Agenda - 10-07-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 17 been put into an account to build two jails. He said there is a jail with plenty of room and people pay to stay there. He said the only thing the County has to pay for is the inmates being there. He said the federal government pays for the rest. He said the federal government has renovated the jail two times. Commissioner Gordon said she wanted to understand this as it relates to the discussion of increased capacity and whether to build more space. She said they may not have the full information here in terms of all of the benefits and burdens. Commissioner Gordon said this started out as a $30 million jail and then there was discussion of doing it in modules. She said the capacity is down to 216, but it still costs $26 million for the core facility, which doesn't save a lot. Cheryl Young said there have been periods of time where the jail is at full capacity with local inmates. She said the federal inmates are taken when there is space for them, and it is a way to pay for making certain there is enough space for local inmates. She said it basically pays for you to have additional capacity when you need it. Commissioner Gordon said when you modularize and reduce to 216 instead of the full number you don't save that much money, and she asked why. Cheryl Young said she try to find out that information and send it out. Chair Jacobs said this is being worked on by the consultant. He said the whole idea is that costs can be staged by doing the pods. He said the idea is that some of the cost of a full build out can be avoided at first, since full capacity won't be needed right away. John Sellew said the core facility has to be built to withstand expansion. He said to keep in mind that other counties will be affected by potential legislation as well and they may not be able to take Orange County inmates. Chair Jacobs said the core can be thought of like Carrboro High School. Commissioner Gordon referred to page 10 and the capital budget booklet. She said the 5 year total for the proposed jail is $30 million, and then the other document lists a total of $29.4 million. She does not understand these numbers when you are going down from 250 to 216. She would like to understand those costs. Paul Laughton said the $29.4 million includes $2.8 million in debt service. Commissioner Gordon said it would be helpful to get a break down. Commissioner Pelissier said asked about the length of the contracts for the federal inmates. John Sellew said this is a 5 year contract. Sheriff Pendergrass said the current contract is beginning its third year. Commissioner Pelissier said she cannot believe it would only cost $4 million to build two more pods. Jeff Thompson said the consultant's charge now is to look at this number and to outline the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) stipulations to help the County write that specification. He said once a designer is selected, the details on the programming and the cost will matriculate. He said that would be the focus of the next 12 months. Commissioner Rich asked if anything will be done in the building process with newer technology such as solar and thermal technology. Jeff Thompson said Orange County's principle of high performance building standards will be implemented. He said the site is flat and there is an ability to analyze several technologies in the jail construction and operations field. Commissioner Rich suggested looking at water re -use. Jeff Thompson said staff has had success with solar thermal hot water, and geothermal systems. He said all of these things will be considered. Chair Jacobs said one factor in the capacity discussion, is the jail alternatives group. He said the County can work with judges, district attorneys, public defenders, and the mental