Commissioners could approve jail design Tuesday
By Steve Herring
Published in News on November 15, 2014 10:38 PM
The design for a 217-bed misdemeanant jail could be approved by Wayne County commissioners when they meet Tuesday morning.
The jail would the first phase of a larger judicial center project that would be built on county-owned property on North William Street where the old Masons department store building stands.
No cost has been assigned to the project.
Tuesday's meeting will get under way with an agenda briefing at 8 a.m. followed by the formal session at 9 a.m. Both will be held in the commissioners' meeting room on the fourth floor of the county courthouse.
Commissioners in September awarded a $78,870 contract to Moseley Architects PC to study the feasibility of two sites for a jail, and then to prepare the schematic design phase of the misdemeanant jail that would house people serving time for misdemeanor crimes.
The smaller jail would be built to allow the county time to build a larger judicial center that would house the Sheriff's Office as well.
Commissioners appear to have abandoned the idea of converting a closed prison into a jail in favor of using the county-owned property on North William Street. However, they have not ruled out building on an, as yet undecided, new location.
But the design that will be presented Tuesday is for the North William Street property.
During the September meeting, Commissioner Joe Daughtery argued that time is of the essence in getting the project started.
The county, he said, cannot continue to afford to spend $1 million a year to house inmates in other jails because of overcrowding at the Wayne County jail.
Part of the study is to look at jail population growth trends.
In a memo to commissioners, County Manager George Wood said that the county design group that includes Sheriff Larry Pierce and jail administrator Fane Greenfield has been working closely with the architect.
The design components include a site plan showing the smaller jail, and a larger area reserved for the main jail to be constructed later, exterior views of the building (two options), and a detailed interior floor plan.
"The plan is to construct the misdemeanant jail as quickly as possible to deal with the overcrowding issue," Wood said in the memo. "It will house 217 inmates, which is 17 more than the current jail holds."
The design shows a T-shaped misdemeanant jail with the top of the T, where the cells would be located, running parallel to Stronach Avenue. The leg of the T, that would house administration, the kitchen, laundry and other offices, would be perpendicular to Stronach Avenue with a vehicle sally port (a secure, controlled entryway) facing that street.
The contract with Moseley stipulates that the county is to review the proposed schematic design. If commissioners are satisfied with the design, they can approve it and authorize Mosley to proceed with preparation of detailed plans and specifications, contract documents, and bid documents.
"I want to stress that if you (commissioners) have any questions about the interior layout or exterior, this meeting is the time to bring it up," Wood said in the memo. "It will be very costly to make any modifications once we approve for them to prepare the detailed drawings. That is because they then prepare the electrical, plumbing, heating and air, data cabling, and other utilities."
Wood said the county design group is "very pleased" with the schematic design presented. It incorporates many of the best features that commissioners and jail officials saw at the jails they toured, he said.