Countywide : County Pollution Agency Moving to New Facility

Growth at the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District, which has managed to avoid budget cuts, has forced the agency to move to a new facility, officials said.

The agency is moving one block west this weekend, from the Ventura County Government Center to 702 County Square Drive.

The new offices will better accommodate the agency’s employees, who have outgrown their old facility, said Barbara Page, APCD public information officer.

Ventura County analyst Terry Dryer said the APCD relocation is the county’s first major off-site move.

“We try to stay on site as much as possible,” she said. “. . . we try to maintain the whole concept of centralized services.”

Dryer said the agency’s staff has grown from about 49 last year to nearly 60. Employees will avoid upcoming across-the-board county budget cuts because their salaries are paid with county fees, she said.

APCD Director Richard Baldwin said the agency’s offices “have been shrinking to the point of ridiculousness. . . . To give you an example, we put two inspectors into a 6-by-8 cubicle not even large enough for one person.”

The employees had been operating in a 4,000-square-foot facility until now, Baldwin said.

The county agency’s move into the 17,000-square-foot facility will be a welcome change, he said.

The agency’s new telephone number is (805) 645-1400 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The 24-hour complaint line will remain the same at (805) 654-2797.