July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Update on jail given (02/12/2009)
Jay County Council
By By STEVE GARBACZ-
Although it would have liked to hear that the Jay County Jail will be completed tomorrow, the Jay County Council was at least happy to hear Wednesday night that plans are continuing to clip along on schedule.
"Tonight I'm at 71 inmates and I'm housing 10 people out of county," said Sheriff Ray Newton as he and SchenkelShultz Architect Jeff Badders updated the Jay County Council on the jail expansion's progress.
"It's going to cost me close to $11,000," said Newton of the cost to house those 10 out-of-county inmates for the month. Newton said the need for more space is painfully apparent right now, as inmate counts have been going up steadily since December. "It's going to start costing us quite a bit of money."
"That's the depressing news - what do you have?" asked council president Gerald Kirby, jokingly asking Badders if he came to tell them the jail would be completed by the end of the day today.
Badders couldn't provide news that good to the council, but otherwise had positive information about the project's momentum.
At the beginning of the project, Badders had listed 12 procedural "hurdles" to jump on their way toward bidding the project and told the council that about eight of those have been passed.
"Most of the hurdles we've run into haven't created any major problems," Badders said.
He informed the council that he will be visiting the Jay County Historical Society at the end of the month to get their input on the planned façade for the Main Street side of the jail, which will attempt to emulate the building style of the other shops along the road.
Currently, environmental crews are finishing removal of hazardous materials, such as asbestos, from the expansion site on Main Street and should be completed around the end of this week. Once the material removal is finished, the commissioners can start looking at building demolition to level the former car dealership sitting on the lot.
"Have you got into any issues with buried tanks?" asked Kirby.
"The removal of them shouldn't be too difficult," Badders answered, saying he believes there is at least one underground fuel tank that will need to be found, but that won't be happening until the building is down and the next environmental study is started.
From there, Badders is working with utility companies to get power lines moved out of the area, which will be a major pre-building expense.
An underground fiber-optic line also runs under the alley separating the current jail and expansion site, but he informed the council that those lines will not need to be moved for construction.
The county has also sent a letter to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources asking for an exception. Since the jail site is technically located in a flood plain, Badders said he has petitioned the DNR to allow them to build on the same level as the current jail, otherwise they will have to raise the building about six inches to elevate out of the flood plain.
"What is the projected completion date?" asked council member Dan Orr.
While the original plan was to get the plans out to bid as early as possible, Badders backed off and said the Jay County Building Corporation may wait on trying to secure funding since the bond market has been so erratic.
"The financing seems to jump around every week," he said, adding that the county will save significant money on interest compared to construction costs if they can lock a low rate for the 20-year bonds. "If we wait a little later ... into May or June it may be settled."
The total completion time is estimated at two years after bid, but he said the jail staff should be ready to move into the new building by summer 2010.
"Sounds like you've got a gameplan," said councilman Mike Leonhard.
"Thanks for keeping us updated," added Kirby.
In other business, the county council:
•Approved two appropriations for the Jay Superior Court including $12,640 collected in substance abuse user fees and $2,075.64 for a grant to fund a courtroom interpreter.
•Approved two appropriations of $75,900 for child psychological treatment and $112,500 for family and children funds, paid back to the county from the state for services rendered.
•Approved two appropriations for the Jay County Assessor's office of $14,000 to pay salary for the full-time personal property assessor and $7,000 to pay for overtime for the reassessment officer.
•Approved two appropriations for the Jay County Surveyor's Office of $226 for corner compensation and $40 for backhoe and dozer repair funds. Surveyor Brad Daniels said the shortfall came from mistakes made when putting together the budget. He also added that one of the county's backhoes will be paid off at the end of the year.
•Approved an appropriation for $8,500 to the courthouse budget to cover utilities on the new courthouse annex building on Meridian Street.
•Approved an appropriation of $5,000 to the public defender fund to pay leftover costs to out-of-office attorneys used in conflict of interest cases.
•Approved two $2,000 appropriation to the deferral fund. One will be used to help the Jay County Sheriff's Department purchase new in-car cameras and the other will be used to maintain cell phones for prosecutor office staff.
•Approved an appropriation of $59,841.43 from the innkeeper's tax. The money will be drawn in March, July and September and will go toward promoting Jay County.
•Approved an appropriation of $1,815.70 to the Operation Pullover fund, which comes from a state grant for seatbelt enforcement.
•Approved an appropriation of $2,000 in the Drug Free fund to help purchase in-car cameras for the Sheriff's Department.
•Approved an appropriation of $8,173.22 to the 911 Fund to cover additional costs not covered by a grant received to purchase 800 MHz radios for local emergency departments. Jay County Emergency Management Agency director Ralph Frazee said, with the grant money, he was able to purchase 30 portable, 25 mobile, and 2 consolette radios. The additional money will cover installation.
•Approved four appropriations totaling $10,000 for a part-time public health coordinator in the Jay County Health Department. The money is appropriated as $6,000 for salary, $1,000 for travel, $2,000 for miscellaneous costs and $1,000 for office supplies.
•Approved appropriations and transfers of $150,000, which covers costs associated with purchasing the Meridian Street annex.
•Made a contribution to the Rainy Day Fund. The council decided to place half of the unused 2008 budget into the fund and rolled over the other half to the general fund.
•Heard an report from community developer Ami Huffman about the latest activity going on in the Jay County Community Development office. Huffman updated the council on the progress of the latest community projects including the Dunkirk Fire and EMS base, Redkey water project, Dunkirk water project, and Dunkirk downtown revitalization.
Huffman said she would like to begin working with communities on a community development plan for the future since she's been handling the "right now" projects that can't wait.
•Fielded a question from high school students in attendance about where the money the council handles comes from.[[In-content Ad]]
"Tonight I'm at 71 inmates and I'm housing 10 people out of county," said Sheriff Ray Newton as he and SchenkelShultz Architect Jeff Badders updated the Jay County Council on the jail expansion's progress.
"It's going to cost me close to $11,000," said Newton of the cost to house those 10 out-of-county inmates for the month. Newton said the need for more space is painfully apparent right now, as inmate counts have been going up steadily since December. "It's going to start costing us quite a bit of money."
"That's the depressing news - what do you have?" asked council president Gerald Kirby, jokingly asking Badders if he came to tell them the jail would be completed by the end of the day today.
Badders couldn't provide news that good to the council, but otherwise had positive information about the project's momentum.
At the beginning of the project, Badders had listed 12 procedural "hurdles" to jump on their way toward bidding the project and told the council that about eight of those have been passed.
"Most of the hurdles we've run into haven't created any major problems," Badders said.
He informed the council that he will be visiting the Jay County Historical Society at the end of the month to get their input on the planned façade for the Main Street side of the jail, which will attempt to emulate the building style of the other shops along the road.
Currently, environmental crews are finishing removal of hazardous materials, such as asbestos, from the expansion site on Main Street and should be completed around the end of this week. Once the material removal is finished, the commissioners can start looking at building demolition to level the former car dealership sitting on the lot.
"Have you got into any issues with buried tanks?" asked Kirby.
"The removal of them shouldn't be too difficult," Badders answered, saying he believes there is at least one underground fuel tank that will need to be found, but that won't be happening until the building is down and the next environmental study is started.
From there, Badders is working with utility companies to get power lines moved out of the area, which will be a major pre-building expense.
An underground fiber-optic line also runs under the alley separating the current jail and expansion site, but he informed the council that those lines will not need to be moved for construction.
The county has also sent a letter to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources asking for an exception. Since the jail site is technically located in a flood plain, Badders said he has petitioned the DNR to allow them to build on the same level as the current jail, otherwise they will have to raise the building about six inches to elevate out of the flood plain.
"What is the projected completion date?" asked council member Dan Orr.
While the original plan was to get the plans out to bid as early as possible, Badders backed off and said the Jay County Building Corporation may wait on trying to secure funding since the bond market has been so erratic.
"The financing seems to jump around every week," he said, adding that the county will save significant money on interest compared to construction costs if they can lock a low rate for the 20-year bonds. "If we wait a little later ... into May or June it may be settled."
The total completion time is estimated at two years after bid, but he said the jail staff should be ready to move into the new building by summer 2010.
"Sounds like you've got a gameplan," said councilman Mike Leonhard.
"Thanks for keeping us updated," added Kirby.
In other business, the county council:
•Approved two appropriations for the Jay Superior Court including $12,640 collected in substance abuse user fees and $2,075.64 for a grant to fund a courtroom interpreter.
•Approved two appropriations of $75,900 for child psychological treatment and $112,500 for family and children funds, paid back to the county from the state for services rendered.
•Approved two appropriations for the Jay County Assessor's office of $14,000 to pay salary for the full-time personal property assessor and $7,000 to pay for overtime for the reassessment officer.
•Approved two appropriations for the Jay County Surveyor's Office of $226 for corner compensation and $40 for backhoe and dozer repair funds. Surveyor Brad Daniels said the shortfall came from mistakes made when putting together the budget. He also added that one of the county's backhoes will be paid off at the end of the year.
•Approved an appropriation for $8,500 to the courthouse budget to cover utilities on the new courthouse annex building on Meridian Street.
•Approved an appropriation of $5,000 to the public defender fund to pay leftover costs to out-of-office attorneys used in conflict of interest cases.
•Approved two $2,000 appropriation to the deferral fund. One will be used to help the Jay County Sheriff's Department purchase new in-car cameras and the other will be used to maintain cell phones for prosecutor office staff.
•Approved an appropriation of $59,841.43 from the innkeeper's tax. The money will be drawn in March, July and September and will go toward promoting Jay County.
•Approved an appropriation of $1,815.70 to the Operation Pullover fund, which comes from a state grant for seatbelt enforcement.
•Approved an appropriation of $2,000 in the Drug Free fund to help purchase in-car cameras for the Sheriff's Department.
•Approved an appropriation of $8,173.22 to the 911 Fund to cover additional costs not covered by a grant received to purchase 800 MHz radios for local emergency departments. Jay County Emergency Management Agency director Ralph Frazee said, with the grant money, he was able to purchase 30 portable, 25 mobile, and 2 consolette radios. The additional money will cover installation.
•Approved four appropriations totaling $10,000 for a part-time public health coordinator in the Jay County Health Department. The money is appropriated as $6,000 for salary, $1,000 for travel, $2,000 for miscellaneous costs and $1,000 for office supplies.
•Approved appropriations and transfers of $150,000, which covers costs associated with purchasing the Meridian Street annex.
•Made a contribution to the Rainy Day Fund. The council decided to place half of the unused 2008 budget into the fund and rolled over the other half to the general fund.
•Heard an report from community developer Ami Huffman about the latest activity going on in the Jay County Community Development office. Huffman updated the council on the progress of the latest community projects including the Dunkirk Fire and EMS base, Redkey water project, Dunkirk water project, and Dunkirk downtown revitalization.
Huffman said she would like to begin working with communities on a community development plan for the future since she's been handling the "right now" projects that can't wait.
•Fielded a question from high school students in attendance about where the money the council handles comes from.[[In-content Ad]]
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