OJAI VALLEY : Shutdown Proposed for Storage Yard

To make up for a loss of road-repair money from the state, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider a proposal to shut down a maintenance yard serving the Ojai Valley.

Equipment for repairing roads and clearing mudslides is kept in the storage yard, which serves unincorporated parts of the Ojai Valley and Upper Ojai. Two other maintenance yards are situated in El Rio and Moorpark.

Shutting down the yard and eliminating five vacant positions from the county Public Works Agency would save about $287,000 a year, according to Butch Britt, deputy director of public works.

At a meeting earlier this month, Ojai City Council members voiced concern that the closure could result in a longer response time to Ojai Valley if roads became impassable because of storms.

In a report to the supervisors, Britt said a Caltrans maintenance yard in Ojai could provide some emergency assistance and equipment if all roads to the area were cut off. Moreover, he said, the service to the Ojai Valley would be shared by the county as a whole.

The amount of money received from the state for road repairs has declined steadily since 1992. As a result, the county’s road repair program has tapped into surplus funds and is expected to run a deficit by mid-1996.

Four positions in the road repair department have been cut, and 12 others have been left vacant during the past two years.

Even if supervisors approve closing the Ojai yard, Britt warned that further cuts would be necessary to make up for the revenue loss.