Countless hours spent pouring over worksheets and diagrams netted the Claiborne Correctional Partnership Act Committee, commonly known as the jail committee, the official resolution cementing plans to expand the Claiborne County Jail.
Now that the county has given its stamp of approval on the project, contractors Bell & Associates can begin the arduous task of effectively doubling the size of the facility.
Jail committee chairman Steve Mason spent a bit of time last week running down the high points of the resolution, prior to the official 12 to nine vote by the full Claiborne Commission in favor of the expansion project.
Mason said the jail committee agreed that alternate two, with an ending price tag of some $11.5 million, would be the best route to go. Included in the total cost is funding for the renovation of the existing jail necessary to accommodate the expansion and the addition of 110 parking spaces.
The base bid of $10,020,000 was originally approved by the commissioners. By going with alternate two, the county agreed to the extra $580,000 for the use of the less laboriously intensive precast pods in place of the masonry brick worked into the original bid. The committee also approved the use of brick-look veneer, at a cost of $152,000. The veneer will cover the top 12 feet of the exterior of the new addition and is expected to make the outside of the jail appear more uniform.
The extra costs bump the construction portion of the project to $10,752,000.
Added to the final project cost is $476,000 in architectural fees and $20,000 for fees owed to the fire marshal. Core drilling is estimated in the project costs at $1,500. A $100,000 control panel and about $150,500 in other equipment rounds out the total $11.5 million jail expansion project costs.
Prior to the commission meeting, Mason distributed handouts that included one explaining the proposed funding. According to the document, 100 federal prisoners are expected to gross the county $2 million. Subtracting the estimated $400,000 it should take to cover the costs of caring for the excess prisoners nets the county about $1.6 million that, according to the handout, will be available to pay on the debt.
By the end of ten years, the document claims some $8.1 million in principal should be paid if $1 million per year in principal and interest payments are consistently made.
Reserve revenue, which is the money left over after the annual bond payments are made, should equal some $6 million by the end of that ten year period. An increase of $10 per 100 inmates, the handout assumes, will total $3.65 million by the end of that same ten years.
The county finance office is considering bond issues with a 17 year amortization.
Reach Jan Runions at 423-254-5588 or on Twitter @scribeCP.
