Building new jail may take up to three years
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Several funding and bidding steps are necessary before ground is actually broken for the $150 million structure to house 1,500 inmates, according to Chief Deputy Stan Copeland.
He said the jail will be built on a 34-acre county lot off Georgia Highway 92, adjacent to the 911 emergency center which is under construction. The site will eventually be connected by the Duralee Lane Extension into Dorris Road and the county courthouse campus.
“The sooner we can get the process going, it’s going to save the county money,” Copeland said Wednesday, noting the county continues to pay $45 per day, per inmate, to house nearly 50 inmates in Irwin County, about 200 miles away in south Georgia.
Copeland said the county will soon start seeking funding sources through its purchasing and finance departments for a planned bond issue.
Almost simultaneously, he said, an interest meeting will be held in the purchasing department to meet with all possible project bidders. He said the general scope of the project will be presented so that architectural firms can prepare bids.
“The county will put together a selection committee, with different people throughout county government to make a bid recommendation to the Board of Commissioners,” he said.
Copeland said the chosen architectural firm will draw up plans, based on the county’s requirements.
He said the jail will be built so that it can be expanded in the future when more space is needed.
Copeland said the county has many good contractors and sub-contractors, so he hopes a local company can win the bid and give local workers employment. He estimates a jail completion in about 30-36 months.
He said the public will be able to track the progress of the jail, with all information posted on the county and sheriff’s office Web sites, This will include funding, bidding and construction.
“We’re considering putting a webcam on the scene so people can watch the construction,” he said.
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comments (3)
« notasmanyfriendlies wrote on Thursday, Nov 05 at 12:11 PM »
During the mid 70's jails were designated as punishment systems to control the out of control “wild generation”. Prior to that jails were mostly used to secure violent people away from the peaceful society. A small fraction of 1% were incarcerated at that time. Now that this paranoia is at its maximum over 1% of America is locked up fulltime. And that lockup trend is growing much, much faster than the population is growing. America is a much less friendly place. The word neighbors no longer mean the same as it did prior to the 70's lockup trend. Police uniforms and patrol cars now look more like our front line Special Forces. Prior to the change in the jail strategy the police were the peacemakers and smiled and waved at the town folk often. The war of American against American has shown no sign of slowing down while Japan, Germany and most other governments throughout the world have been locking up a smaller percentage of their population each year. But in America we all still get a laugh from that funny statement from years back, “Can’t we all just get along”. Hah hah hah. Laughing all the way to total anarchy which is similar to what that Roman emperor Nero did when he played that violin while Rome burned.
« Reply2you wrote on Thursday, Nov 05 at 08:36 AM »
We try and use companies inside the county when applicable, those toilets were brought in during the flooding on an emergency basis for DOT and emergency workers. The company may have not been able to provide the quick response or they may have just been too expensive compared to their competition outside the county.
« jstwondering wrote on Thursday, Nov 05 at 07:56 AM »
I notice a lot of portable toilets around Douglas County and all of the them are from out of county. How come we don't use the portable toilet company across from Bill's flea market? That is Douglas county isn't it? I was just wondering because I pass it on my way to work each morning. Couldn't that help generate jobs?