The Wilson Post
LEBANON WEATHER

Revised jail expansion costs $223K




Jones

Jones

The Wilson County Commission approved about $223,000 at its monthly meeting on Monday night to go toward fees related to the Wilson County Jail expansion project.

The desire by Wilson County Sheriff’ Office officials to expand the 460-bed facility has been fueled by the county’s population growth as well as drug enforcement. Wilson County Sheriff Robert Bryan said the jail operates near or above capacity each month.

The county agreed to purchase property behind the jail from Highland Heights Church of Christ for $3.35 million to be paid in three yearly payments. The 6.12-acre property is zoned for a judicial center and would be the site of the expansion.

The county originally paid $750,000 to the Mt. Juliet design firm of Kaatz, Binkley, Jones and Morris to design the jail’s expansion. The $223,703 will go toward a redesign of the original design and other potential fees, according to Wilson County Finance Director Aaron Maynard.

The Wilson County Budget Committee discussed the funds during its most recent meeting.

“They designed it the first time based on the specs that we gave. They put a lot of different things in there,” Wilson County Mayor Randall Hutto said of the original design for expansion. “So, they had to go back and take out some of that stuff that they put in. That’s where the revision came in.”

The original plan for the entire expansion was estimated at $50 million.

“It’s just a million dollars and we haven’t scratched anything,” Commissioner Tommy Jones said Monday night. “How do we get control of that in the future — kind of knowing what we’re going to spend going in?”

“I’m kind of like Tommy. That’s a lot of money for subtracting,” Commissioner Wendell Marlowe said.

Maynard said it’s difficult to determine possible architectural and engineering fees because architects and engineers are not required to bid services.

“I just want to make sure that people understand that we have a sheriff and a staff that’s told us what they need, and we need to honor that. I’m 100 percent behind building the jail and whatever they need, but we need to take the taxpayers in respect, and our job should be to build what they need as cheaply as possible,” Jones said.

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