The Marshall County Commissioners and County Council members met in a joint session Tuesday morning to receive details related to the proposed jail expansion project.
Representatives from the architecture firm RQAW and financial advisors from Baker Tilly shared relevant information related to the project which would involve constructing and connecting new inmate housing pod to the current facility to address overcrowding issues at the jail.
RQAW officials Dustin Frye and Eric Weflan highlighted that initial estimates show the project coming in around $19.8 million. However, they did state that cost will likely decrease as they get further into the design phase.
They also mentioned the fact that the project doesn’t have to be done all at one time, noting that other counties have divvied the work up to reduce the initial project cost.
Baker Tilly representatives Todd Samuelson and Heidi Amspaugh presented officials with four various financing options. Each scenario involved bonding for the funds and providing cash-in hand to offset the overall bond amount.
With the first two options, they included figures that showed a decreased project cost of approximately $17 million whereas the other two reflected the initial cost estimate of more than $19 million.
Following 2-hours of detailed discussion, members from both entities provided approval to move forward with the project. More decisions related to how much of the project will be done initially and which financing option the County will utilize still have to be made.
There was some indication that certain Commissioners and County Council members felt it would be more advantageous to fund and construct the entire pod at once rather than starting with a portion and doing more at a later date since costs will only continue to increase.
According to stats provided by RQAW, based on the Turner Construction Cost Index, costs have escalated an average of 4.75 percent a year since 2015. Conservative estimates of future trends show an escalation of approximately 1.23 percent per quarter in 2020.
Additional financial and statistical information provided during Tuesday’s joint session will be highlighted in future articles.
