County to spend $7.39 million on new jail

Overcrowding at old jail is costing the county big bucks

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — After talking about a new jail for more than a decade, Sullivan County Legislators have finally committed to build it.

At the Executive Committee meeting on January 19, legislators voted to spend $7,390,000 for a new county prison facility. Labella Associates, P.C., based in Rochester New York, will manage the project.

Labella was chosen on the recommendation of county officials who evaluated various architectural, engineering and construction management firms. The team included former sheriff Dan Hogue, legislators Leni Binder and Kathy Labuda and others.

Large municipal projects often end up going over budget. The new jail in Ulster County, for instance, has exceeded its original cost estimate by millions of dollars.

General Services commissioner Harvey Smith said the team tried to take all costs into account. “We tried to determine all the different services that will be required, such as the analysis of the sites we’ll be considering, the printing of the blue prints, even visits to other jails.”

Smith said there were three phases to the project. First will come site selection and the planning of various issues, such as the number of beds and offices the new facility will hold. This will involve input from the Sheriff’s department, the district attorney’s office, the courts and other interested parties. Next would come the development of the drawings and schematics. The third phase would be bidding and construction.

The site selection process is expected to take a year.

Labuda said lawmakers would like to build the jail on county-owned land to keep costs down, but other sites will also be considered. Labella Associates will lead the site selection effort. The new jail will not be complete for several years.

The current jail is the oldest working jail in New York State. Built in 1909, it has been deteriorating in recent decades. Former Sheriff Dan Hogue began asking legislators for a new jail as long ago as 1989. The current jail has a maximum capacity of 207 prisoners. The new jail will have at least twice the capacity, and it cannot come soon enough.

According to Under Sheriff Eric Chaboty, “In November of 2005, former Sheriff Dan Hogue was forced to begin boarding out inmates…. In December, 10 inmates were boarded out to the Orange County Jail and another 19 were boarded out to the Delaware County Jail. The cost to the county for December was $58,150. The total cost to board out inmates in 2005 was $95,525, not including transportation costs and overtime. The trend is continuing for 2006. Orange and Delaware have informed us that they are just about full. Our staff is now looking at Schoharie County as an alternative.”

Legislators voted unanimously to go forward with the project.