BY THE NUMBERSCounty – Built/expanded – CostBradley – 2003 – $16 millionGrundy – 1973 – (Study under way)Marion – 2001 – $8 millionMcMinn – 1992 – $5.6 millionMeigs – 2001 – $760,000 (expansion)Polk – 2007 – $8 millionRhea – 2003 – $200,000 (expansion, new study under way)Sequatchie – 2006 – $8 million
TWH Architects will conduct a feasibility study and needs assessment on the Grundy County Jail as county commissioners get ready to choose remedies for the aging lockup.
Acting County Commission Chairman Earl Geary Jr. said county leaders will use the study to decide how to plan a fix or replacement.
“They proposed a nine-week lead time on having this done, and we felt like that a was a pretty good plus,” Geary said. He said he hopes the commission can move quickly to secure a contractor once county leaders review the study.
Debate over what to do about the jail occasionally has been heated. Former Chairman Ralph Rieben resigned his post because he and his fellow commissioners didn’t see eye to eye on the jail, according to his resignation letter.
Rieben expressed doubt the county could resolve disputes over the jail and two aging elementary schools without a property tax increase. He also chided commissioners for not taking advantage of low bond rates.
Grundy County resident Kelly Foutch, who ran unsuccessfully for the county mayor’s post in August, contends taxpayers can’t afford to build a jail. Foutch said the money would be better spent on Palmer and Coalmont elementary schools, both of which have significant issues.
But District 2 Commissioner Kelly Gibbs said he leans toward a new jail building because it is a longer-term solution.
“I think that it would be a waste of money to go and spend $2 million to $3 million to renovate an old jail when we could possibly build a new one for maybe just a little bit more than that,” Gibbs said.
“Right now, what I’m interested in is getting as many studies and assessments as we can to figure out what we need,” he said. “We’re still in the earliest stages of planning.”
Vance Travis, with TWH Architects, said the study will look ahead up to 10 years and offer figures on a building with and without court facilities. He said the study will help officials determine whether Grundy’s relatively new courthouse has enough space so jail plans may omit court facilities.
“Our scope of work will be to examine the historical arrest trends and records,” Travis said. “We’ll examine existing jail data in order to assess and document growth trends as far as inmate populations, and then we’ll help them with projecting operational costs for a new facility versus the existing facility.”
In expansion of old jails, “you’re usually putting good money after bad,” he said. “But there are exceptions to the rule, and that’s why they want us to look at that.”