San Benito County supervisors Tuesday approved the $2.73 million
purchase of a property near the airport for use as the future home
of three departments
– the sheriff’s office, planning and public works.
San Benito County supervisors Tuesday approved the $2.73 million purchase of a property near the airport for use as the future home of three departments – the sheriff’s office, planning and public works.
Board members approved the agreement, as negotiations with the property owner are finished, in a unanimous vote. In a separate but related item, they also approved an inter-departmental loan for $1.8 million from Integrated Waste Management to help pay for the cost.
Supervisor Pat Loe dissented on the loan because she wanted a higher interest rate – which could be very minimal because it is variable based on the county’s rate of return on investments – in the agreement. County Administrative Officer Susan Thompson attempted to address concerns about risk involved in the agreement by noting how the county would own the purchased building as collateral.
County officials recently finished negotiations on the 41,265-square-foot building at 2301 Technology Parkway. Finding new homes for all three departments has been on the radar for years. Combining the departments in a larger building will theoretically save millions of dollars compared with buying buildings for each, or constructing from the ground up.
It would move the sheriff’s office from downtown to the outskirts of Hollister, while the two other departments already reside far from the downtown core on Southside Road.
The building considered for purchase is the Orsetti Seed Co. warehouse. That business’ lease runs out soon, and the close of escrow for the county’s purchase is set for Dec. 10. The building is two stories and sits on a property that is 2.3 acres, according to the county.
County officials for this fiscal year have budgeted $4 million for the project, including renovations. In the budget, $1.8 million would come from capital reserves, with another $1.8 million from the inter-departmental loan from Integrated Waste Management, $200,000 from sheriff’s office equipment impact fees and $190,000 from general fund reserves, according to the county.
As supervisors discussed at Tuesday’s meeting, there is no projected use of the waste management capital funds used in the loan for five years. There also are no projects on the books for use of the funds.
