77-acre plot of land offered for free to Oklahoma County for new jail site

Oklahoma County has seven more locations — including one offered for free — to consider as spots where it could build a new county jail.

The property offered as a donation is 77 acres at 9420 N Kelley Ave. in Oklahoma City.

The land, located near the intersection of Kelley Avenue and Britton Road, is owned by Bergen Real Estate LLC. The land is also near Harding Charter Preparatory High School.

Bergen Real Estate is owned by Bergen Enterprises, a Norman-based company that consists of several business lines, including restaurants, agriculture, energy, land management, investments and sustainable resource development projects.

Attempts to reach Susan Bergen, the company's chief executive officer, were unsuccessful Wednesday afternoon.

However, information about Bergen on one of Bergen Enterprises' websites explains her philosophies about living and work: “To work as if no one else is coming while developing and improving our people and our communities, our planet and our profit.”

Offers on the Bergen property, others submitted at county's request

The additional locations offered as potential sites for the county jail bring the total number of sites currently being considered to 13.

The county accepted offers from five private landowners in March, giving them sites to consider near Harrah, Luther, in Oklahoma City near Tinker Air Force Base, another in south Oklahoma City where a low-income housing project was once located, and one near the busy Interstate 35 corridor just off of Britton Road.

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In June, Oklahoma County accepted an additional five offers from governmental entities that gave it two potential locations near Will Rogers World Airport. The other government-offered locations were near NE 10 and I-35, near NE 50 and Lincoln, and near Lake Hefner Parkway's interchange with the Kilpatrick Turnpike.

Because of either requests from landowners or environmental and infrastructure issues, the county trimmed its list of potential locations to six in late July and then reopened a chance for landowners to make additional offers.

Price just one of many factors that must be considered

Brian Maughan, chairman of Oklahoma County's Board of County Commissioners, said Wednesday afternoon he is excited a significant landowner inside the county is willing to make such a generous donation toward finding a location for Oklahoma County's new jail.

However, price alone is not the only consideration that must be evaluated as the county evaluates the 13 locations, Maughan stressed.

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Topography, the availability of major utility services such as water, sewer and information technology systems could disqualify any location, as could environmental issues, regardless of how much the land might cost.

By late Wednesday, the county's staff was still tabulating the additional offers.

Other entities offering up properties include Bigbee LLC, Meadows 61 LLC, South Rail Port LLC, TJK Investments LLC, Jeff Moore and Lisa Gibbon. Additional information, including exact locations, about those offers should be released later this week.

Could nearby school be a concern?

Maughan said Wednesday he's sure residents will express concerns about the land offered by Bergen and it's proximity to Harding Charter Preparatory High School.

However, state law only requires that a correctional facility be separated from a school by a minimum of 1,000 feet. The property provides more than enough room to meet that requirement, the commissioner said.

"The size of the property gives designers multiple options about where the jail might actually be placed," he said.

Maughan said he approached Bergen to ask if the land might be available because of opposition that is being organized involving other potential jail locations.

"Miss Bergen and I have had a long relationship in developing gardens in food deserts through the county's SHINE program, and she also has worked with numerous schools to help meet their needs. She is just an extremely generous philanthropist, and our community is lucky to have her," Maughan said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Owner offers to donate 77 acres to Oklahoma County for new jail