First-hand look at crowded conditions (04/24/07)

It's a great facility.

It's just too small.

Jay County Commissioners Monday afternoon toured the Jay County Jail to get a first-hand view of the concerns sheriff Ray Newton has told them of over the past few months.

On hand for the tour also were Paul Downing, a criminal justice planner, and Laurie Christie, who specializes in business development, from DLZ, Indianapolis, an architectural and engineering consulting firm which works with design solutions for security centers throughout the country.

"It's a very clean jail," Christie said as the group wound its way through the facility's hallways. "I compliment you on the operation."

However, signs of aging of the facility - constructed in 1984 - could be seen throughout the building. There were a few holes in ceiling tile where rain had leaked through.

Wires providing technology access to other areas of the center were taped to walls. Hundreds of boxes of records and photos nearly filled a space initially constructed on the building's southwest corner to house the Jay Emergency Medical Service. An outdated computer sat atop a filing cabinet.

"That's up there because I don't have anyplace else to put it," Newton explained.

In cells designed for three inmates, there were four - with a bedroll on the concrete floor indicating someone was sleeping there.

"If we could just get people to quit committing crime we wouldn't need the additional space," commissioner Milo Miller Jr. said.

Newton has spoken to commissioners Miller, Gary Theurer, and Faron Parr, as well as members of the Jay County Council since he began his term in January about concerns at the jail.

As he began that term, the state also implemented a more stringent way of making sure such centers meet state standards.

Newton said there is now a list of 250 questions that must be answered on a monthly basis, and proof of those answers must be verified.

As those questions were answered, it became evident there were several maintenance needs at the jail, he has said, citing repair of cell doors as well as the fire alarm system.

Along with the maintenance needs, Newton has noted a need for additional administrative space.

A few years ago commissioners purchased a property just north of the jail on West Main Street for a possible expansion and in the past few weeks have discussed how that area could be utilized.

Additionally a home on Commerce Street adjacent to the jail parking lot may be for sale and is also being looked at as a possible option for expansion.

Downing will be looking at the original design plans for the jail and will be bringing recommendations back to commissioners.

"You need to design for the future," he advised commissioners.

Concerning the jail, commissioners Monday approved the purchase of a audiolog for the jail at a cost of $14,565.

911 coordinator Bill Baldwin explained the system recently failed, but it's a "must have" for the jail.

The systems records all incoming and outgoing calls made to the jail or the county's 911 system.

Also Monday commissioners accepted a bid for construction materials for a lift station on Blaine Pike from Harry Thompson Co., Indianapolis, for $15,493. When the bid was submitted during commissioner's regular meeting April 16, it was for $18,010.

However, that price included two rail systems within the lift station and only one was needed, thereby reducing the price by $2,517.

Although the Thompson bid was higher than another submitted by Straeffer Pump and Supply Inc., Evansville, for $8,475, Straeffer's bid did not include the Flygt pumps that had been requested in the specs.

Construction of the lift station near county 150 South is part of a sewer project the county will be undertaking in the next few weeks to extend a sewer line from the Premier Ethanol site to Portland's wastewater treatment plant. Premier will be building the line to a site on the north side of the Salamonie River and the county will pay for installation of the remainder of the line.[[In-content Ad]]