District staff told the board the 2026–27 budget includes $500,000 for finding and fixing inflow and infiltration; staff outlined detection techniques, policy issues on private-property access and possible cost-recovery mechanisms.

The Montecito Sanitary District authorized its general manager to negotiate a contract with Duke's Root Control to install 13 flow monitors and 36 level sensors to pinpoint inflow and infiltration, aiming for a three-month monitoring window and monthly extensions during the wet season.

After detailed briefings and a lengthy debate over costs, permitting and loss of autonomy, the Montecito board directed staff to use the wastewater-treatment-plan ad hoc committee's criteria as the scope for Technical Memorandum 2, and asked staff to solicit cost and schedule proposals from Carollo.

The board voted unanimously to direct staff to engage the City of Santa Barbara to obtain flow-acceptance parameters and report a recommended approach, timeline and cost for incorporating that data into TM2.

Directors’ ad hoc committee said Southland’s Technical Memorandum 2 is scoped narrowly to ‘cost to connect’ and omits hydraulics and flow-equalization analysis, a gap the board agreed must be closed before deciding whether to rehabilitate the plant or send flows to Santa Barbara.