The Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club is in a race against the clock. 

After nearly 50 years at the Vic Trace Reservoir on the Mesa, the radio club has to find a new home for its communications facility by July 30. 

The facility is on city-owned land, and the Public Works Department informed the radio club in January that it is planning to build a replacement water-storage facility at the site.

“We knew that they were planning a redevelopment; we didn’t know that we weren’t part of the plan,” said Levi Maaia, the radio club’s trustee and a member of the board of directors.

“We just assumed that because this was a communication site with AT&T, with the county, city fire, police and the sheriff’s, that it would be forever, so we were shocked that it wasn’t going to be available after the redevelopment,” Maaia added.

The current Vic Trace Reservoir is being replaced due to its age and repair needs. The project will demolish the existing concrete reservoir and build two 5-million-gallon underground reservoirs, the city told the radio club in an eviction letter.

“The lease we have with all the tenants on the site is ending because it’s a major reservoir renovation,” said Matthew Ward, water system manager. “We’re gonna have to use the entire site for construction.”

The project is in the design phase, and staff will be taking designs to Santa Barbara City Council for input in the next few months, at which time the public will also be able to provide input, according to Ward.

Ward said Public Works is prohibited from spending funds to support relocation and was unaware of any efforts made by the city to support the club’s search for a new site.

“We’re always open to talking with them regarding what their interests are,” Ward told Noozhawk. “We’re working with all the tenants there currently to make sure that the vacation goes smoothly.”

It’s unclear right now when construction will begin, but when it does, the project is expected to take two to four years to complete.

The project means the radio club will be losing its home of five decades.

The club has operated radio repeaters and digital communications systems on the site since 1975. Their operations on the site began in a garden shed, but in 2011 they installed the Talanian Communications Facility modular structure.

The high cost of real estate and limited places for optimal radio operations leave the club with limited options.

“The best sites for radio communications are going to be high promontories that have great views, and the real estate with views comes at a premium and there’s also permitting issues,” Maaia said. 

The Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club was founded in 1920 and today has 150 members. The club is involved in emergency beacon monitoring for emergency response, aircraft tracking, and academic research. 

During the Thomas Fire in 2017, members were able to communicate during power outages to share critical safety information. 

“We were able to let people know through our voice communication systems where different power outages were and what areas were being evacuated,” Maaia said. “Because we have a large network of 150 members, oftentimes we’re first to know and communicate about something before the official word gets out.”

After the Montecito debris flows in 2018, the radio club provided 12 new radios to members of the Red Cross so they could communicate with each other while the cell towers were down.

“The expertise in the area for radio communications is virtually nil unless you go to us,” Brian Milburn, the club’s president, said. “Almost everybody in the club has some professional experience with either radio communication and network and digital communications.”

In the last few years the club has been tracking ships in the Santa Barbara Channel and gathering data to send to UC Santa Barbara and Scripps Institute who use their whale migration data to make sure ships aren’t hitting whales.  

Air Pollution Control District staff use the data gathered by the radio club to reward ships following the voluntary speed limit in the channel, according to Maaia.

The club’s current site is what makes their operations happen, and members won’t be able to gather the same data if they don’t find a replacement space in time. 

The club has only had their Talanian communication facility for 13 years and hope to find a new spot for the facility that allows them to continue with their current level of operations. 

The club does have sites on Santa Ynez Peak and on Santa Cruz Island at Diablo Peak, but the remoteness of those sites makes them difficult to access regularly. 

The club had hoped the city would assist in finding a new location, but Maaia said they’ve been disappointed by the lack of city response. 

“We asked the city if there were other locations that they might suggest or if they had any other communication sites that they could offer to us. We’ve been a good tenant for almost 50 years,” Maaia said. “We’ve gotten crickets from them. At this point, we’re kind of scrambling.”

David Schmidt, who has been part of the club since 2017, felt that the lack of response from the city showed that they didn’t respect the club’s work.

“It feels like they don’t take what we do seriously,” Schmidt said. “If they felt that we were benefiting the community, they would do a better job of helping us find a new place but the fact that they’re not kind of says how they feel about us. From that aspect, I was disappointed.”

Schmidt said members regularly communicate with each other from a common radio frequency or channel. They often talk about weather in trivia in the morning, have virtual swap meets to talk about equipment for sale, and help out new amateur radio operators. 

“I know these people personally. I know their lives. We share this hobby. There’s technical aspects of it, but then when the bad stuff happens we all pull together,” Schmidt said. “We’re eyes, we’re ears. It’s pretty neat.”

As of now, the amateur radio club is still looking for a new site for their communication facility. If they don’t find one by July 30, they’ll have to abandon their building and find new homes for their equipment.

“It’d be nice to find another place where we could put another 25 or 50 years,” Milburn said. “I want everything to be better than when I found it, and this is a big chink in the armor there.”