Board of Supervisors vote to reduce beds at new Juvenile Hall in Monterey County

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) UPDATE: 06/09/20: In a unanimous decision, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors have voted to reduce bed capacity at the new Juvenile Hall facility to 80 beds.

The vote was to change the scope of the currently incomplete project. It was also to submit the revised project to CDCR.

The project at this time is considered behind schedule and prior to the vote was over budget.

Completion of the new facility is scheduled for 2021.

ORIGINAL STORY:

The Monterey County Board of Supervisors is set to discuss the possibility of reducing the number of beds at the new Juvenile Hall facility due to financial constraints.

It was originally supposed to be a 120 bed medium-security facility for $52.8 million, but it is now projected to cost $68.3 million in total.

According to a report from the Board of Supervisors, expected revenue reductions due to COVID-19 mean that the County will not have the funding it needs to finish the project under the current scope. The resolution also cited unanticipated cost increases and time delays.

At the next Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, supervisors will consider reducing the project to an 80 bed medium-security facility with essential administrative space improvements based on the State's conditional award of $35 million. The project would cost a total of $61.2 million and be finished in June 2021. The Juvenile Hall would not have an onsite kitchen or laundry facilities.