Grand Forks County Commission says sheriff's location committee needs to be clearer for old jail's future
Jul. 2—GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks County Commission said the county's sheriff's office location committee needs to discuss further the options of remodeling or demolition the jail before it makes a final decision.
The old county jail, which currently houses the juvenile detention center, is one of the options being looked at for a future home for the Grand Forks County Sheriff. The city of Grand Forks would like to have the current space the sheriff uses at the Grand Forks Police Department for expansion purposes.
The location committee has narrowed its options to either a leasing agreement or remodeling or demolition of the old jail.
However, the commission felt that the committee needed to make clear decisions on specific proposals before a final decision.
"I just think it needs to be talked about more with the committee to maybe have (a request for proposal) ready for a commission meeting down the road," commissioner Bob Rost said. "But the committee needs to decide which play they want to do I think that's the only way we can look at this right now."
County State's Attorney Haley Wamstad, Grand Forks County Administrator Tom Ford and Grand Forks County Sheriff Andy Schneider were working together to put together requests for proposals but wanted the full commission's thoughts on where its specific interests lie before bringing them for approval for advertisement.
"The committee feels that (too many proposals for the jail) is going to water down potential contractors," Schneider said. "We're still in a very green phase of putting these RFPs together because it's a complex problem."
While there are still many unknowns with any potential move, the commission did decide two things. It wanted the committee to further hone in on a decision of jail renovation or jail demolition and that if the county went into a lease, whether a term length of 10 to 15 years would be ideal. Regardless, the old jail needs something done as the mechanicals for the courthouse, including the outdated fire control panel, are located there, and juvenile detention moves out in around a year's time.
Depending on when the location committee met again, likely a formal decision on jail proposal requests would be before the commission in August. A decision on a proposal request for leasing would also be decided in and around that time. The final decision on the future home of the sheriff likely comes down to money — how much and how it's spent.
The county has 1.78 mills in its capital levy, approximately $9 million, available in funds for a project or leasing scheme, according to County Auditor Debbie Nelson at the meeting.
Schneider said he wants to make sure his office and employees actually have a home instead of being moved from government office building to government office building as they have for decades.
"I don't want to build a sheriff's office for me, I want it to live for the next three, four or five sheriff's offices," Schneider said. "I don't want to leave somebody with something that doesn't work either."
In other news, the commission:
* Discussed what
they can do about the Country Road 5 and Highway 2 intersection.
Ed Pavlish, Grand Forks district engineer for the North Dakota Department of Transportation, said that almost any option could be on the table if the community gives enough support.
* Gave conditional approval to the bid from Ault Construction for the Northwood Shed rehabilitation, depending on if a land sale proceeds. The commission accepted the liability as Ault, while providing all the bid material, did not put its contractor license in the correct envelope.
* Approved a plan to simplify speed limits on many county roads to be 55 miles per hour, getting rid of a tiered system of different speeds for trucks and other vehicles. County roads 5, 6 and 25 are the ones affected.
