Posted: 2/7/06
Location of new CJC questioned
Meeting coming between city, county board
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
Where should the new Houston County criminal justice center (CJC) go?
That was the question that ended a day-long meeting between CJC committee members, architects, and county department heads.
Most of the days dealt with figuring out space needs for each department that will be in the facility: court administration, attorney, court services, and the sheriff.
Architect Scott Fettig, of the firm of Klein McCarthy and Associates, said in the summary part of the meeting that the discussions reduced the square footage of the project by about 6,000 square feet, which will save the county just under $900,000, based on a square foot cost of $147.
The new building would have 69,376 square feet of space, jail planner Dave Prachar said.
But discussion at the end of the meeting raised the issue of the location of the proposed building and a possible conflict with the City of Caledonia and some citizens.
At a meeting on December 20, commissioners had looked at two options. Option A was directly east of the courthouse, and wrapped around the current jail in an L shape. Option B was to the south and east of the current courthouse. They agreed at that meeting that Option B was preferable, because it had more space to expand, didnít crowd the courthouse, and didnít eliminate the green space and Veteranís Memorial currently to the east of the courthouse.
But last week they said they wanted to look at both options again. That brought a startled question from CJC committee member Russ Krech, who said he thought Option B had been settled as the preferred one.
Commissioner Ann Thompson replied that the board doesnít know if it has willing sellers for that option, and the board did not want to battle that.
There are people who donít want the new building close to their homes, commissioner Kevin Kelleher added. He said only one property would be needed to be purchased for Option A.
The Veterans Memorial and much of the lawn to the east of the current courthouse would have to be removed with Option A.
ìYou can always get the property,î Fettig said. ìThatís the honest reality, you can always get the property.î
ìAt what cost?î Kelleher answered.
Option B: ìThe bestî
Thompson then said that Option B was the best option.
Why not a remote site, Fettig asked.
ìItís going to be a lot more expensive,î commissioner Dave Corcoran responded.
Utilities are an unknown cost with a remote site, Thompson said.
Architect Rich McCarthy asked if the city would be willing to run utilities to a remote site.
Caledonia city clerk Bob Nelson responded that the city could arrange a special assessment to the county spread over a period of years.
The city is somewhat lacking a full understanding of what the needs are, and that seems to be the same with the county, Nelson added.
ìI personally think we just need to make a decision,î Thompson said.
Jail planner Dave Prachar agreed with that. ìIf you donít need anything more, letís go, at least to the next step of looking at options.î
Commissioner Larry Graf said he would like to work on Option B and if that doesnít work, then look at other options.
The board should be working with the City of Caledonia and find out what their beef is, commissioner Tom Bjerke said. He said there will be controversy, and he wants to work out the problems first.
Kelleher summed up the situation by saying that the board prefers Option B but is concerned about purchasing land and about citizen opposition. He said the board should move in the direction of Option B and talk to the city.
The architects said they would put a drawing of Option B together that would contain the major pieces of the building.
Kelleher said people are concerned about how the building will look and a perceived decrease in their property values.
ìI donít think weíre going to decrease anybodyís property value by the looks of it,î Fettig responded.
Krech said that the CJC committee should show people some jails that have been built in the area.
Corcoran agreed with Krech, and said the public perception isnít reality.
After the meeting ended, city clerk Nelson spoke to the board. He said there needs to be a clarification of the concerns of the board as a whole as opposed to what individual members are saying. Lines of communication arenít always accurately portrayed, he said. He felt it would be an act of goodwill for the county board to meet with the city and concerned citizens and clarify whatever is clear at the moment. That way they could determine what is factual, what is opinion, and what are misstatements, he said.
Kelleher said that the minutes of the CJC committee meetings have been factual. He said the county board should meet with the city officials and have the architects present. That would make for respectful communication, he said.
Nelson suggested that a sub-group of him, mayor Mike Morey, jail administrator Mark Schiltz, and Ann Thompson meet first and come up with a list of questions so the CJC committee would be informed of the questions ahead of time.
ìWe are moving toward knowing what we are doing,î Kelleher said. The county board knows the project is impacting the city and wants to work with them, he added.
No date for the meeting had been set as of February 6.
Other discussion
Dave Prachar recommended to the county board that they have a combined jailer/dispatcher when the new jail is built. He said there is substantial savings over time in having a combined jailer/dispatcher versus having a separate jailer and separate dispatcher post.
The use of the current jail building was also discussed. Personnel director Tim Comstock said it could be used for some Central Services staff if the new CJC is built nearby.
Central Services consists of the personnel office, the information services (IS) office, and building maintenance. Comstock said that that personnel and IS could relocate to the jail building, and the IS office could house the computer equipment for both the new facility and the existing courthouse.
The IS office is short of desk space for the three IS staff members to perform work or service/repair equipment, Comstock said. The computer equipment housed in the IS office also requires very cool and dry operating conditions, which makes for less than ideal working conditions for IS staff.
Kelleher said he would prefer to see an entire department move into the old jail and not pieces of departments.
Veteranís service/emergency services officer Rob Gross said that emergency services should be split from its shared position with veteranís service. The emergency service worker should be in the sheriffís office, he said.
The new CJC will have five components: a jail; law enforcement center; courtrooms; court offices such as attorney, administration, and probation; and central services such as maintenance and mail rooms.
The jail would have 42 beds, expandable to 82. Three staff members will be needed for the new jail compared to two now, but the cost per prisoner will be lower because there wonít be the cost of housing prisoners outside the county.
Caledonia Argus
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