Following is the letter I received from the Fayette County Board of Commissioners in reply to questions in my letter to the Commission dated Dec. 21, 1999, and published in The Citizen on Dec. 29. The commissions' answers appear to be self-serving as is to be expected. The itemized cost breakdown for both the jail and judicial center is included for taxpayers' information and evaluation.

Dear Mr. Stoner:

Thank you for letter dated Dec. 21, 1999, requesting information about the jail expansion and judicial center proposal.

Below you will find the answer to your seven questions.

Question 1: Not to the knowledge of the current Board of Commissioners. Property was purchased in the late 1980s, adjacent to the current jail and courthouse, for the purpose of expansion of these facilities. Therefore, the current Board did not look elsewhere.

Q. 2: First, in our opinion, the project is not in the “elaborate” category. We have attempted to secure the best facility possible at the lowest possible cost. As to the size, we plan to build to accommodate the county's needs for up to 10 to 12 years, with expansion capabilities as necessary, at minimal cost.

Q. 3: First, the current average daily population is around 200, not 275 inmates, and current building plans call for only 384 new beds at this time. We do, however, have up to an additional 384 beds in the master plan for the future. It is not anticipated that this future expansion will be needed before 2010 or after.

Q. 4: Several neighboring counties plus many others around the state and the nation have been under court order to build new jails. These cases have been caused by overcrowded jails. We have been fortunate that Fayette County has not been ordered to build as of this moment. However, we are afraid our luck is about to run out. We hope to get our project underway before a court order is issued because of the time constraints and millions of wasted taxpayers dollars are caused to be spent.

Q. 5: See attachment No. 1

Q. 6: There are four options available for financing this project. Two of the options require a referendum and two do not. However, no decision has been made as to which option will be selected.

Q. 7: Only the newly acquired acreage has been appraised. The original 33 acres has not recently been appraised. Therefore, we have not established the current value of the combined parcel.

If you still do not have all the information you need after Thursday evening's hearing, we will be happy to provide you with any information you would like, provided we know the answer at the time.

Harold Bost, Chairman

Herb Frady, Commissioner

Attachment No. 1

A. Jail Expansion

1. Site work, including Security Systems — $1,745,000

2. New Jail Construction (139,661 square feet) — $15,177,190

3. Renovate Courthouse for Sheriff Administration (23,000 sq.ft.) — $1,745,700

4. Renovate Existing Jail Facilities for Storage (10,000 sq.ft.) — $677,875

5. Contractor's Overhead & Profit @ 15% — 2,901,865

6. Escalation (avg.) @ 4.5% — $1,001,143

Sub-Total Construction — $23,248,773

7. Miscellaneous & Contingencies @10% — 2,368,227

8. F.F.&E @ 2.75% — $639,000

9. Project Management Fee @ 2% — $520,000

10. Design Fees @ 4.5% — $1,181,500

11. Design Services During Construction @ 1.5% — $393,800

12. Testing & Geotechnical Services @ 0.75% — $174,350

13. Legal & Administration @ 0.75% — 174,350

Total Estimated Cost Jail Expansion — $$28,7000,000

Note: 1. Construction costs taken from estimate dated 4/20/99 prepared for the Facilities Justice Group by Castell Marks International, Inc.

B. Judicial Center

1. Site Work

a. earthwork & grading — $200,000

b. utilities — $250,000

c. drives & parking pavement (116,000 S.Y.) — $1,160,000

d. storm water & retention — $100,000

e. landscaping & erosion control — $50,000

Sub-Total — $1,760,000

2. Finished Building Construction (100,000 sq.ft.@ $125) — $12,500,000

3. Unfinished Building Construction (50,000 sq.ft. @ $75) — $3,750,000

4. Escalation (avg.) @ 4.5% — $810,450

5. F.F.&E.@ 4% — $752,800

6. Miscellaneous & Contingencies @ 10% — $1,981,325

7. Construction & Project Management Fee @ 2% — $430,600

8. Design Fees @ 4.5% — $968,875

9. Design Services During Construction @ 1.5% — $322,950

10. Testing & Geotechnical Services @ 0.75% — $161,500

11. Legal & Administrative @ 0.75% — $161,500

Total Estimated Judicial Center Cost — $23,600,000

Gerald Stoner
Fayetteville

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