Wednesday, October 6, 2004

Sheriff seeks support for county jail plan

Femling, Michael ask Ketchum to support county spending initiative


By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

Two of Blaine County?s highest-ranking officials went on the road this week to rally support for a plan to build a new jail in Hailey.

Sheriff Walt Femling and County Commissioner Sarah Michael appeared before the Ketchum City Council Monday, Oct. 4, to formally ask Ketchum leaders to support their plan to build an approximately $9 million ?public safety facility? with a combination of saved and borrowed funds.

The county plan calls for spending approximately $3 million of county savings as an up-front payment for the project and financing the remainder of the costs?which would be paid off over a 20-year period?through existing revenue streams.

The facility is planned to include a 79-bed jail, a sheriff?s office and an approximately 1,200-square-foot Emergency-911 dispatch center.

Blaine County commissioners have decided to ask voters in an advisory ballot in the Nov. 2 election whether they support the plan.

On Monday, Michael and Femling told council members that the need for the new jail is very real.

Femling said the existing jail in downtown Hailey is too small and too deteriorated to allow county law enforcement to operate effectively.

?It really does not meet our needs,? he said.

Michael said the plan is the county?s best effort to build a new public safety facility without raising property taxes.

?We feel that we want to use all of our existing revenue sources,? she said. ?We are not asking for an increase in the tax levy.?

Michael said the advisory ballot measure, by definition, is not absolutely binding, but commissioners nonetheless want the public to support it.

?We?re asking for a reason, so we definitely want it to pass,? she said.

However, Michael said the existing jail is so outdated that the county is going to have to build a new facility ?one way or another.?

?How bad is your jail right now?? Councilwoman Christina Potters asked Femling.

?All you have to is take a tour and you will be converted,? the sheriff responded.

Femling noted that his office has received complaints from the American Civil Liberties Union about the conditions in the jail not meeting basic standards.

Indeed, the jail has been deemed non-compliant with six Idaho jail standards, including life and safety codes, cell size, day-room size and isolation-cell size.

The advisory measure will require approval by a simple majority of voters to be passed.

Councilman Baird Gourlay was the only council member to unequivocally voice support for the plan. Others were receptive to the presentation but stopped short of publicly endorsing the county?s strategy.

County officials have perceived the need for a new jail for quite some time. In the mid 1990s, the county bought 3.23 acres in the Airport West subdivision in southern Hailey for the express purpose of building a jail and public-safety facility. The majority of Blaine County commissioners have chosen the location as their preferred site for a new jail.

Nonetheless, seeking a blessing from the public in the Nov. 2 advisory vote is likely the first step of a potentially long process that would include hearings about the project before the Hailey City Council and Hailey Planning and Zoning Commission.




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