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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/18/2003 (2)November 18, 2003 The Board of County Commissioners of Indian River County, Florida, met in Special Session at the County Commission Chambers, 1840 25111 Street, Vero Beach, Florida, on Tuesday, November 18, 2003, to workshop the proposed jail expansion. Present were Kenneth R. Macht, Chairman; Caroline D. Ginn, Vice Chairman; Commissioners Thomas S. Lowther and Arthur R. Neuberger. Commissioner Fran B. Adams arrived at 1:35 p.m. Also present were Joseph A. Baird, Acting County Administrator; William G. Collins II, County Attorney; Kimberly Massung, Executive Aide to the Board; and Patricia Ridgely, Deputy Clerk. Meeting was called to order at 1:32 p.m. by Chairman Macht. PROOF OF PUBLICATION IS ON FILE IN THE OFFICE OF THE CLERK TO THE BOARD Sheriff Roy Raymond advised that he and the Public Safety Committee recommend Option 1 from the Carter Goble study. Although he was originally concerned about keeping food hot and cold in transport, he had decided that Option 1 is the best choice, particularly after the Falkenburg Jail (in Hillsborough County) visit. By using Option 1 they will gain 12 beds. Sheriff Raymond also recommended elimination of Chapter 4, the Population Management Plan, at least temporarily (about 5 years) by managing the population SPECIAL MEETING November 18, 2003 0 in-house and thus delaying that expense. Third, he stressed that the Federal inmate program and income from it are not reasons to build a new jail. If the majority of the Commission and Acting Administrator Baird wish to eliminate that program in order to avoid clouding the issue he would do so. He noted that the current jail population is 510 prisoners, actually 57 inmates over the 453 capacity and only 38 are Federal prisoners. If the Federal prisoners were eliminated, the Jail would still be over capacity by 19, the County would lose a significant amount of money, and more jail space would still be necessary. Sheriff Raymond thought it essential to move forward with Option 1 now that the Falkenburg facility has been visited. He recounted that in May 2000, Sheriff Wheeler did a study of the jail, found it to be over -crowded, and estimated a jail population of 600 by 2004. Sheriff Raymond=s in-house study submitted on February 24, 2002, as compared to Carter-Goble=s numbers, showed a difference of 16 inmates and 6 fewer staff members. He read into the record and commented upon a 9 -page handout that he and his jail administrator prepared (copy with the backup in the Office of the Clerk to the Board). He stressed that the Ocala facility and the Falkenburg jail are quite dissimilar. He urged the Board to allow General Services Director Tom Frame to move this project to the next phase. He commented that staffing for a larger facility is a big concern; it will take time to fill the additional positions. Discussion ensued and Sheriff Raymond responded to questions of the Commissioners. He indicated his strong preference for the Falkenburg facility and specified that Carter Goble is Atop of the line@ in jail studies. Commissioner Neuberger stated that the Federal prisoner arrangement is not a problem for him as long as we have space when needed for local law -breakers. Commissioner Lowther was impressed with the self -funding programs of the Ocala SPECIAL MEETING November 18, 2003 1 facility. He favored the work release program for inmates and thought we should start farming out our prisoners to earn money for the county. He showed a footprint of the Ocala facility=s floor layout and funding figures for the inmate barracks and warehouse (filed with the backup in the Office of the Clerk to the Board). Although he had not visited the Falkenburg facility he was most impressed with the Ocala arrangement because the taxpayers did not have to foot the entire bill. Vice Chairman Ginn had visited the Falkenburg facility, extolled its capabilities and positive points, and indicated it was the only option she would consider. She also thought it was a big plus that our personnel could be trained at Falkenburg at no charge to us. Vice Chairman Ginn believed it to be essential for Commissioners Lowther and Neuberger to visit Falkenburg. Sheriff Raymond pointed out that comparing Ocala to Falkenburg is not comparing Aapples to apples @ because Ocala is capable of housing only minimum security male prisoners; it changes the construction criteria as well as prisoner supervisory requirements. Chairman Macht believed the 24-hour recreation availability at Falkenburg to be a positive factor in that layout. Capt. Bill McMullen responded to an inquiry as to our jail population with respect to numbers of low risk, medium risk, and high risk prisoners. He reviewed methods for determining the level of risk for placement of an inmate. He estimated the figures but indicated it was like a bell curve with the largest portion of prisoners being medium risk. Discussion ensued. Sheriff Raymond pointed out that a recent prisoner escape from our jail cost the County $80,000. He thought that a visit to Falkenburg really makes someone a believer. Commissioner Adams understood that Sheriff Raymond=s recommendation was for Option 1 in the Carter Goble study. SPECIAL MEETING November 18, 2003 2 Commissioner Lowther wondered if the projections on the numbers of prisoners is enough and whether projected funding would cover the costs. Sheriff Raymond responded that the consultant is the expert and their projection is out to 2025. Also, he suggested the facility could be increased by double bunking. We can save money by doing a population management program in-house. We will also be able to save by using Falkenburg=s architectural drawings to a certain extent. Chairman Macht pointed out that some of our prisoners have not yet been adjudicated so their risk would not have been established. He noted that we also have the necessary real estate. Frank Coffey displayed information he had calculated as to prisoner population averages from the information the Sheriff=s office submitted (copy on file with the backup in the Office of the Clerk to the Board). He pointed out that with or without the Federal prisoners our staffing requirement remains the same. He displayed a graph showing the numbers of local inmates alongside the Federal inmates to show the variance in population. (These graphs were not among the papers that Mr. Coffey submitted for the record.) He discussed previous costs and noted that rising operation costs for the jail are another problem we face. He had looked at the budgets for the jail back to 1999 and found a $1.6 million increase per year. Projected out to FY 2008-09 $52,774,000 is a significant amount for the taxpayers to bear. He had visited both the Ocala and Falkenburg facilities and a combination of the two facilities would be his recommendation. He also presented a chart from the consultant=s presentation and recommended that the Sheriff and staff take a hard look at the numbers and develop a 2-3 year program and begin with improvement of the core area of the jail. In response to Commissioner Lowther=s inquiry about the funds returned by the constitutional officers at the end of each fiscal year, Acting Administrator Baird explained SPECIAL MEETING November 18, 2003 3 the budget process with respect to the constitutional officers and how that funding is used as Acash forward@ in the general fund. If the Board wishes it could be used in the future to expand the core area of the Jail. The capital costs for the jail have been budgeted in the optional sales tax beginning October 2004. If the Board approves going forward, we could go through the competitive negotiations, pick the architect and pay those costs a year early because they are not significant. But the majority of the costs for the jail were projected for FY 2004/05 and FY 2005/06. Commissioner Lowther was greatly impressed because the funds to build Marion County=s facility did not come from their taxpayers. He agreed with Vice Chairman Ginn that we need to expand our facilities now with a look to the future to make sure that what we plan to build covers the growth of the county. Sheriff Raymond recalled that at one time he was opposed to housing Federal prisoners because the necessary safeguards were not in place when he was the Undersheriff (Sheriff Dobeck=s administration). Since Sheriff Wheeler started housing Federal prisoners on a contractual basis and utilizing the bed space in our jail somewhere between $10-12 million has been generated by the program. He read a letter and commented on the Community Assistance Program (CAP) which he thought could also help offset costs if done responsibly. (Letter requested from Sheriff=s office.) Gary Wheeler, 3302 631d Square, Vero Beach, recounted the previous study, the opening of the current jail and the beginning of the Federal prisoner program which is now bringing in about $2 million per year. This money came to the County and saved taxpayers= dollars for the operation of the jail and other general funding. If we had built dormitories, we could have saved even more money than that. There is no question that more space is needed. He preferred the Ocala model of the two under discussion. He believed there are other ways to save money by looking at what other counties have done SPECIAL MEETING November 18, 2003 11 such as weekend work programs, persuading judges to give sentences for weekends on work crews, and better management. He also recommended we have a jail to which people do not want to return. Vice Chairman Ginn spoke again in favor of the Falkenburg facility, adding that it is unadorned and there is no way to escape. It is not beautiful but it has sunlight and it works. There is a difference with direct supervision which is not in Ocala. She felt she was being very objective. Commissioner Adams preferred to see the Falkenburg arrangement; there is a difference of day and night between the two facilities. Chairman Macht pointed out that a jail is still housing human beings and stressed that some have not been adjudicated when put in our jail. County Attorney Collins had earlier reminded the Commissioners that this is a workshop and there should be no action taken until a regular meeting. ALL BACKUP DOCUMENTATION IS ON FILE IN THE OFFICE OF THE CLERK TO THE BOARD AND IS HEREBY MADE A PART OF THESE MINUTES There being no further comments, the meeting was adjourned at 3:12 p.m. ATTEST: Jeffrey K. Barton, Clerk SPECIAL MEETING November 18, 2003 GJ Kenneth R. Macht, Chairman Minutes Approved: SPECIAL MEETING November 18, 2003