LincolnCountycommissioners this week held a lengthy discussion regarding a proposed addition to the county jail but took no official action.
Lee Doolen, District 3 Commissioner and chairman of the commission, said, “We held a meeting last week.”
Sheriff Charlie Dougherty said during the meeting, “We’ve been back and forth a whole bunch.”
In an interview following the meeting, Dougherty noted, “We began looking at this when we had a major sewer line problem with the black cast iron pipe that was put in when the jail was built in 1969. We’ve had some sewer problems with an eight-feet section of the line.”
The sheriff said, “Logan County took 14-16 inmates for a week, at no cost to the county, while a major repair was completed. We have to replace that whole line. We started looking to see what our best options are since we’ve had to make other repairs.”
He stressed, “We have one half of the jail that was built in 1969 and the other half in 2000. We’re trying to be good stewards of the county’s money.”
Dougherty pointed out, “I currently have three times the female inmates I’m supposed to have.”
He explained that a committee was formed to look at the jail issues, comprised of himself, District 2 Commissioner Marlin Miller, Virgil Wilson, in charge of maintenance and facilities, and others in the courthouse.
“I’m licensed for 80 inmates. I’ve had as many at 134 which is the record. I have 73 right now,” he said.
He pointed to being more selective since Covid.
“We’re looking at addressing the sewer line and replacing it with PVC pipe. We have ventilation issues in the north, south and maximum cells, too,” he added.
The sheriff pointed to remodeling everything with the exception of the 2000 version. “We’ve been transparent with this,” he remarked.
It’s estimated the option the committee is looking at will cost around $4 million. “A 20-bed add-on along the south side of the courthouse where recreational area is now is where the addition would be,” he emphasized.
To fund the project the committee anticipates using left over ARPA funds.
“Part of the process would be to move the OSU Extension Center out of the courthouse and to the fairgrounds to a facility they’ve proposed.
“We’d move the District Attorney’s Office to where the Extension Center is now and then my administrative offices would move to where the DA’s office is now. We would remodel the area where we currently are that would give us some more beds.”
Dougherty said that would give the jail a total of 34 additional beds to what it has now. “We’re still going to need the additional beds,” he said.
Dougherty’sofficecontractedwithBKL, an engineering and architectural firm in Tulsa. They will begin the design process that is figured to take six to eight months.
The sheriff said, “We have to meet the AmericanandOklahomajailstandardsand the health department’s standards. Anything we do has to meet the new standards.
“We have to take all of this into consideration.”
He noted “The county has some money right now. I think $4 million can work. It will fix most of the problems. “I’m pretty excited about,”Dougherty said.
He stated the first thing the commissioners will do is lock down the OSU Extension project.
In other business commissioners: Spent a brief time in executive session discussing the purchase of real property but when they returned to open meeting they took no action.
Took no action on awarding funding for ARPA projects.
Also took no action on approving a new AccessControlSystemfortheCourthouse.
Approved an ODOT form for a bridge on ED 850 over Salt Creek in District 1.
Voted to approve a resolution accepting a donation of $1,500 for gravel on 940 Road in District 2.
Took no action to purchase Data Scout Software for roads and bridges.
Adopted a use tax resolution authorizing supplemental pay to salary employees in January and changing the pay period to run from the 16th to the 15th.
Approved declaring Michael Wilkins Day on Dec. 29, Heather Beaudoin Day on Dec. 30, Carl Munson Day on Dec. 31 and Ronnie Brauer Day on Feb. 28, 2023.
Awarded six month bids for rock, lumber and other material.
Took no action to approve an Incident Report form to be used by all county departments.
Adopted a resolution establishing a BIA Master Account and two sub accounts for the 30 Bridge Project.
Appointed members to the Excise Board and the Industrial DevelopmentAuthority.
Adopted a resolution for Elected Officials salary.
Approved membership in C-Pace Financing.
Approved the P-Card payment form.