Commissioners view jail proposal

Deputy Editor

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Curry County Commissioners viewed the first of three proposed renovation plans Tuesday for the jail.

NCA Architect Bob Calvani presented commissioners with a plan for adding additional prefabricated pods to the south side of the existing jail. The pods would cost the county at least $5.2 million and can accommodate up to 96 inmates, he said.

Calvani said each cell is designed to hold up to two inmates, but could house one inmate per cell if needed.

Calvani also presented plans for a renovated jail that include two separate mental health pods next to the mental health office, holding cells, detoxification cells, two padded cells and a master control room.

His plan also included:

• An outdoor recreational area for each population

•A control room in the middle of the jail

•A restructured booking area

•Laundry expansion

•A training area and updated computer software

•Video, non-contact and attorney visitation areas

•Bond-out counter

•Male and female group holding cells

The grand total for all the bells and whistles, Calvani said, would be about $10 million. The price includes all construction, soil testing, electronics, tables and other furnishings.

According to Curry County manager Lance Pyle, the county has around $14 million from a recent bond issue to put towards both the jail renovations and renovation of the Gidding Street building. Pyle said around $4 million has been “earmarked” for the Gidding Street building, and the remaining $10 million would be used however the commissioners decide to use it.

Commissioner Chet Spear asked if there would be any interruption during the construction and renovation of the county jail. Calvani said they would try to avoid interrupting the daily flow, but some interruption may occur.

“We would make sure there wasn't,” Calvani said. “There would be some phasing and things we'd have to do with the master control and booking. There may be some disruption, but I think with phasing and a good contractor, we could do it.”

Calvani said he doesn't see the county moving any inmates during the process. He said if the construction is completed in phases, it could add to the total cost of the project.

“Normally (construction) would take 12 months, but if we're phasing because of having to deal with booking, it will extend the construction time,” Calvani said.

Calvani said the additional pods would also lead the way for separating different classifications of inmates.

“What's important about classification is giving them enough pods,” Calvani said. “We've done at least six different pods for different classification whether they be maximum security, mental health and so forth.”

Public Services Director Sandra Stewart, a former Chavez County jail administrator, said the plan would help the jail become accredited in the future.

“I do think that this looks to be very thorough and a very good use,” Stewart said. “What I really like is the way they have used your existing space, and it's more efficient. I'm sure there would be additional staffing but this appears to me to be efficient in design.”

The new plan may need additional employees, Sandoval said. Spear asked how she planned to increase staffing when she currently has 21 officer vacancies and issues keeping staff.

“Tori, I've had this concern since I've been sworn in on staffing,” Spear said. “We're having a difficult time staffing this facility. It's going to increase in size and number of inmates, how are we going to do that if we can't hire anybody?”

“When we looked about a year ago, we did a staffing analyzing plan if we were to go with something like this,” Sandoval replied. “I would like to sit down with Sandra Stewart before bringing it to you guys, so she's aware of what was discussed first.”

Sandoval reported the jail has 124 inmates with 54 at jails in surrounding counties — 26 inmates are at Bailey County.

She also said the roof is leaking again in one of the vacant pods because of heavy rainfall on Monday night.

Last week, commissioners tabled an action to approve a bid for $592,900 from DKG & Associates to reroof the jail. At the time, Chairman Ben McDaniel said the bid was around three times larger than what it should be.

“I've bought a whole lot of flat roofs, and this is obscene,” McDaniel said.

County Finance Director Carol Pipes said the bid was the lowest of three received.

After tabling the bid, commissioners decided to patch the leaky roof for around $9,000. The location of the new leak has not been discovered, Sandoval said.

“It’s been patched multiple times, twice this year,” said Ben Roberts, county construction and safety officer. “We’ve spent around $18,000 for the 2015 year. We have an ongoing purchase order in case something else happens.”