With a bond election less than a week away, barely any opposition has surfaced publicly to a proposed new jail and law enforcement complex for Blaine County.
Letters to the Idaho Mountain Express and other local publications and Web sites have overwhelmingly supported the new facility, which is estimated to cost about $13 million.
The cities of Bellevue, Carey, Hailey, Ketchum and Sun Valley have passed resolutions in support of the proposal, and the mayors of all five cities have written that they support it.
"After 15 years, this is the best I've felt about it," said Blaine County Sheriff Walt Femling, referring to the long battle he's waged for a new jail to replace the aging facility that was built in 1972.
"I've been around the county a lot trying to sell this," Femling said, "and I'm not getting many people saying they're not going to vote for it. They're basically saying, 'Yeah, it's time.'"
Previous bond elections to fund a new jail were defeated in 1990, 1995 and 1996.
Voters go to the polls on Tuesday, Feb. 6, to cast their ballots for or against the proposal. County officials estimate the bond will cost the average property owner about $8 a year. A two-thirds majority is needed for passage.
In addition to a new jail that would house 44 prisoners and 20 work release inmates, the new facility would provide space for the sheriff's office and a consolidated dispatch center for Blaine County law enforcement and emergency services. The facility would be built on property the county owns at the Airport West light-industrial park in Hailey.
There have been some minor grumblings. A few blog writers have said they oppose the facility, either because they don't like funding it through property taxes or because they think the cost is too high.
A few local attorneys told the Idaho Mountain Express they are opposed to the proposal, but none of them were willing to talk on the record.
Femling said he's not aware of any organized opposition.
"Nobody's really been in our faces yet," he said. "I'm hoping it stays that way. If there is opposition, I'd like to find them and invite them to tour the jail."
