MCFARLAND, Calif. (KERO) — In September 2022, 23ABC brought you the story of the McFarland Police Department's bid to acquire the building occupied by the city's library. At the time, there was concern in the community about the possibility of losing their library, but today there is a sense of relief because the City of McFarland has recently secured a $5 million grant to build a new police station.
Zach Miller is an office service assistant for the Kern County Library, and he's worked at the McFarland Library for about a year and a half.
"I think the Kern County Library as a whole is super-excited to have this $5 million dollar allocation go to the police department for the station within the city. It's just going to be an amazing opportunity for the citizens within McFarland," said Miller. "It's just a place for people to learn, to come and be educated and uplifted, and I think that's super-important for the community."
Cynthia Nunez, who lives in McFarland, says that losing the library would have had a huge impact on the community and on all the kids that use it as a resource. She says she was surprised that turning the library building into a police station was even considered.
"Really surprising that they wanted to take over the library for their own benefit instead of, you know, working their way to make their own office somewhere else, because this library has been here for years," said Nunez.
Nunez adds that when she heard the news that the police department was no longer considering the library building as a new home, she was happy for her kids and the other children who use and benefit from the library.
"All we care is that this is something good for our community, for our kids, for them to get out of school and come here after school to hang out and read a book or get on the computer to do their homework," said Nunez.
Miller says now that everything is set for a new police station, he is also happy for the McFarland Police Department as well.
"I think that's fantastic. I don't think it's good for any department to be in the small area that they were in," said Miller.
23ABC reached out to the McFarland Police Department for their comment on the grant and new building, but no one in the department was available to speak with us.
IN-DEPTH: CALIFORNIA PUBLIC SAFETY GRANT MONEY
California's 35th Assembly District is slated to receive $21 million dollars in public safety grants. In addition to the $5 million allocated to the McFarland Police for a new building, another $5 million has been granted to the City of Wasco for the same purpose.
The remaining $11 million will go toward various district initiatives, including combatting the fentanyl crisis. $10.5 million has been dedicated to creating a local task force that will work with law enforcement agencies and healthcare providers to get people into proper care.
Another $500,000 is set to go toward bolstering the county's fentanyl awareness educational campaign.
