BROOKINGS – Brookings County commissioners voted on Tuesday to expand the Brookings County Detention Center at its current site rather than seek a location apart from the courthouse site.

Approved unanimously, the detention center plans still must be approved by the city Board of Adjustment since the jail would not fall within the block’s 25-foot setback. The deadline to submit requests to make it onto the Oct. 19 Board of Adjustment meeting agenda is Oct. 3, which BKV Group architect and partner Bruce Schwartzman said they can do.

The Board of Adjustment had denied the county’s request for a zero-foot setback variance June 1. Since then, BKV has revised the layout so that a buffer is maintained between the detention center and the sidewalks, allowing for landscaping. The setback is 5 feet at its narrowest and 13 feet, 8 inches at its widest.

Along with the revised layout came revised cost estimates. The new on-site plan would cost an estimated $12.6 million to both construct a major addition and remodel and repurpose some existing space at the detention center and sheriff’s office.

The county would pay $3.5 million from cash reserves, and a project bond would provide $9.1 million. Preliminary cost estimates with the previous plan had projected the work to total $10.8 million.

The county hopes to start construction on the jail expansion by July 2018.

This decision came two weeks after a Sept. 11 open house, which served as a forum for the public to hear again the revised plan and alternative options and for the public to ask questions and make their concerns known. According to Commissioner Lee Ann Pierce, more than 60 people attended that meeting.

She took issue with the idea that the county has not allowed enough opportunities for public comment, with many residents who live in the neighborhood opposing the detention center addition.

Commissioner Ryan Krogman agreed. “In my opinion, we’ve gone through a lot of public meetings. We’ve dealt with a lot of questions, heard a lot of public input. It was time for us to make a decision today, and … we did and we need to move forward on it.”

The detention center study compiled by the BKV Group estimates that expanding and renovating on-site could provide a facility that would last the county about 25 years before another expansion might be needed.

That 25-year estimate could change though, depending on the county’s situation in those future years, Schwartzman said. “Time will tell.”

Pierce maintained that county growth statistics she has seen while serving on the City Planning and Zoning board do not indicate that the county will outgrow the jail in 25 years, and that historically, Brookings County jail additions and alterations have lasted much longer.

“The jail right now has lasted us since 1975, and the one before that, from 1904,” Pierce said.

Commissioner Mike Bartley agreed with Pierce on the potential longevity of the expansion. “I don’t think that’s an issue,” adding it should last longer than expected due to alternatives to jail time emerging. These alternatives come about due to technology such as ankle bracelets and other means of remote monitoring and programming and policy changes such as juvenile court services.

In considering off-site locations, the county looked for spots that had at least five acres of land available, were within a three-mile radius of the courthouse, had ready access to utilities and to a main road.

By looking for at least five acres of land, an estimated budget for building off-site called for $125,000 for the land purchase, assuming a $25,000 per acre price.

Bartley had his doubts that $25,000 per acre would be enough if they had to start approaching landowners and begin negotiations for the purchase.

Still, considering off-site options had to be researched, he said. “I appreciate the off-site research that was done. I think it’s appropriate that we did that; we probably should have done it from the beginning.”

It wasn’t until after the Board of Adjustment denied the county’s setback variance request in June that off-site locations were seriously considered and included in the BKV study.

Ultimately, it was the desires of county staff involved in law enforcement and court operations that decided Bartley’s vote.

“I think sometimes we have to balance the concerns of the design of the building and its future expansion capacity with the staff needs and the staff’s desires for the new building, wherever it’s built,” Bartley said. “Right now, the staff’s desires that I’m reading is that we keep it on site if we can. I get that all the way from court services and the state’s attorney’s office to the sheriff’s office.”

Commission Chairman Larry Jensen echoed that in his reasons for moving forward with the on-site expansion.

“I don’t feel that the off-site option is best due to the fact of operating and maintaining a second facility would be too costly, not to mention the inconvenience for the sheriff’s office, police department, the state’s attorney, judges, court services, counselors and lawyers,” Jensen said. “Our current facility still has value, and it can be remodeled to meet the needs of not only the jail staff and the sheriff’s office, but also programming, (such as) the 24/7 program.”

Contact Eric Sandbulte at esandbulte@brookingsregister.com.