Oklahoma County commissioners looking for 'plan B' for new jail site

Oklahoma County commissioners are looking for a "plan B" for the future home of a new county jail.

Brian Maughan, chairman of the Board of County Commissioners, said Wednesday that commissioners are exploring their options after meeting in a lengthy executive session to discuss four potential locations for the new building.

Commissioners already have offered to pay Oklahoma City $2.5 million for about 50 acres near Will Rogers World Airport just south of the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and Newcastle Road.

But because it is close to the airport, Oklahoma City wants assurances from federal officials they are OK with the proposal. Meanwhile, time grows short for the county to spend bond funds and federal dollars that need to be spent to get the project started.

"We (Oklahoma County and Oklahoma City) still have not yet heard back from the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration)," Maughan said. "We probably will try to bring more sites for consideration that were not on this agenda, today.

"We will meet again on Monday at 9 a.m., and I anticipate other locations will be added for consideration in the event we haven't heard back from the FAA and need to move on."

OK County commissioners vote to sell $30 million in bonds

The executive session and Maughan's comments followed a 2 to 1 vote commissioners took to request the Oklahoma Industries Authority sell up to $30 million in bonds that could provide some funding to help the county pay for building the jail.

Maughan, the lone commissioner to cast a no vote against the request, argued the county is sacrificing equity it holds in properties for taking care of needed improvement projects the county typically has paid for in past years by carefully allocating available funds.

"This is maxing out our credit card. We only have one lifeline to our financial resources around the county, and we have worked hard in the past 15 years to keep us from going even further into debt," Maughan said. "I am worried about having a lack of funding that is necessary to be able to build the jail completely.

"I don't know that this would anywhere be enough, but it is something to offer. This is a mistake."

But Commissioner Myles Davidson told Maughan that actually all he and fellow Commissioner Carrie Blumert were trying to do was to establish a $30 million line of credit it could use, going forward, to pay for needed improvements to county-owned properties and ultimately to help address the jail's anticipated funding shortfall.

"To use your analogy, you have got a credit card you have never activated ... that we could use," Davidson told Maughan.

Joe Blough, Blumert's chief deputy, told commissioners the $30 million would not all be issued at once and instead likely would be sold to investors gradually as projects are identified.

Timing is critical, he explained, as 85% of bond funds sold at a particular time must be expended within three years of of when they are sold.

A specific list of projects and cost estimates is still being developed, Blough said.

"Suggested" projects include roughly $2 million needed to upgrade security for the courthouse and courthouse annex and a project costing about $2.5 million to make improvements to the courthouse's roof, HVAC system, to add a second staircase between its 10th and 11th floors and to improve its courtyards on its east and west ends.

Another suggested project would spend $2 million to remove asbestos from the annex's fourth floor and to remodel the space into courtrooms for additional judges, while another $4.5 million project would help pay for rehabilitating the Investor Capital Building's exterior.

Plus, a suggested $2.5 million project would provide secure parking and courtroom upgrades at Oklahoma County's Juvenile Justice Center.

An unspecified amount of the $30 million would be held back to help pay for building the new county jail.

The debt would be secured using revenues the county collects from tenants occupying its Oklahoma County Election Board building, the Investors Capital Building (on the east end of Oklahoma County's office annex north of the courthouse), the Krowse Building — the sheriff's office today — and its two parking garages.

It would not be secured through liens on those buildings, said attorney Jered T. Davidson, who provides bond counsel services to the county.

"This is in no way a liability on the taxpayers of Oklahoma County, nor will it be if it should fall into a default situation," Davidson said.

Commissioner Myles Davidson told Maughan he understood his concerns, but did not share them because not all the bonds would be issued at once.

"We will be able to release bonds to meet any emergencies that come up," Commissioner Davidson said. "This offers us flexibility not only to issue bonds not only to help with the jail, but to also issue bonds to help with the crumbling infrastructure we and the judges currently sit in.

"It is a great idea and something we need to get done."

Besides Davidson, Commissioner Blumert supported the resolution.

Potential jail locations for Oklahoma County's uncertain

It remains unclear how many potential spots to build a new county jail may be on commissioners' list when they meet Monday.

On Wednesday, four locations were discussed in executive session. They were:

• 71 acres of land located at 1901 E Grand Blvd. and offered for sale by Willowbrook Investments LLC and Garrett & Co. Resources LLC.

• 89 acres of land located at NE 10 and Interstate 35 and offered for sale by the Commissioners of the Land Office and the Oklahoma City Water Trust (representatives of nearby neighbors told the county Wednesday they do not want the jail here).

• Up to 192 acres of land located between S Newcastle Road and SW 54 and offered for sale by the Oklahoma City Airport Trust (this includes the land the city already has proposed to purchase).

• The existing jail site located at 201 N Shartel Ave.

Previously, county officials have worked with a Citizens Bond Oversight Advisory Board to evaluate as many as 13 locations spread across Oklahoma County.

While not considered specifically as a jail location, the county also has looked at a hospital at SW 59 and Pennsylvania Avenue as the potential home for a mental health treatment center.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma County considering 'plan B' options for new jail site