased.

The races are now set for the Nov. 3 election following last week’s passage of the filing deadline. Gilda Cordova, who was appointed to her District 1 City Council seat in January 2019, will run unopposed to maintain that seat, while District 4 Councilman Jim Mosby will face off against challenger Jeremy Ball. The lone other city race will involve two familiar faces, as District 2 Councilman Victor Vega, who has two years remaining on his current term, will seek to supplant Mayor Jenelle Osborne, who is running for re-election.

Jeremy Ball, the chair of the Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors, filed paperwork Friday with the Lompoc City Clerk’s office to run for the District 4 City Council seat in the Nov. 3 election. He became the first challenger to enter this year’s City Council races, with the filing deadline set for Aug. 7. He will be vying for the seat currently held by Councilman Jim Mosby.

More than two dozen Lompoc residents, many with signs expressing displeasure with fireworks, rallied outside City Hall ahead of Tuesday night’s meeting of the City Council. Once the meeting began, most of them filed inside to voice their concerns and call on the governing body to ramp up enforcement of fireworks violations and to reintroduce a complete ban on all fireworks in the city.

The Lompoc City Council on June 16 approved a Community Benefits Agreement counter-offer that calls for Strauss Wind, LLC, to pay the city $1 million at the start of work on its wind farm project and removes any specific deadlines tied to that payment.

The Lompoc City Council this month directed staff to prepare a Community Benefits Agreement that the city will look to enter into with Strauss Wind, LLC, the developer behind the 100-megawatt Strauss Wind Energy project that is planned for the ridgetops near the end of San Miguelito Road. The pact is likely to include a substantial payment to the city, if certain conditions are met.

Police Chief Joe Mariani and Fire Chief Gerald Kuras both cited the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the civil unrest taking place throughout the country as they shared concerns about safety and staffing if a fireworks show were to be held. Mariani pleaded with the council to follow the lead of surrounding communities and cancel the show.

The Lompoc City Council spent nearly an hour Tuesday night discussing potential ways to manage the mobile syringe exchange program that has been offered in the city since 2016 by the Pacific Pride Foundation. Some community members have accused the organization of promoting drug use and blamed the controversial syringe exchange program for a proliferation of used needles being discarded in Lompoc’s streets, alleys and parks.

The Lompoc City Council on Tuesday night voted 5-0 to use about $2.3 million that the city has in clean energy credits to provide a one-time $150 rebate to each of the city’s residential and commercial electric customers. The move was made in an attempt to financially assist community members who may be experiencing hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a continuing effort to assist residents who may be struggling financially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lompoc City Council on Tuesday directed staff to look into the feasibility of using more than $1 million in clean energy credits to provide rebates to the city’s electric customers.

The Lompoc City Council voted unanimously to direct staff to get input from the Lompoc and Santa Barbara County public safety agencies regarding holding a fireworks show at three possible sites, and to set a June 1 deadline to raise the needed funds for the show. If the money — estimated around $10,000 — isn’t raised by that date, the show would automatically be rolled over to 2021.

The governing body voted 4-0 to waive late fees and interest for transient occupancy taxes from local hotels and motels through June 30 and, separately, voted 4-1 to rescind a prior emergency proclamation that banned commercial evictions related to COVID-19.

Along with declaring a local emergency, which made the city eligible for potential reimbursements from FEMA, the City Council voted unanimously to waive late fees and nonpayment shut-offs for utility customers, to close City Hall to the public beginning Wednesday, and to cancel all future committee and commission meetings — except for those of the City Council and Planning Commission — through April.

After successfully advocating in 2019 to have Surf Beach kept open year-round, Lompoc city leaders have set their 2020 sights on increasing the recreational opportunities at the beach and its nearby estuary.

Members of the public are invited to attend the fourth annual Lompoc Community Snow Day, which is slated for Friday, Dec. 20, Saturday, Dec. 21, and Sunday, Dec. 22, at 2 River Road, near the entrance to River Park.

This year, Lompoc city leaders helped jump-start a conversation that not only could lead to the annual plover restrictions — and occasional closures — at Surf Beach becoming a thing of the past, but that could also lead to the construction of a new boardwalk, the reopening of the estuary at Ocean Park for various watersports and activities, and the return of recreational fishing at the beach.