July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Demo deal is signed
By STEVE GARBACZ
The Commercial Review
Jay County Commissioners tackled several issues regarding the Jay County Jail expansion this morning, including awarding a local contractor a demolition job.
The commissioners awarded the demolition job for the building at the corner of Ship and Main streets in Portland to make way for the expansion to A. Landon Excavating, Portland.
The Landon bid was the lowest of seven received last week at $27,400. Demolition of the building can start as soon as April 16.
"It will take him a couple of weeks minimum to get the building down," said Jeff Badders of SchenkelShultz. "They're ready to go next week."
The commissioners also spoke with Badders on other jail matters and made decisions about building preferences.
Badders said the Indiana Department of Natural Resources rejected his request to obtain an exception to flood plain regulations. The planned expansion would technically be inside a flood plain according to flood maps from the 1970s. More current plans, which show the site would be outside of a flood zone, have not officially been adopted by the state.
"They wouldn't stick their neck out," Badders said.
To meet the requirement the county would have to raise the building an additional 9 inches from the current jail, which would raise costs.
"Nine inches in extra fill and all the steps and ramps ... is kind of a waste of money," Badders said.
Failing to meet the flood plain requirements usually means an owner must require flood insurance to secure financing. Badders said, however, that to obtain a building permit, the expansion only needs to be built on the same level as the current jail.
Since the project is going to be paid for by public bonds, attorney Sue Beesley said not having flood insurance wouldn't affect funding. The county doesn't carry flood insurance on any of its buildings, so the commissioners told Badders to plan to build on the same level as the current facility.
The commissioners also reviewed a few building options with Badders concerning some other kinks in the building plans. Badders asked permission for the jail to fall short of Indiana Department of Correction guidelines for smoother operation.
Certain regulations, he said, would only need to be met 100 percent if the county wanted to obtain a state certification, which is not necessary.
By changing the location of some walls, he could create better viewing angles for jail staff, but at the cost of square footage in the cellblocks, which would bring the county under the space benchmarks.
The cells would still be viewable by camera, but jailors would have to move from the central surveillance station to view the area.
Plus, Badders said, some sight restrictions could be beneficial in the pod setup, since it will be better for the jail staff if the male prisoners won't be able to see into the women's cellblock.
"That's the one thing I want is more cells," said sheriff Ray Newton, who voiced his support for maximizing available space.
The commissioners agreed, telling Badders to go forth with his plans.
"Let's live with some viewing issues to get some square footage," Badders said.
The commissioners also opted to fall short on natural light regulations, since adding additional skylights to some cellblocks would mean placing them over the dormitories where inmates could potentially "monkey up" into the light shafts in the ceiling.
To round out the morning's jail business, the commissioners also passed a reimbursement resolution, which states the county intends to refund money used to pay for preliminary project costs once it secures financing.
"All this is a declaration that you intend to reimburse," Beesley said. "Because some of the money has come out of county funds."
In other business this morning, the commissioners:
•Signed a contract for the services of Maximus consulting group, which will help the county obtain state reimbursement for work done in county on child support billing. The commissioners heard a presentation from Maximus representative Glen Eschenbacher before signing onto the services.
•Were presented some information on confined feeding operation regulations from other counties by rural Dunkirk resident Paula Confer.
•Were thanked by Portland resident Tom Young for their efforts thus far to improve the county's confined feeding regulations.[[In-content Ad]]
The Commercial Review
Jay County Commissioners tackled several issues regarding the Jay County Jail expansion this morning, including awarding a local contractor a demolition job.
The commissioners awarded the demolition job for the building at the corner of Ship and Main streets in Portland to make way for the expansion to A. Landon Excavating, Portland.
The Landon bid was the lowest of seven received last week at $27,400. Demolition of the building can start as soon as April 16.
"It will take him a couple of weeks minimum to get the building down," said Jeff Badders of SchenkelShultz. "They're ready to go next week."
The commissioners also spoke with Badders on other jail matters and made decisions about building preferences.
Badders said the Indiana Department of Natural Resources rejected his request to obtain an exception to flood plain regulations. The planned expansion would technically be inside a flood plain according to flood maps from the 1970s. More current plans, which show the site would be outside of a flood zone, have not officially been adopted by the state.
"They wouldn't stick their neck out," Badders said.
To meet the requirement the county would have to raise the building an additional 9 inches from the current jail, which would raise costs.
"Nine inches in extra fill and all the steps and ramps ... is kind of a waste of money," Badders said.
Failing to meet the flood plain requirements usually means an owner must require flood insurance to secure financing. Badders said, however, that to obtain a building permit, the expansion only needs to be built on the same level as the current jail.
Since the project is going to be paid for by public bonds, attorney Sue Beesley said not having flood insurance wouldn't affect funding. The county doesn't carry flood insurance on any of its buildings, so the commissioners told Badders to plan to build on the same level as the current facility.
The commissioners also reviewed a few building options with Badders concerning some other kinks in the building plans. Badders asked permission for the jail to fall short of Indiana Department of Correction guidelines for smoother operation.
Certain regulations, he said, would only need to be met 100 percent if the county wanted to obtain a state certification, which is not necessary.
By changing the location of some walls, he could create better viewing angles for jail staff, but at the cost of square footage in the cellblocks, which would bring the county under the space benchmarks.
The cells would still be viewable by camera, but jailors would have to move from the central surveillance station to view the area.
Plus, Badders said, some sight restrictions could be beneficial in the pod setup, since it will be better for the jail staff if the male prisoners won't be able to see into the women's cellblock.
"That's the one thing I want is more cells," said sheriff Ray Newton, who voiced his support for maximizing available space.
The commissioners agreed, telling Badders to go forth with his plans.
"Let's live with some viewing issues to get some square footage," Badders said.
The commissioners also opted to fall short on natural light regulations, since adding additional skylights to some cellblocks would mean placing them over the dormitories where inmates could potentially "monkey up" into the light shafts in the ceiling.
To round out the morning's jail business, the commissioners also passed a reimbursement resolution, which states the county intends to refund money used to pay for preliminary project costs once it secures financing.
"All this is a declaration that you intend to reimburse," Beesley said. "Because some of the money has come out of county funds."
In other business this morning, the commissioners:
•Signed a contract for the services of Maximus consulting group, which will help the county obtain state reimbursement for work done in county on child support billing. The commissioners heard a presentation from Maximus representative Glen Eschenbacher before signing onto the services.
•Were presented some information on confined feeding operation regulations from other counties by rural Dunkirk resident Paula Confer.
•Were thanked by Portland resident Tom Young for their efforts thus far to improve the county's confined feeding regulations.[[In-content Ad]]
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