San Bernardino airport officials advance sheriff's aviation project

SAN BERNARDINO - Airport officials will accept applications from engineers and architects to build a new hangar for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's aviation division.

The sheriff's aviation division is planning to move from Rialto Municipal Airport to San Bernardino International Airport. Rialto officials want to close their city's airport to make room for new development, which means the sheriff's pilots and other airport users will eventually move to San Bernardino.

The moving process is still in its early stages, as the Airport Authority's board members on Wednesday only took action to let interested engineers and architects submit their credentials for the project.

In related news, the Inland Valley Development Agency's board granted its approval to a plan to identify various financial obligations the agency will be remain responsible for even if it is dissolved as a result of the end of redevelopment. The IVDA has given financial support to the development of San Bernardino International Airport and is also empowered to provide redevelopment incentives for surrounding land and improve nearby roads.

The process of determining those financial obligations can be confusing and burdensome even for those experienced in government finance. Board of Supervisors chair Josie Gonzales, who also sits on the airport and IVDA boards, said the public should be outraged that taxpayer-funded agencies have to spend so much time carrying out Sacramento's decision to unwind redevelopment agencies.

"Someone that this would be easy. It was going to be a quick take, and it's more than they can handle," Gonzales said.

Like all California redevelopment agencies, the IVDA has had to pore through its financial papers in order to convince state Department of Finance officials which projects, and their associated financial obligations, cannot be escaped after the redevelopment came to an end in February.

In the IVDA's case, the agency is arguing that its nearly $1 billion in outstanding obligations includes planned work to build a bridge for Mountain View avenue and make other road improvements near the airport.

Redevelopment ended this year because the Legislature approved Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to kill the agencies and use their money for other purposes, including education.

City and county governments created most of California's redevelopment agencies to reverse blight. The IVDA and Victor Valley Economic Development Agency, however, were instead founded to guide the conversion of former Air Force bases into civilian facilities. Attorneys for both agencies have filed lawsuits in Sacramento asking a judge to declare the IVDA and VVEDA are exempt from the law that ended redevelopment.

As of Wednesday, there has been no significant action on the IVDA's case, agency counsel Tim Sabo said.

Reach Andrew @InlandBizz.