Board OKs Sheriff’s Expenditures on Capital Projects

RIVERSIDE (CNS) – The Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco’s proposed outlays for dozens of capital improvement projects totaling over $16 million. In a 5-0 vote without comment, the board authorized Bianco to proceed with completing the projects, which he first brought to the supervisors’ attention during the 2022-23 first-quarter budget hearing last fall. To cover the costs, the board allocated $16.08 million from the county General Fund to a capital improvement account, on which sheriff’s administrators will rely to pay for the upgrades and repairs on an as-needed basis going forward, according to county documents. Three-dozen of the 77 projects are expected to require more than $100,000 in expenditures. Some of the efforts are in progress, with funds from the sheriff’s budget already appropriated. One of the costlier items involves repaving the parking lot of the Office of the Coroner on Redlands Avenue in Perris. The total project budget is $3.66 million. Other big ticket items include construction of a conference room at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta and the reconstruction of a dry food storage warehouse at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning. The conference room project will round to $3.87 million in expenses, while the Smith jail warehouse project is expected to total roughly $2.26 million, according to sheriff’s officials. Smaller projects involve replacing the alleyway adjacent to the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside for $422,675, renovating the jail’s staff restrooms for $819,750, adding perimeter security cameras at the Smith jail for $678,294, replacing the main entrance door to the armory at the Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center in Riverside for $39,300, renovating the sergeants’ office at the Smith jail for $209,935, and redesigning the supervisor’s office at the dispatch center in Riverside at a cost of $276,397. It was unknown how many of the projects might be completed in the current fiscal year, and how many may spill over into 2023-24, potentially requiring additional appropriations. Copyright 2023, City News Service, Inc.