Clark County’s pool of unused COVID-19 relief funds was left a bit smaller Wednesday after the Clark County Council approved two new funding requests.
The council unanimously approved a $10.23 million request for American Rescue Plan Act funds to begin preliminary work on renovating the county jail. The council also tentatively approved an additional request for $15.5 million to relocate the Children’s Justice Center and Family Law Annex but will have to wait until next week’s meeting for final approval.
“We’ve got some required space planning needs and those are our family law center and children’s justice center. Both of those leases are in a leased building expiring May 2024,” management analyst Michelle Schuster told the council.
Schuster said the company managing those properties is changing, and the county is in discussions with the new management about extending the leases. If the leases are extended, the $15.5 million project would not move forward. If the leases can’t be extended, both departments will be moved to the Public Service Center in downtown Vancouver.
Moving the departments into the Public Service Center would require moving other departments such as communications, human resources, information technology and the auditor’s office, Schuster said. In addition, Community Development’s permit center would be consolidated and relocated to another floor. Animal Control and code enforcement has already been moved to the Dolle Building on Eighth Street in Vancouver in anticipation of at least some reconfiguration to the county offices.
The county is also looking at renovations for the Law and Justice Center to increase bed capacity at the county jail. Schuster said the $10 million requested would cover engineering and architectural costs, but the total price tag for the project would be closer to $100 million.
“We would be looking at increasing bed capacity in the jail, juvenile (center) and work center, remodeling or replacing the decommissioned section of the juvenile center and then move juvenile detention, remodeling the then-vacant juvenile detention to house adult offenders and then do a phased approach to remodel the pods and common areas,” Schuster said.
Changes would also be made to the jail work center to provide more housing for adult offenders.
Schuster noted the request is based on the estimated architectural and engineering costs, which are typically 7-10 percent of the total project costs, but the actual costs could potentially be lower.
Funding for construction would have to come back before the council at a future date, she added.
EMS station
North Country EMS’ request for $2.5 million in ARPA funds to help build a new station was also unanimously approved by the council. Chief Shaun Ford said the request has been in the works for more than a year.
“We’re attempting to replace our facility at Fargher Lake which serves the rural part of the county. … Like everybody else, we were surprised by the cost of construction to replace this facility. It far exceeded our expectations.” Ford said during the council meeting.
The total cost for the 5,000-square-foot station, Ford said, came in at $5.5 million. The department had originally estimated the cost closer to $3.5 million.
Ford said he has been working with county Finance Director Mark Gassaway to identify other funding sources, such as grants and loans.
“I’m as comfortable as I can be that they’ve explored every avenue,” Councilor Richard Rylander said.
YMCA
A $1 million request for Battle Ground’s proposed YMCA pool was tabled until next week’s meeting, much to the dismay of Rylander and Councilor Gary Medvigy. Both voted in favor of approving the project but Chair Karen Bowerman and Councilors Julie Olson and Temple Lentz voted against.
Medvigy said he has been championing the project for several years and wanted to see it move forward.
“If we were to commit this money, and I think we should, we could be a part of something that will be in place for generations,” Medvigy said.
Councilor Julie Olson said she didn’t think the county should take the lead role in moving the project forward. She said it should be up to the city of Battle Ground.
“I support these projects, but this — in my view — is not county business,” Olson said.
Olson noted the city of Ridgefield donated land to the YMCA project in that city and said Battle Ground should make a larger commitment to show its support.
According to YMCA officials, Battle Ground has agreed to waive some permit fees but has not contributed a fixed dollar amount or land to the project.
The council tabled the discussion to its Sept. 7 meeting to allow Battle Ground’s city council to further clarify its support for the project at its meeting a day earlier.
For links or an agenda for the council’s Sept. 7 meeting, go to https://clark.wa.gov/councilors.
