Projects on hold until economy improves
Posted on Wednesday, November 19, 2008
BENTONVILLE ó Benton County desperately needs a new juvenile detention center and more space in the county jail, but capital projects will have to wait until the economy starts to look up again.
ì We have got some money in the bank, but keep in mind we have got demands for capital projects, and it can be gone in a second if we are not careful, î Justice of the Peace Tim Summers warned members of the countyís Committee of 13 early last week.
ì I do not think that it would be appropriate for us to continue with vast expenditures that are not emergencies, even though we sorely need it, î Justice Bob Stephenson said. ì Precaution should control our process. î
There is currently just more than $ 1 million earmarked for Sheriff Keith Fergusonís proposed jail annex. That money will stay in the countyís budget until the justices decide whether to build the additional jail space.
When Ferguson first went to the justices with his proposal to build additional housing for inmates, he believed he could construct the building with the money allotted to the project.
ì When we originally presented this to them, the Quorum Court, without hardly any hesitation whatsoever, awarded us $ 1, 020, 000 to do this. At the end of the year (2007 ), weather hampered us from getting started, and progress stopped, î Ferguson said. ì Then all the talk about the juvenile detention center started. î
As a result of the delay in constructing the building, the Sheriffís Office lost the metal building that was going to be donated for the project, which would have saved the county a substantial amount of money.
Since then, the economy has taken a downward turn and the price of steel has skyrocketed. As a result, the cost to build a jail annex has risen to $ 2. 2 million, a price much higher than the $ 1, 020, 000 currently allotted for the project.
ì Our maximum number of prisoners is 482, and we have had more than that for six months, î Ferguson said, citing that the county jail has housed as many as 582 prisoners at one time.
To accommodate the influx of inmates, the Sheriffís Office has resorted to housing three prisoners in cells meant to house only two, using pallets, called boats, in the cell floors for the additional person.
Part of the reason for the increased inmate volume is the growth Benton County has experienced.
ì The more people we get here, the more crime we are going to have. Crime comes with prosperity and growth, î Ferguson said.
Building a new annex will allow the jail to house 160 additional prisoners, which should give the Sheriffís Office three or four more years for growth with the way the number of inmates continues to rise, Ferguson said.
On the flip side is the demand for a new juvenile detention center being brought to the table by JP Frank Winscott.
The countyís current JDC, located in the old jail east of the Benton County Courthouse, contains 17 beds and is more often than not filled beyond capacity with juvenile offenders, Winscott said.
It will cost the county between $ 5. 8 million and $ 6. 5 million to build a new JDC, which would have 36 beds, offices for probation officers and a new courtroom for Judge Jay Finch, who currently oversees all of the juvenile cases.
ì The JDC is maxing out on a regular basis, and we cannot do anything more than we are currently doing, î Justice Beverly Williams said. ì If we could intercept these kids at the tender age of 13, 14 or 15, then we could turn them around, and that will save us jail space in 10 to 15 years. î
Williams acknowledged that to build the facility, the county needs to do some creative thinking.
ì (Finding the funding for the new JDC and jail annex ) takes some creative thinking, and that is not happening. It is about thinking outside of the box. If (county officials ) ran their businesses the same way they run the county, they would be in real trouble, î Williams said. ì No one wants to spend the money. We can give the elected officials a raise, but we cannot spend money. That is not right. î
One suggestion Williams offered is to build a new JDC by looking for help through grant money and giving the current JDC to the Sheriffís Office once construction is complete.
On Nov. 10, members of the Committee of 13 tabled the proposals for the jail annex and the juvenile detention center in an effort to see what the economy will do.
ì In the past, delaying has caused costs to go up. By sitting back and waiting, the prices of materials could go down soon, î JP Kurt Moore said.
ì I am not against the idea of putting everything (the juvenile detention center and the jail annex ) on the back burner, î JP Chris Glass said. ì But there is a mandatory nature to having the jail versus the JDC. We do know that the numbers at the prison have been at the upper threshold and have been pretty consistently over the last year.
ì The numbers in terms of max capacity have not been the same in the JDC as the jail, î he said.
ì I move for a delay in further expenditures in the JDC and the county jail addition, î Stephenson said. ì Perhaps within a sixmonth period, we will have some indication of where the economy is going to go, whether it is going to look up or float where it is or sink further down. If it does (sink further ), I am going to look for a building with higher windows. î
With that motion, action on both the JDC and the jail annex was tabled until the June 2009 meeting of the Committee of 13.
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