County, City Come Together To Discuss Proposed Jail Project

Ulysses City Council members met with Grant County Commissioners to discuss an upcoming jail project during their regular meeting February 8.

County Commissioner John Martin said the County is in the process of seeing what the needs are for a new jail/law enforcement center.

“We are trying to look at the whole picture,” Martin said, “Not just today, but five years - 10 years - from now, and try to meet those needs.” Martin said it is imperative the County and City work together, especially looking at the needs of the Grant County Sheriff’s and Ulysses Police Departments.

“We need to look at this whole thing as ‘community money,” Martin said, “It’s not ‘County’ money or ‘City’ money.”

Martin said the goal is to have this on the ballot in the November election. Martin mentioned comparing the cost of upgrading the current jail, versus building a completely new “off-site” detention center.

Martin and Mayor Tim McCauley agreed to calling a special meeting for any individuals and department heads to give input. Commissioner Marty Long said he would like have an hour long “work-session,” discussing each need for a new or updated facility.

Caleb Woods asked why this topic would need to be in the November election. Long said they have put off building or upgrading the jail for a few years, and it has become an insurance liability to the County. Long said there needs to be legislative approval for a sales tax change, mentioning “We have not decided we want to run a sales tax on the ballot to help pay for this.”

Martin said he would like to have community approval from a general election ballot with this project, rather than a special election. “We want approval from the community before we do this,” Martin said.

Long said they have contacted architects, and are planning on meeting with them soon.

Woods asked if a new facility would be able to house surrounding inmates, wondering if it would be financially beneficial. Martin said the average payment to take care of an outside inmate should be $55-$60 per day, saying there is potential for a net profit of $150,000 per year. With this, Martin said if the building cost was $8 Million, it would take about 53 years to use the inmate funds to pay for it. Long said they currently charge $40 per inmate per day, covering the basic costs. “We can charge whatever we want, and we are working on these costs right now,” Long said.

Commissioner Mark McGaughey said he was in favor of remodeling the current jail rather than build a new one, if it was more affordable.

Warner said he would like to have a preliminary discussion on the minimum requirements to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as the needs and wants from the Sheriff and Chief of Police. Martin said an architect should give them two options: one option to remodel the current jail, and the other to build a new facility.

McGaughey suggested visiting other facilities to see what designs and updated technologies they have, mentioning a “Center Control Room” for extra security while housing inmates.

Long said they are going to talk to the architects first, and then decide when to have a work session. Mayor McCauley said this would be helpful for the City in deciding what they would like in a new or updated facility.

The next regular meeting of the City Council is scheduled for 5 p.m., Wednesday, February 22, at City Hall.