8/14/2019 11 21 07 County Council Lends Support to Justice Campus

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http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2007/11/21/news.qp-9857584.sto

County council lends support to ‘justice campus’Resolution will likely be discussed at work session Dec. 4, with public comment at regular session Dec. 11

By James Boyd

331-4307 | jboyd@heraldt.com

11/21/2007

The Monroe County Council is calling on the county commissioners to do all they can to meet the current and future space needs for the county,including building a new jail and using the Justice Building jail space for county offices.

A month after government leaders unveiled a plan for a new “justice campus” at the former Thomson/RCA property, the council on Tuesday introduceda resolution supporting the master plan for the spacial needs of county government.

Though the resolution wasn’t debated or discussed — it was tabled — its introduction marks the beginning of what could end up being a five-yearproject that culminates with construction of a jail and juvenile justice center.

Council president Michael Woods said the resolution will likely be discussed at the council’s Dec. 4 work session, and again at its regular session thefollowing week.

“This is a big deal,” council vice president Vic Kelson said.

“I hope everyone’s paying attention to it. This is the first step in coming up with a design and figuring out a way to pay for this,” he said.

Constructing a new jail would help alleviate the county’s space crunch by freeing up room in the Justice Building.

By moving the jail staff and population to a new facility, the old space could be renovated into office and storage space for other departments.

“I think we’ve allocated around $800,000 this year alone playing musical chairs between the Curry Building and the Fiscus Building,” Woods said.

“(The plan) will help by moving the jail out and renovating that space into offices.”

The resolution also calls for the planning and construction of any new facilities to be energy efficient, with the structures at least meeting a “certified”level on the Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Design Certification scale.

It also calls for the court system to remain unified, by keeping it where it is downtown.

The resolution asks the commissioners to “make all necessary preparations to finance these projects” by submitting an ordinance to sell bonds withinsix months of approving the resolution.

Woods said an additional 15 minutes of public comment time would be allotted at the council’s Dec. 11 meeting in anticipation of a large public turnout.

The Dec. 4 work session is also open to the public, though there is no public comment period then.

Other action

EMPLOYEE FUND: In other action Tuesday, council members approved picking up the mandatory 3 percent contribution of county employees whoparticipate in the Public Employees Retirement Fund beginning next year.

“This 3 percent increase at least helps adjust the levels for everything,” council member Jill Lesh said.

Since the county is now picking up the tab, it could essentially be viewed as a 3 percent raise. County attorney Jeff Cockerill said he had heard“nothing but great things” from county employees about the plan.

JAIL FOOD: The council also approved an additional appropriation for $35,000 to continue feeding inmates at the Monroe County Jail.

Jail Commander Col. Bill Wilson said the above-average jail population has drained resources for providing food. Wilson said the jail has averaged259 inmates per day so far through 2007. Those inmates are all fed three meals a day.

AIRPORT REHAB: Monroe County Airport Director Bruce Payton requested and received $142,047 because a taxiway rehabilitation project went overbudget, but the federal government is expected to reimburse the county around $107,000 of that soon.

Payton said that during the rehabbing of one of the runways, officials found several underground drainage structures that needed to be renovated aswell as soil conditions that were less than favorable for the project. The project was initially budgeted at a little over $755,000, but ended up costing

 just under $900,000.

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