Linn supervisors mull jail remodeling

The Linn County Supervisors are considering a proposal to spend $6.4 million for an addition to the Linn County Jail.

The project would add three floors totaling 10,000 square feet to the back of the jail. The building's mechanical and electrical equipment would be moved to the second and third stories to protect them from flooding, the laundry room would move to the second floor of the addition and the kitchen would be expanded into the second floor.

One of the enduring images of the June 2008 flood was smoke rising from the back of the jail, where the exhaust from a generator was submerged. Jail administrators are anxious to protect against that happening again at the 110,000 square foot building.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse the county $525,700 to replace what was lost in the June 2008 flood, and may throw in another $1.1 million to elevate mechanical and electrical equipment, but the supervisors would have to come up with another $4.7 million to make the project go.

FEMA won't pay to build the addition, and without it, said Steve Emerson, the architect, the mitigation measures are impossible.

“This is definitely something we would have to bond for,” Supervisor Lu Barron said.

If the supervisors decide to approve the project, the question will be whether voters will get a chance to approve the county going into debt for the project. Under legislation approved at the Statehouse last spring, local governments in disaster areas have the power to issue bonds without asking voter permission.

“The soonest we could get this on the ballot would be July,” Supervisor Linda Langston said. “We have to do something. It's a question of how much.”

The supervisors will discuss the proposal again next week. Linn County has only $1 million in debt, issued to pay for construction of the Linn County Elections Depot. Emerson said the supervisors will not see a more competitive bidding climate than exists now.