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Clear skies. Low near 65F. Winds light and variable.

The Tulare County Board of Supervisors will consider 55 capital improvement projects totaling a cost of $126.4 million for the 2022-2023 fiscal year at its next meeting.

The board will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Human Resources and Development Department Innovation Conference Room, 2500 W. Burrel Avenue, Visalia. The meetings are also held through Zoom at www.zoom.us/ Click on Join A Meeting and enter the ID 943 5285 0881and the password 017680. To join the meeting by phone, call 669-900-9128.

Among the local projects in line for 2022-2023 are the relocation of the Tulare County Sheriff's Office substation to the current Sequoia National Forest headquarters on Newcomb south of Porterville and the new Springville Library.

Also included in the projects for 2022-2023 are the remodel of the Terra Bella Fire Station. In addition a major irrigation project for Bartlett Park is included for 2022-2023.

The county has purchased property just west of the post office in Springville for the new library. There were concerns raised by residents of the Springville community at a July 16 town hall meeting they didn't have enough of a say in the process in the development of the library.

There has been $2.3 million budgeted for the library. County staff has stated the new location for the library is ideal.

Construction plans for the library are expected to be submitted to the supervisors for approval in November. Construction on the library is set to begin in March 2023.

The county is also purchasing the current Sequoia National Forest headquarters where the new Porterville sheriff's substation will go. A new headquarters for the Sequoia National Forest is currently under construction off of Morton.

County staff has stated the current Porterville substation “has outlived its serviceable life.” County staff say the Newcomb property “is ideal for a new substation due to its size, amenities and location” as it will be located near the South County Detention Facility. The county has budgeted a little more than $3.4 million for the substation.

The Terra Bella Fire Station also isn't adequate enough to meet today's standards so it will be remodeled at a cost of a little more than $4 million. To keep up with modern equipment a new apparatus bay and remodel of the station will be done. Construction on the project will begin in September and is expected to be completed in June, 2023.

At Bartlett Park the irrigation infrastructure “has reached the end of its serviceable life,” county staff reported. The system needs constant maintenance, county staff added. Its recommended the system be replaced by June, 2023 at a cost of $2 million.

The $2 million Bartlett Park project is part of $8.2 million in county parks improvements as part of the capital improvement projects to be done in 2022-2023 that will be funded by the federal American Rescue Plan.

A combination of other federal, state and county funds will be used to pay for all of the $126.4 million in projects in the coming year.

In 1999 the county issued $45 million in bonds to establish the Millennium Fund Investment Program to help fund capital improvement projects. The fund is now valued at $54.1 million. The county's share of the national tobacco settlement also contributes to the fund.

The county annually dips into the fund to help pay for capital improvement projects and the board will consider approving $3 million to be used from the fund for 2022-2023 projects at its meeting on Tuesday.

A large bulk of the $126.4 million for this year's projects will go to the Sequoia Field Program facility north of Visalia at a cost of $45 million. The facility will be a new 256 bed, adult detention facility that will be funded primarily through State Senate Bill 1022 in addition to county matching funds. Final plans for the facility are expected to be submitted for approval to the board in November with construction to begin in January, 2023.

In addition the board will consider approving the county's five-year capital improvement projects plan from 2022-2027. As part of that plan the county plans a new fire station for Strathmore at a cost of $3.5 million in 2027.

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