Council gets pitch on jail expansion (11/15/07)

Jay County Council members on Wednesday heard Sheriff Ray Newton and Commissioner Milo Miller Jr. make their push for a local jail expansion, but they're not ready to take action just yet.

The major reservation council members had was whether the county could get the Indiana Department of Correction to send enough inmates to help fill the proposed 120-bed facility outlined in a feasibility study published in October. The proposed design also calls for 32 additional nonviolent inmates to be housed for work release in another area of the jail.

Newton told the council there is no guarantee how many DOC inmates would be directed to a revamped jail, but the state prisoner population is increasing. He said the county receives $35 a day per DOC and out-of-county inmate housed here, and currently gets about $90,000 to $100,000 a year through housing convicts from outside Jay County.

"DOC told me they're trying to find room for their inmates," Newton said, citing a recent meeting with state officials.

About 2,800 state prisoners are being held in county jails throughout Indiana, he said, and no plans exist for DOC officials to build more detention facilities, Newton added

Overcrowding also is a concern at the current 50-bed jail, the sheriff said. Separating women, convicted sex offenders and violent individuals regularly proves to be a difficult task with limited space.

Newton also said DLZ, an Indianapolis-based architecture and engineering firm that published the feasibility study on the potential expansion, projects the number of inmates housed in the Jay County Jail to be at 87 in 20 years.

"We need to build for the future," Newton said.

The current Jay County Jail, built in 1984, also is beginning to show signs of age, Miller said. Doors on cellblocks routinely break down, costing taxpayers thousands of dollars.

"The one we've got right now is starting to nickel and dime us to death," Miller said to the council.

Councilman George Meehan, a former sheriff, said he believes the jail's design "wasn't big enough in the first place."

DLZ completed a feasibility study on a jail expansion and presented it to Jay County Commissioners in October. The proposed plans call for a 27,500-square-foot addition to be located just north of the current 13,150-square-foot jail. The addition space would be located in a county-owned lot at the corner of Ship and West Main streets. A large building which formerly housed several auto dealerships is still standing on the lot.

Other key features included in the study are larger administrative space, conference rooms and an office for the Jay Emergency Management Agency.

Commissioners said in October they were pleased by DLZ's presentation and intrigued by the possibility of expanding the jail. But, they added, they were hesitant to pay the projected $6.4 million to $7.5 million associated with "hard costs" of construction. Those figures do not include money needed for things like environmental cleanup, attorney fees, investigative work, building permits and other fees and services.

Miller said, however, some expansion features can be deleted to save the county money, and he would seek input from other engineering companies. He added he believes the project also can be financed without raising taxes.

In addition, Miller said he expects the number of additional employees required to run an expanded jail to be minimal.

After little discussion, council members decided the issue needs further investigation.

"I think we're going to think about it," said Marilyn Coleman, council president.[[In-content Ad]]With only six weeks and one meeting remaining in 2007, Jay County Council on Wednesday made several additional appropriations to this year's budget.

The auditor's office received $6,194 for office supplies, official records, computer maintenance and postage.

The money was directed into line items for each category from the county's general fund.

Auditor Freda Corwin said the money will be for supplies used to issue approximately 6,400 property tax rebate checks to residents.

Money also was appropriated from highway general to bituminous, or paving materials. Dan Watson, county engineer, said $458,863.04 received to buy the material was originally provided by the state's Major Moves program.

Started by Gov. Mitch Daniels, Major Moves leased the Indiana Toll Road, with $3.8 billion made available up front for state road projects. Money has since been allotted to each county.

A total of $100,000 also was appropriated from the county's cumulative bridge fund to a bridge repair line item.

Watson said the money will be used to repair and replace culverts.

The Jay County Prosecutor's office received $747.50 to purchase a voice stress analyzer.

The money came from a county deferral fund comprised of user fees.

Prosecutor Bob Clamme told the council the appropriated funds represent half of the instrument's total cost. The other 50 percent, he said, will come from the sheriff's department.

"This is just an investigative tool," Clamme said of the analyzer's purpose.

Additionally, county economic development income tax funds were distributed to the town of Salamonia through a line item designed to fund capital improvement projects. The $8,000 will be used to replace the floor of an old schoolhouse that will be used as a community center in the town.

The council also appropriated $3,000 to help pay for two trailers that have been turned into mobile medical command centers.

The trailers, made available through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, cost $2,000 each, Corwin said. The money appropriated will help pay for a trailer acquired by the health department and another for the Jay County Emergency Management Agency.

JCEMA did not have the full amount necessary in this year's budget to purchase its trailer, Corwin said, and the $3,000 will pay off the balance owed on the trailers.