Plans for Grading Jail Site Called Premature : Santa Paula: Flooding concerns are raised because of the parcel’s proximity to Freeman Dam.

Ventura County officials were criticized Tuesday for planning to grade the site of a proposed jail near Santa Paula before a final environmental study on the project is completed.

Speaking before the Board of Supervisors, Fred J. Gientke, general manager of the United Water Conservation District, said county plans to grade the jail site at Todd Road are inappropriate.

The district operates the Freeman Diversion Dam about a quarter of a mile southwest of the location.

Gientke, who has argued that the jail could be in danger of flooding because of its proximity to the dam, said Tuesday that he believes that grading the site before the county completes an environmental study would violate state laws.

Supervisor John K. Flynn, the only supervisor to oppose the proposed jail, agreed.

“I think that the county ought to wait until the environmental impact report is completed,” he said.

Flynn was not in the board’s hearing room when Gientke spoke about the facility.

“I wish I’d have been there,” he said. “But there is not much I can do because I am always on the losing end of a vote.”

Robert Braitman, the county’s jail project coordinator, said the county completed a preliminary study when the site was selected from among five possible locations last year. He said the study found that grading would have no major effect on the surrounding area.

He added that efforts to begin grading by the fall would speed up final construction of the jail by several months.

“We want to grade the site this fall,” he said. “We want to prepare the site for eventual construction.”

The proposed jail would cover 15 acres, cost about $52 million and hold 752 inmates. The state has agreed to provide $10 million for the project but has given the county until September to begin construction or lose rights to the money.

To get the state funds, the county must approve a construction contract for the jail before September, county officials said.

While Braitman acknowledged that the grading will speed up the construction process, he said the state’s deadline did not pressure county staff to begin the grading early.

However, Flynn said he wonders if there is a connection between the deadline and efforts to begin grading early.

“It’s certainly enough to raise suspicions,” he said.

On April 24, Braitman said, county staff will seek permission to begin grading from the Environmental Review Committee, an advisory panel to the Board of Supervisors.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors approved a $146,700 contract with a Santa Barbara firm to complete the final environmental study on the jail. The study is expected to be completed within three months but will require a review period and several public hearings before it is considered by the supervisors.

The dispute over grading is the latest controversy surrounding the proposed jail facility.

The project was aimed at alleviating overcrowding in the county’s central jail, which often holds three times its 400-inmate capacity.

Gientke has opposed the jail site, saying the proximity to the dam of the proposed location increases the district’s liability in case of flooding.

Freeman is designed to capture about 55,000 acre-feet of water per year. The water is diverted into an aboveground canal half a mile long that empties into a series of desilting basins. The sediment is removed from the water before an underground pipeline carries it a mile to the 120-acre Saticoy spreading grounds or a mile farther to the 100-acre El Rio spreading grounds.

Ranchers in the area have opposed the jail facility, saying it will increase traffic, dust and restrictions on farming. Others have said the site is inappropriate for a jail because of the Oak Ridge geologic fault that runs under it.

In January, the Santa Paula City Council filed a lawsuit to block the county from building the jail. The suit alleges that the county violated its General Plan and commitments to preserve agriculture in Ventura County when it rezoned agricultural land for the jail site.

Flynn has urged his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors to consider expanding the county jail instead of building a new facility. He has also opposed the Todd Road site because of oil and gasoline contamination in the soil.

Underground gasoline storage tanks and four aboveground oil storage tanks have been removed from the property and the soil decontaminated. The soil that remains to be cleaned is on the southern portion of the site, which won’t be needed immediately for construction of the jail.

County officials said all of those issues will be addressed before the jail is constructed.

NEXT STEP

An environmental impact study on the proposed jail at Todd Road is expected to be completed by July. The county usually provides a 45-day public review period. The Board of Supervisors must give final approval to the report before construction of the jail begins. Meanwhile, county officials will consider designs for the jail and plans for a waste-water treatment facility within the jail. Transportation officials must also consider whether the nearby roads can accommodate the traffic generated by the jail.