BROOKINGS – The public was updated on how discussions in the jail expansion committee are going during the July 11 Brookings County Commission meeting.
The last meeting of the jail expansion committee was held July 6, when it looked at four different onsite options for the expansion and renovation of the jail.
The first option had a zero-foot setback, as was requested and denied at the June 1 Board of Adjustment meeting. The second was the amended option that came out of that same meeting. The failed amended option offered a setback of 5 feet on the north side of the building, 8 feet on the east side near the Fourth Street and Seventh Avenue intersection, and 3 feet further south on the east side.
The third option moved the expansion further west, inside the 25-foot setback, while the fourth considered a vertical option within the 25-foot setback.
However, offsite options are also being considered. That would mean finding land elsewhere on which to build a new jail and likely renovating and maintaining the existing facility. That’s because the county would likely still utilize the building as a holding facility for individuals while they wait to go to court, and the plumbing there is in such poor shape that it must be addressed if it is still going to be used.
“We’re working on figures regarding the budget increase for both the sheriff’s budget and the jail budget – those are two separate budgets – and we know that there would be significant costs there. So we’re gathering the numbers,” Commissioner Stephne Miller said.
Likewise with the state’s attorney’s budget, which would also increase due to additional travel to an offsite facility.
The jail expansion committee still has to meet this month, when members will discuss their findings on these topics. Following that, a town hall meeting to inform the public of those findings will be scheduled, though no date has been set yet. After that meeting, the county commission at its next meeting could then decide on how to proceed with the project.
Members of the jail expansion committee are: Sheriff Marty Stanwick, Jail Administrator Bart Sweebe, Assistant Sheriff Scott Sebring, Judge Chris Giles, Brookings County State’s Attorney Abigail Howard, county commissioners Larry Jensen and Stephne Miller, Commission Department Director Stacy Steffensen, and, representing the public, businessman John Mills and Marty Kloster, who lives in the neighborhood.
Contact Eric Sandbulte at esandbulte@brookingsregister.com.
