_{Thumbnail photo: Despite receiving about $3 million for much-needed improvements to the jail, Del Norte County Administrative Officer Neal Lopez says additional funding is needed. | Photo courtesy of the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office}

Del Norte County officials are looking to state and federal loan programs to complete needed upgrades to the jail and to the Pyke Field Sports Complex despite receiving roughly $3.5 million in Congressionally Designated Spending funds last year.

During a presentation on capital improvement projects that are either finished or ongoing, County Administrative Officer Neal Lopez said staff is working on applications for a U.S. Department of Agriculture loan and a potential loan through the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, or Ibank.

Staff have also decided that tackling the Pyke Field rehabilitation project in phases would be the best path forward, he said.

“We had hoped to do the whole project at once,” Lopez said Tuesday, “but because of the limited funding as well as the amount of work that needs to be done out there, it’s going to be best to look at phases and look for additional funding for that project as well.”

Del Norte County is set to receive about $500,000 in 2024 Community Project Funding dollars courtesy of Congressman Jared Huffman. That federal earmark requires an application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The county had requested $1.8 million based on the project’s estimated cost, according to Lopez.

The project aims to improve field drainage, replace the lighting system and build an ADA-accessible pathway between fields and parking areas. Aesthetic upgrades were also proposed, according to Lopez’s staff report.

However, with the decision to do the project in phases, upgrading the lighting has been identified as the first priority with drainage issues being addressed later, according to his staff report.

Funding for the jail rehabilitation project is coming from about $3 million in Congressionally Directed Spending courtesy of the late U.S. senator Dianne Feinstein via the USDA Rural Development program. Del Norte also secured an additional $2 million via state Community Corrections Partnership and Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness programs.

The overall rehab project is expected to cost between $9 million and $10 million, Lopez said.

Lopez brought up IBank, saying that the program helped pay for the Del Norte Transfer Station. He also mentioned the possibility of using the Flynn Center as potential collateral.

“Sometimes when you go through an IBank kind of loan they want a collateral building they can lease back to you, so it’s kind of a lease back option,” Lopez said.

The Flynn Center is already part of a lease obligation used to obtain funds to rehabilitate the sheriff’s office in the late 1990s, but it’s not significant, according to Lopez.

“We’re hoping to use that for this project as needed as well,” he said. “Our other buildings, most of them are in the tsunami run-up zone. A lot of lenders don’t like to see that when they’re looking at a building as a collateral for their loan.”

The jail rehabilitation project includes upgrades to housing areas and spaces for mental health and medical services, intake, visitation and recreation. A group with the county’s Capital Investment and Infrastructure Technical Advisory Committee is working with administrators, sheriff’s office personnel, building maintenance and IT departments to develop plans for jail operations during the project’s construction, according to Lopez’s staff report.

Other in-progress projects include replacing the septic system at Florence Keller campground, according to Lopez. Del Norte County is using about $400,000 in per-capita California Proposition 68 dollars to replace an on-site sewer disposal system at Florence Keller Regional Park and campground.

Approved by voters in 2018, Proposition 68 authorized $4 billion in general obligation bonds for state and local parks, environmental protection and restoration projects, water infrastructure upgrades and flood protection projects. It’s the same funding source that awarded Crescent City roughly $8 million for its Beachfront Park expansion.

According to Lopez, the Florence Keller project is long overdue and will allow the county to install a shower and new bathrooms at the campground. However, due to questions contractors asked during a site visit in February, staff decided to extend the deadline for submitting bids.

Staff are working with the design engineer to come up with a cost proposal for responding to contractors’ questions, according to Lopez’s staff report. On Tuesday, he also told supervisors that county staff are developing a timber conversion plan to address tree removal near where the septic system will be installed.

“We’ve been notified that we have to remove some of the trees for the location where this septic system is going to be,” he said. “It’s a mound system and so it’s going to take up quite a bit of area.”

Del Norte is also in the process of completing an expansion of the irrigation system at the veteran cemetery, which will be paid for with Measure R tax funds. According to Lopez, about five vendors showed up at a walkthrough of the project area and are expected to submit proposals by April 4.

Only one vendor showed up at a walk-through of a project to replace the roof at the Veterans Memorial Hall, Lopez said. Bids must be submitted to Del Norte County by April 7 and will be brought before the Board of Supervisors for final approval.

Completed capital improvement projects for the 2024-25 fiscal year include paving projects for parking lots at the Veterans Memorial Hall and near the sheriff’s office at 5th and G streets. This project brought those spaces into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act, improved pedestrian access as well as installed new fencing to create a storage area at the sheriff’s office.

According to Lopez, that project was paid for with Measure R dollars.

Finally, Lopez said, county staff are working with a consultant to address physical and programmatic barriers that block access to programs and services for people with disabilities. This is required for Del Norte County to be in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

“It’s not only the physical ability to enter these buildings where we hold these programs, but also any kind of guidelines that restrict access to certain populations,” Lopez said. “It’s long overdue.”

The projects in Del Norte’s capital improvement plan are being addressed as funding is available, Lopez said. Del Norte will have a comprehensive and official plan developed as part of the 2024-25 and 2025-26 strategic plans. The idea is for the plan to be comprehensive and “will involve everybody who needs to be involved in that with administration, county engineering as well as possibly a consultant,” he said.