MATT OLBERDING / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Tuesday, October 24, 2006 7:00 pm
Consultants and County Board members have indicated their preference for building a new jail a site at Southwest 40th and West O streets.
The site, which scored highest in the consultants’ ranking system and also is estimated to have the lowest long-term costs, was not identified during Tuesday’s presentation of a draft pre-architectural jail study by consultants from Clark Enersen Partners, Carlson West Povondra Architects and Chinn Planning.
But a satellite photo provided in an informational packet matches up with a satellite photo of that intersection.
Also, the site is described as being 36 acres and currently for sale. The Southwest 40th site is just more than 36 acres and is for sale for nearly $3 million.
The consultants presented County Board members with three options Tuesday: Expand the current jail to the south, build another jail and continue to use the downtown one, or build a new jail and renovate and reuse the space in the current jail.
The consultants ranked the current downtown site at 10th and J streets, the Southwest 40th site and three other unidentified sites based on criteria such as size, accessibility, costs and integration with community planning.
The Southwest 40th site scored highest, with 1,320 out of a possible 1,500 points. The site of the current jail ranked last, with 811 points.
One of the big problems with the current site is expansion would remove a parking lot and close a street, and further expansion would be limited without acquiring more property.
The current jail, with a capacity of 237, is extremely overcrowded and the county must either expand it or build a new one to comply with state standards.
Consultants estimate building a 286,660-square-foot jail with 776 beds would serve the county until at least 2025.
Each option has pros and cons and all are enormously costly, but board members expressed universal preference for building a new jail and reusing the old one, a plan that consultants estimated would cost the least in the long run.
Commissioner Ray Stevens said he liked the plan, called Option C, because it would offer the opportunity to build a state-of-the art jail and also leave room for future expansion.
The fact that it would cost less to operate doesn’t hurt either, he said.
“I think that becomes a key factor.”
While building a new jail and closing the old one would cost more initially — an estimated $82 million to $84 million — by 2025 the cost would have been about $305.6 million.
The consultants estimated that would be $3.3 million less than an expansion of the old jail and nearly $37 million less than building a new jail and continuing to operate the old one.
Architect Al Povondra, one of the consultants, said while all options have enormous capital costs, it’s nothing compared to the ongoing operational costs, which he called “the costs that are forever.”
Povondra conceded there is no perfect option when it comes to a new jail
Consultants and board members conceded Option C is not perfect and does have hurdles to overcome.
One of those is getting local judges to agree to video arraignments to cut down on transportation costs.
Commissioner Larry Hudkins called it “paramount” that judges buy in to video arraignment.
There is also the question of how to pay for a new jail.
The board was told it has several options, some of which require voter approval.
“There isn’t a perfectly clean solution for financing any of this,” said Scott Keene of Ameritas Investment Corp.
The consultants plan to issue a final report by the end of the month, which, based on the comments of county board members, will likely recommend the Southwest 40th site.
The final decision will be made by the County Board, which is not likely to vote until next year, said Kerry Eagan, the county’s chief administrative officer.
“I think we’re a few months away,” he said.
Reach Matt Olberding at 473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.