Dunn: Officials feel the need for speed

By DAVE HAMRICK
dhamrick@thecitizennews.com

Architectural group Ingram-Parris from Valdosta, Ga. will design Fayette County's new jail and courthouse complex.

Project manager Jim Mallett hired the firm after interviewing numerous companies that were interested in the project, said county Commissioner Greg Dunn.

“He interviewed tons of firms,” said Dunn, who is the County Commission's official spokesman for the project.

County officials met Tuesday to begin laying groundwork for the pre-design phase of the project in the wake of the commission's decision last week to use its Public Facilities Authority to fund the jail.

The PFA can levy bonds to pay for the $60 million project without putting the matter to a public vote.

Commissioners last week voted 4-0-1 with Commissioner Herb Frady abstaining to allow the authority to issue bonds, saving about 25 percent in interest costs compared to using general obligation bonds, which require a public vote.

A special purpose local option sales tax has been discussed as one option, but commissioners said they don't believe voters would approve a sales tax. “If our citizens are not going to support a SPLOST for a school, there is even less chance that they'll support a SPLOST for a jail,” said Commissioner Linda Wells.

Frady urged the group to approve the facilities authority bonding, but also to put a sales tax on the ballot this year and, if it is successful, to use the money to pay off the bonds early. But commissioners said the PFA option also will have less yearly cost to homeowners, and will allow future residents of Fayette to participate.

A sales tax would last for only five years, while a PFA bond would be for 30 years.

Robinson Humphrey company will do the bond work, Dunn said this week. County officials are working to get the bond package ready to go so they can take advantage of the best interest rates whenever they occur. “We'll get set up and when the market's best, then we do it,” he said.

Ingram-Parris will get busy on design work soon, said Dunn, adding that the firm has built jails all over Georgia, including a current project in Henry County.

“Now we're in the pre-design phase,” he said, “and by the end of April I hope we'll have a handle on that and we can come up with some more exact figures on the cost.”

Officials are working to “condense the time” that it takes to get construction underway, said Dunn. “The population is going up [in the jail] every month. We've got to get on with this project,” he said.