The Turlock City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the use of more than $1.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds for deferred maintenance projects on public safety infrastructure.

Turlock Police Department Capt. Miguel Pacheco explained to the council that funds for the projects are expected to be divided into three separate “buckets” — the city’s animal shelter, public safety facility, and shooting range.

Turlock PD’s animal shelter, 801 Walnut Road, has long been in disrepair, and Pacheco told the council that the facility’s alarm system, runoff drains, lighting, entry doors, rain gutters, and concrete pads all need attention.

“This is really a safety issue for our staff,” said Pacheco.

The Public Safety Facility, which houses police department, fire department, and dispatch personnel, is now 13 years old and is starting to show signs of age. It requires improvements to its camera system, HVAC system, the back lot, and fencing.

“Our fencing around the back lot, we’ve had several issues and security breaches where, unfortunately, staff, when coming to work, have had to actually interact physically with people and make an arrest in a place we want our staff to feel safe,” said Pacheco. “So, we deem the fencing to be inadequate at this point.”

The 25-year-old shooting range will be upgraded from 12 lanes to 24, with a change from an air-compressed system to an electrical system, allowing TPD to resource-share with other agencies.

Councilmember Cassandra Abram (District 3) advised caution before voting to approve the use of the $1.235 million in ARPA funds.

“I’m in support of this, but I have some concerns that it’s going to take longer than we think and it’s going to cost more than we have,” said Abram, who pointed out the city has just 18 months remaining to spend down its remaining ARPA funds. “I want to make sure the animal shelter gets the necessities that it needs … but I would still like to entertain the idea of an animal shelter study, because do we know what facilities we have now fit for our city? … But I believe this is what ARPA funding is best suited for: dealing with this deferred maintenance.”

Once again, the topic of the We Care homeless shelter dominated the public-comment portion of the meeting.

In April, by a 3-2 margin, the council voted against contributing $1 to secure $267,100 in grant funds that would’ve bolstered We Care’s coffers.

On Tuesday, 10 people spoke in support of the shelter, with two people praising the council for its recent decision.