Stunning a nearly full Shasta County Supervisors’ chamber meeting room, Sheriff Michael Johnson announced Wednesday evening that he will find a new location for his alternative custody campus.
Johnson made the bombshell announcement about 15 minutes into his presentation and after playing a video explaining the campus.
The sheriff said after showing the video: “If this is not your favorite slide” of the night, then showed a picture of the location with a big yellow X through it on a big screen with the words “WE ARE CHANGING THE LOCATION OF THE PROJECT.”
The audience erupted into applause and sobs of joy could be heard from some in attendance.
Johnson said he was not abandoning the project. But he told the Record Searchlight that he has not found an alternative site.
The “Corrections and Rehabilitation Campus” project has stirred controversy in the community and upset families in the River Ranch neighborhood who stepped up their opposition in February when they filed a lawsuit.
Portions of the 91-acre site at 7251 Eastside Road flank the Sacramento River.
Neighbors feared that the campus would make their neighborhood less safe, hurt property values and affect water quality because they fear pesticides will be used on the farm associated with the campus. Residents said their drinking water comes from wells.
Johnson said at the Wednesday, Aug. 5 presentation that he will seek a new location because of the controversy, the potential environmental impact and the impact the project would have on the River Ranch community. He also weighed the cost versus the benefits and said a new site makes more sense.
“I have read every single email that you all have sent. I want to know that they have not fallen on deaf ears,” Johnson told the audience before he made his surprise announcement.
It was hard for River Ranch neighbor Ashley Wayman, who’s been leading efforts to stop the project, to contain her emotions.
“I’m the happiest person in the whole wide world,” Wayman told the Record Searchlight. “I have worked like a full-time job, 24 hours a day for nine months to try to stop this. I was not expecting this at all today. We were expecting to find out the plan and then have to figure out, what new attorneys are we going to have to get involved and where is our PR campaign gonna go. And now I am going to celebrate.”
River Ranch resident Katrina Baumann also was relieved.
“I know a lot of us might not have been in this neighborhood when this project materialized. But my concerns were for the future people because I couldn’t imagine how possibly 2,000 people in one area, plus all the visitors and staff with two traffic outlets across the railroad tracks, seemed like a good idea,” Baumann said.
Shasta County Supervisors Matt Plummer and Chris Kelstrom were at Wednesday’s presentation. Plummer told the Record Searchlight that he found out that Johnson would be looking for a new location about an hour before the start of the presentation.
Johnson has said the new alternative campus would include a sheriff’s station, and the infrastructure to accommodate firefighting, culinary, farm, and auto mechanic training. He also had said the property on Eastside Road would have been big enough to carve out space for a new jail, should the county find the money to build it.
The county has set aside $34 million to build the alternative custody campus, but an exact price tag for the project has not been revealed.
David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly “Buzz on the Street” column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Shasta Sheriff Michael Johnson will find new spot for custody campus
Reporting by David Benda, Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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By David Benda, Redding Record Searchlight | USA TODAY Network
