COUNTYWIDE : Agreement Reached to Buy Land for Jail

County officials have reached a tentative agreement to buy a 157-acre jail site near Santa Paula for $2.9 million.

The County Board of Supervisors will consider finalizing the agreement Tuesday with the owners, Michael and Nancy Brucker, who farm lemons on the site near Todd Road and the Santa Paula Freeway.

Earlier this month the supervisors moved to condemn the property after the county’s offer of $2.6 million was rejected by the Bruckers.

A stumbling block was whether the Bruckers or the county would be responsible for completing the cleanup of contaminated soil on the property.

Under the proposed agreement, the county would assume all responsibility for the cleanup.

The Bruckers would be released from all liability connected with the contamination.

Several underground gasoline storage tanks and four above-ground oil storage tanks were on the property.

All the tanks have been removed and the soil has been decontaminated during the past year, said Paul Ruffin, deputy director of public works for the county.

But the job isn’t finished.

The soil that remains to be cleaned is on the southern portion of the site, which won’t be used immediately for the jail, Ruffin stated in a report to the supervisors.

Supervisor John K. Flynn, who opposes the site, said Thursday that the board should not buy the site until it is thoroughly decontaminated and has a “clean bill of health” from county and state health agencies.

“This will come back and give the county serious, serious headaches,” Flynn said.

The Bruckers would be allowed to continue farming part of the site during construction.

The first phase of the jail will cover 15 acres, cost $51 million and house 752 inmates.

When the complex is finished it will accommodate 2,306 inmates in buildings covering 40 to 45 acres.