It seemed like an ideal move.
The former Qualex film processing plant at 555 Industrial Park Dive has 52,000 square feet with plenty of room to expand for future Manteca Police Department needs. That would then allow other city hall operations to expand on the Civic Center site at 1001 W. Center St.
But just like Sacramento threw a monkey wrench into municipal budgets over the past 20 years commandeering close to $20 million in local Manteca revenue to balance state deficits. The state has derailed plans to move the police to the Manteca Industrial Park a block off South Main Street.
Shortly after the Manteca Redevelopment Agency purchased the building, the state changed the rules. It now requires all new police facilities that have holding cells to have 24/7 jail staffing 365 days a year.
‘That would cost us close to $800,000 a year in staffing,” noted Police Chief Dave Bricker.
The strategy now being pursued would keep the police department in place and not expand the existing holding cell. Instead, another site would be sought for city hall to accommodate the city as it grows.
Existing police departments with holding cells that aren’t staffed 24/7 have been grandfathered in – at least for now.
Bricker said preliminary studies have noted that the existing complex could easily be converted into police uses.
While the city is still growing adding 250 new homes in the past year, staffing has been reduced.
That means the city will be able to get by using existing facilities for a longer time even with growth. The plan is to use the additional time to examine true space needed with a city government that is being restructured due to economic realities.
There is no set time table for a new city hall or expanded police headquarters yet.
The city, though, is moving forward with consolidating various corporation yards into one location on Wetmore Street to reduce operating costs. The plan is to buy land, construct a new building for vehicle maintenance, and make other improvements using non-general fund sources. That, in turn, will allow the city to reorganize various public works field operations to reduce annual general fund operating costs.
The former Qualex film processing plant at 555 Industrial Park Dive has 52,000 square feet with plenty of room to expand for future Manteca Police Department needs. That would then allow other city hall operations to expand on the Civic Center site at 1001 W. Center St.
But just like Sacramento threw a monkey wrench into municipal budgets over the past 20 years commandeering close to $20 million in local Manteca revenue to balance state deficits. The state has derailed plans to move the police to the Manteca Industrial Park a block off South Main Street.
Shortly after the Manteca Redevelopment Agency purchased the building, the state changed the rules. It now requires all new police facilities that have holding cells to have 24/7 jail staffing 365 days a year.
‘That would cost us close to $800,000 a year in staffing,” noted Police Chief Dave Bricker.
The strategy now being pursued would keep the police department in place and not expand the existing holding cell. Instead, another site would be sought for city hall to accommodate the city as it grows.
Existing police departments with holding cells that aren’t staffed 24/7 have been grandfathered in – at least for now.
Bricker said preliminary studies have noted that the existing complex could easily be converted into police uses.
While the city is still growing adding 250 new homes in the past year, staffing has been reduced.
That means the city will be able to get by using existing facilities for a longer time even with growth. The plan is to use the additional time to examine true space needed with a city government that is being restructured due to economic realities.
There is no set time table for a new city hall or expanded police headquarters yet.
The city, though, is moving forward with consolidating various corporation yards into one location on Wetmore Street to reduce operating costs. The plan is to buy land, construct a new building for vehicle maintenance, and make other improvements using non-general fund sources. That, in turn, will allow the city to reorganize various public works field operations to reduce annual general fund operating costs.
