Bond referendum for new Allamakee County Public Safety Center will be on May 5 special election ballot


The floor plan of the proposed Allamakee County Public Safety Center illustrates that the facility will be divided into three areas: administrative offices (beige-shaded area at left in adjacent image), the booking area (green-shaded area directly above) and the jail (peach-shaded area far above left). The 16,800 square foot facility will house the offices of the Sheriff, Emergency Management and E-911. The jail will have a maximum capacity of 27 inmates in the seven classifications being required by the Prison Rape Elimination Act federal mandate, in comparison to the current jail's 14-inmate capacity in just two classifications. Submitted image.

Allamakee County voters will be asked to approve a $5.1 million bond referendum Tuesday, May 5 to fund the construction of a new jail and public safety center (see floor plan below). An election to fill a vacancy on the County Agricultural Extension Council will also appear on that May 5 ballot. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. that Tuesday, with polling sites and a sample ballot having been published in last week's issue of The Standard.
The proposed facility, which will house a jail as well as offices for Emergency Management, E911 and the Sheriff's Department, has an estimated price tag of $5.6 million, which includes the demolition of the Makee Manor building to make room for the new facility at that location north of Waukon along State Highway 9. The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors has pledged $500,000 to the project from the County's cash reserves.
Over 59% of Allamakee County voters gave their approval to a $4.9 million bond referendum last November for a new jail, just missing the super majority 60% approval required for passage. The project plans haven't changed significantly since then, but construction costs have risen and the cost of the demolition of the Makee Manor building has been factored into the total estimated project cost (the estimated cost of demolition was not included in the referendum held last November).

WHY IS A NEW JAIL NEEDED?
State of Iowa Chief Jail Inspector Delbert Longley and Allamakee County Sheriff Clark Mellick have long advised that the County's current jail, located on the fourth floor of the Allamakee County Courthouse in Waukon, faces closure in the near future as a result of new jail regulations included in the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). "Under PREA, it's not the number of beds you have that matters, it's the number of classifications you can keep separated," explained Mellick. "In the current jail, we can only separate prisoners into two classifications - men and women. Under PREA, we're required to separate prisoners into seven classifications - misdemeanor offenders, felony offenders, violent offenders and non-violent offenders, for example."
The current jail is scheduled for its first audit under PREA this fall and Longley and Mellick both say that there is no way the jail will pass inspection. While a failed inspection won't necessarily lead to the immediate closure of the jail, it will raise the stakes for the County in terms of civil liability because unsafe conditions at the jail will have been officially documented.
If the County is forced to close its jail, Mellick has further advised that the expense of transporting and housing prisoners will be high and logistically problematic. Additional officers would need to be hired just for prisoner transportation and even then, Deputy Sheriffs and local law enforcement officers will be forced to spend time transporting prisoners that could be spent on patrol, investigating crimes and responding to emergency calls. Based on current data, Mellick has calculated that transportation and out-of-county housing costs could exceed $250,000 in the first year after the jail's closure and that over time, those costs will easily exceed the cost of building a new jail.

WHAT'S THE COST?
Assuming that the County is able to borrow $5.1 million through the sale of bonds at the current interest rate of 3.25%, it has been estimated that the levy on residential property taxes to cover annual payments on the bond principal and interest would need to be about 47 cents per thousand dollars of valuation, or $47 per year on a residential property valued at $100,000. For agricultural property, the annual levy has been estimated at 28 cents per acre on average, while the annual levy on commercial property owners would be around 42.6 cents per thousand dollars of valuation.

LOCATION DETERMINATION
Several properties were considered as locations for the new jail facility. The Public Safety Center Committee, made up of approximately 25 volunteers, first examined the feasibility of attaching the new jail to the existing County courthouse. The Committee determined that while it would be possible to build the jail near the courthouse, the cost of acquiring land through purchase and condemnations, combined with additional site preparation costs, would exceed any benefit to having the jail in close proximity to the courthouse.
Other properties within the city limits of Waukon were also considered, but ultimately the Committee determined that the Makee Manor site would be the best option for a number of reasons, including the following:
• The County already owns the property so there would be no acquisition cost and no property would be removed from property tax rolls.
• The estimated cost of site preparation at the Makee Manor location was significantly lower than at other properties considered.
• The Makee Manor site is centrally located within the County on a State highway, providing safe access for emergency vehicles.
• The existing sewage lagoon system at the Makee Manor site is in good condition and has the capacity to serve the jail for many years to come.

FACILITY DETAILS
The proposed 16,800 square foot structure will house the jail, Sheriff's offices and office space for the Emergency Management and E-911 departments. The portion of the building devoted to administrative office space includes some "amenities" missing from the current jail, such as interview rooms, evidence storage, adequate record storage space, a locker room and an emergency operations center. There are also rooms dedicated to inmate visits with their attorneys and video visitation.
The jail itself is designed to comply with all state and federal guidelines. While the current jail has the capacity to house 14 inmates in two classifications (male/female), the proposed facility has a maximum capacity of 27 inmates in the PREA-required seven classifications. The 18-foot-high ceilings allow for the construction of a second tier of cells, which means that if the need should ever arise, the total capacity of the jail could be increased to 44 at minimal expense.

SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS
Sheriff Mellick says that the current jail and the proposed facility are "two ends of the spectrum in terms of the safety and security of staff and inmates." He says that at the current jail, inmates are at risk of harm from other inmates, as violent and non-violent offenders must be housed in the same area. He adds that the jail staff face daily safety risks because they must physically enter the holding areas to conduct routine checks.
In contrast, the proposed facility is designed around a control center that allows emergency dispatchers and jailers to directly view the cell areas from their desks and a check of the cells can be conducted without entering the holding areas. "Special status" cells will allow prisoners with communicable diseases to be kept in a negative air pressure room to prevent spread of illness, and a medical room will allow inmates to be provided with non-emergency treatment without the expense and risk of being transported to the hospital.
In the current jail, prisoners are processed into the jail through a public area, which Mellick says endangers staff and equipment as well as members of the public who may be conducting business at the Sheriff's Office. The proposed facility includes a booking area that is not accessible to the public. Additionally, the proposed facility has an enclosed garage and sally port that allow for the safe and secure transfer of prisoners from officers' vehicles into the jail.
Mellick says that the new facility would solve two problems - the jail problem and the shortage of office space and storage at the courthouse as the new facility will free up the fourth floor of the courthouse. "A jail is unique," Mellick said. "There is a reason everything is designed as it is. We've taken a conservative approach to administrative office design and the plans represent the most functional design for now and in the future."