Hamilton County: Commission approves contract increases for Enterprise South work, prisoner care

Hamilton County commissioners this morning approved two contract increases.

One is with Talley Construction for work at the Enterprise South industrial park, and one is with Corrections Corporation of America, the company that runs Silverdale Detention Center.

Commissioners also recommended approving a $921,868 contract increase with Talley Construction to complete a "setout yard" at Enterprise South. County Engineer Todd Leamon said the yard is a staging area for trains coming into the industrial park. The original contract was worth $3 million. Leamon listed "unsuitable soil" as one of the reasons for the increase.

Under the contract increase, the county would split the amount with Chattanooga. The county also is applying for a $307,289 economic development grant to offset the cost.

The contract extension with CCA calls for the daily rate that the county pays it per prisoner to increase from $38.81 to $39.20 in 2011 and to $39.59 in 2012. The county must pay for a minimum population of 915 prisoners at the workhouse - about $35,000 per day - but Director of Corrections Barbara Payne said the county receives a roughly $5 reduction per prisoner in the daily rate when Silverdale has 700 or more prisoners.

For complete details, see tomorrow's Chattanooga Times Free Press.

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