It could be a tectonic shift in the business of Manteca politics.

Councilman Charlie Halford — riding the strength of a majority of the council that has repeatedly voiced a preference for 682 South Main Street as the site for a new police station — has forced a vote on just that.

As such it would be a new way of doing things. If the council has clear consensus and has expressed the political will for a specific option, that would be pursued first instead of a broad-based study to look at more options.

The tail would no longer wag the dog, which in  Manteca’s case often has led to inaction as it leads to a lack of council buy-in to bridge election cycles and the inevitable revolving doors based on  retirements or people moving on at City Hall

The vote — which in its basic form is a radical departure from how the city has approached major initiatives in the last 30 years except when a previous council put its collectivve foot down 10 years ago and told staff to stop studying the VFW hall proposal to death and build it on  the Moffat Boulevard  site — could help end project logjams.

The vote is supposed to occur at the March 21.

If it does get voted on then, it would be an apt meeting to do so.

That’s because March 21 also marks a new beginning in terms of start times for council meetings at 6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. The 7 p.m. start time has been in place for more than 35 years,

On Tuesday, in gaining council consensus to have the police station site vote come back for the March 21 meeting, Halford made his case “not to study it to death.”

More specifically, as far as the 682 South Main Street site goes, he noted doing an overall facility study on various unknown sites instead of deciding whether the site at least four members of the council seem to favor later instead of now, could end up killing what elected leaders view as the best location for a police station by missing a window of opportunity.

Halford noted work on the homeless navigation center planned for part of the 8 acres on the Mian Street site is already moving forward.

By waiting another six months for a feasibility study of potential police station locations to be conducted — assuming it can be done that quickly — Halford noted the navigation center layout could lock out a police station option at the site.

“We don’t need it to get into the black hole,” Halford said.

It was a reference to the fate of numerous city studies over the years for various endeavors — downtown revitalization, recreation master plan, a new library, the Woodward Park master plan that included an amphitheater and baseball fields in the storm retention basin as well as tennis courts nearby, new police stations, and new city halsl to name a few— that have been tossed aside and never acted upon or acknowledged again.

Responding to gentle pushback from Interim City Manager Toni Lundgren about making sure a feasibility study was done and all options considered. Halford said the feasibility study regarding the 682 South Main location could occur after the council designated it as the preferred site.

Halford stressed that it wasn’t  a reckless move given the city had originally bought the site for a combined police station-South County courthouse complex. The city conducted a feasibility study at the time that included why the location was ideal for citywide police response.

Halford said that study clearly needs to be updated. At the same time, he pointed out it wasn’t as if the city hadn’t already vetted the site when they spent $2.6 million in 2004 using redevelopment agency funds to buy the site for use as a police station and court facility.

The councilman said if the site turns not to be feasible, then other options can be pursued.

Halford agreed with Lundgren that the police department should have input on the 682 South Main Street location to make sure they still believe it will work before the vote is taken.

Given the city is open to going up with a multiple-story building proponents believe there will be no issue locating the police station at 682 South Main St.

The only likely hangup would be the need to “pay back” the county for the value of the portion  of the 8 acres the police station would require.

The city paid $1.76 million for the 8 acres with pass through homeless funds the San Joaquim County Board of Supervisors authorized.

Based on previous actions of the supervisors, that is likely mean the city would need to put that amount toward building the navigation center or other homeless services. That cost could be covered from a healthy government facilities fund that collects fees from growth.

The $16 million the state has accepted is for construction of a homeless navigation center on the site and wasn’t for purchase of the property.

 The site was already determined to be large enough for both a navigation  center and transitional housing that an affordable housing complex such as Juniper Apartments on Atherton Drive east of Van Ryn Avenue with commercial use on the ground floor could be built along the parcel’s frontage on South Main Street.

Existing police department

declared inadequate

more than 20 years ago

The current police department built 45 years ago in 1978 when Manteca had 22,000 residents wasn’t designed for the needs of a force required to protect and serve a community of 90,000 that within seven years is on pace to hit 100,000.

The police facility was determined to be inadequate for the city’s needs back in 2002 when the city had 40,000 less residents.

Two attempts on the city’s part to replace it went nowhere. Meanwhile, both Ripon and Lathrop have managed to build new police stations.

The police facility at the Civic Center at the 1001 West Center Street campus has significant security issues including the fact officers and support staff move between offices in an open breezeway secured only by wrought iron fencing and landscaping.

The South Main Street site was considered 19 years ago for a South County criminal justice complex along with a police department. Plans fell through when the county opted to build a new courthouse in downtown Stockton instead.

When that fell though, the city bought the former Qualex building at 555 Industrial Park Drive to house a police department. The city dropped plans to convert that building as well.

Between land purchases as well as initial design work on both sites and some basic roof work and earthquake retrofit on the Qualex building, the city spent more than $9 million in tax dollars with nothing to show for it.

In mid-2022, the city has $15 million in its government facilities account collected from growth as well as another $3 million to be paid back from the fire facilities fees for money borrowed to build the Woodward Avenue/Atherton fire station. There is roughly $4 million a year collected from growth that is going into the government facilities fee account.

Part of that money could go toward construction of a facility as well as leverage a bond and possible other funding needed for a new police station.

The same strengths the city identified in 2007 still apply to the 682 South Main site today being used as a police station.

*It is in a better location to access freeways in a quick manner to get backup throughout the city as well as to get around trains that may be blocking crossings.

*It is much more visible being along the city’s No. 1 north-south arterial.

*It also expands the city’s presence in the core of the city as it is within three blocks of downtown.

*It is also closer to the future population center of the city given by 2040 more than 60 percent of Manteca’s population is expected to be south of the 120 Bypass.

*It would free up nearly 30,000 square feet to expand office space at city hall without the need to build a new complex in the near future to accommodate city growth.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com