Another jail overcrowding declaration is announced as commissioners discuss jail expansion
Any future expansion of the Presque Isle County jail in Rogers City will more than likely be left in the hands of county voters. Members of the public health and safety committee have been coming up with what it could cost to add more beds and make improvements to the facility. At the moment, the extra beds would be needed for Presque Isle County inmates as sheriff Terry Flewelling has contacted state officials to indicate that the county jail is above its design capacity, which is the reason the county is currently talking about a jail expansion. The declaration was made last Thursday. Jail overcrowding early last year promoted discussions by the board of commissioners, who asked the administrators of the jail to come up with proposals on an expansion.
District 1 commissioner Bob Schell said he would like to leave the ultimate question on the need for additional jail space to the voters. ?I have a problem going any further than this,? said Schell. ?I would like to see this as a ballot issue. We got bit once before when we thought it was necessary to replace the courthouse: the taxpayers felt otherwise. We ultimately are going to put the cost of this on the taxpayers, directly or indirectly.?
DISTRICT 3 COMMISSIONER Mike Darga, who serves as chairman of the public health and safety committee, provided an update on the proposed project to the entire board at last Friday?s meeting. Darga said the committee met with representatives of DeVere Construction January 17 to discuss the specifications, which include the addition of 10 beds, renovation of the holding cell, and a new boiler. The project has been cut nearly in half from early estimates of $1.2 to $1.4 million. DeVere?s latest estimates for a reduced version of the project are $513,000.
?The estimate is pretty close to what we had figured a few months ago with Harrison/Landmark,? said Darga of the company that prepared the drawings for the project. The biggest increase in cost was to a rooftop heating and cooling unit, which ended up being $60,000 over estimates. Darga said the current unit is only 60 percent efficient. He said regardless of the final decision on expansion, the heating unit is going to have to be replaced. Weinkauf Plumbing and Heating of Alpena did a study for DeVere, which indicated the county could save 30 percent a year on heating costs at the jail. Darga said the November heating bill was $5,000. He had not looked at the December bill as of yet. The cost of the new heating and cooling unit would be about $146,000.
DARGA SAID one of the reasons the cost is higher is that all the lines would have to be reinstalled because the old lines are imbedded in concrete. The price to remodel the holding cell is listed at $70,000. The county also faces the prospect, if the jail population falls again, of raising additional revenue from the housing of inmates from other counties. The sheriff?s department had to turn down a request to hold 10 inmates from Alcona County las
District 4 commissioner Gary Wozniak is concerned about the increased cost of hiring additional personnel. ?If you have to hire three more pesons, that?s all going to go against wages and benefits,? Wozniak said. Schell added, ?We?re talking staff, catering, food service. Everything is going to change when we increase the size of the jail. It?s more than just the building itself.?
The committee is expected to talk more about costs and a possible finance plan, which DeVere has in place, at their next meeting. Another option is to issue bonds. If the matter were to go before voters, the county board would like to see it on the August ballot.