Decision time nears for the jail upgrade

Jan. 6—Almost a year ago, the Haywood County Board of Commissioners locked in financing for a $21.5 million jail expansion project. Then the project went out to bid, and everything changed.

There were no bidders initially, and after extending the time frame, a lone bidder agreed to tackle the project for $28.1 million, $6.6 million more than the county's architect, Mosely Construction, estimated and the amount approved for financing.

At the architect's recommendation, the bid was rejected, triggering a drawn-out process to bring the project's cost down. Considering the three main components of the expanded detention center are expensive technology, concrete and steel, cutting costs could be tough, said Haywood County Manager Bryant Morehead.

Building administrative space is much cheaper than jail cells, he explained, but the necessary offices are already part of the existing complex, so that can't be counted on to reduce costs.

Now, the county is within six weeks of getting a new set of figures under a construction manager at risk (CMR) bidding process — one that includes a guaranteed maximum price (GMP), said Morehead.

Once the maximum price is known, the commissioners will need to decide whether they want to move forward with the project — something that will likely be an up or down vote, as downsizing the project would be extremely costly, time-consuming and unlikely, Morehead said.

That's because the current design has been approved by multiple state agencies, including the Department of Insurance and the Jail Standards Commission, and must meet state building codes. The stormwater pond design is based on the roof square footage and the needed runoff space and would also need to be reworked if the project was smaller, Morehead said.

"If we change the number of beds, we have to start over on the work as far as design and state permitting," Morehead said. "The design as mostly approved is where we're sticking. To open that up would be even more laborious and costly."

If the project is green-lighted, it will trigger at least four public hearings, as has happened previously, before a final construction contract is awarded, including ones involving the county's financing terms with the Local Government Commission, the entity that must approve any local government debt.

Morehead estimates the information necessary for the commissioners to make a decision should be available by the Feb. 19 meeting.

The cost versus risk

Haywood County Sheriff Bill Wilke said the need for a new jail hasn't diminished just because the price tag keeps going up.

"I think we need it and don't see a way around it," he said. "It's our duty to make sure all who come in our custody are safe, are given due process and have a clean environment. If we don't, the liability is greater than the cost of a new jail."

The standard for jails is to operate at 80% of capacity, a term referred to as operational capacity, Wilke explained. This allows for an influx of prisoners affiliated with a single crime, such as when large drug busts happen, to be held in separate quarters since communication isn't allowed and for special watches should that become necessary.

Out of the 109 available beds in the present jail, operating within the standard would mean 87 prisoners could be held simultaneously. Typically, the Haywood jail houses between 100 and 105 prisoners daily, especially during the hot summer months when the unhoused migrate to areas with more temperate weather, Wilke said.

When the Haywood jail population exceeds 109, prisoners are transported to other jails that have room, which comes with its own set of problems, Wilke said. There are costs involved not only to house the prisoners but also for transportation costs and staff time that could involve overtime and overnight stays, depending on how far they need to travel.

In the end, though, it all boils down to public safety and minimizing liability, Wilke said.

"I understand it's a lot of money, and the commissioners have a difficult decision to make," Wilke said. "If we don't have the jail in five to 10 years, it will create a liability much greater than we have now, and it will be no cheaper to build in the future. The real question is, 'How much additional cost would that liability be beyond what we would pay with an expanded jail?'"

Another issue regarding public safety involves the continued drug operations the sheriff's office is involved in taking down.

"If we're at capacity and continue drug operations within the county and there's no space to put people, we are putting children and families at risk," Wilke said. "How do you put a numeral figure on that? In public safety, the right thing to do doesn't change with a price tag. Letting people go is not an option."

Project history

Haywood County began looking for ways to increase the jail capacity as early as 2013. Under then-Sheriff Greg Christopher, aggressive measures were taken to reduce recidivism and decrease the jail population, but the situation was becoming unmanageable by 2020, prompting the commissioners to budget $700,000 for fees associated with a jail upgrade.

In 2021, it was estimated that adding 155 jail beds would cost $16.5 million. By mid-2022, that projection reached $19.5 million after an architect was hired, and when financing for the project was submitted in early 2023, that number had increased to $21.5 million.

At the time, it was estimated paying the debt service on that loan amount would require about a 2-cent property tax hike.

That was when the project was at $21.5 million, and the locked-in interest rate on a 20-year loan was at 3.71%. That meant the annual loan payment would have been $1.875 million.

It was also before the growth within the county was in place to make a positive impact on county revenue. The most recent audit showed the property's overall value went from $7.9 billion in 2021 to $9.9 billion in 2022 when the property tax rates were unchanged.

By the time the project was advertised this June and the lone bid exceeded $28 million, the county hired Vannoy Construction for $47,720 to oversee the construction manager at risk process, something that involved working with the county and design team to find a way to reduce costs and work with subcontractors that would be hired.

Vannoy was to seek a second bid in August, but again the costs came in beyond the $21.5 million previously approved by the Local Government Commission, so the financing process needed to begin all over again, this time using a 2022 audit, something that wasn't available until last month.

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