Jail expansion sent for review

Commissioners concerned about cost

Friday, Dec. 12, 2008

The detention center, built in the mid-1970s and expanded in the mid-1990s, was originally designed for fewer than 175 inmates but now averages a population of 250, according to Capital Projects Coordinator Sharon Strand. According to projections, the county will have to fit 303 prisoners in the building in 2011.

The expansion proposed by county staff would add 122 beds, allowing the facility to stay below population projections for about 15 years, officials said. By the end of the expansion, the substance-abuse treatment program would move to a newly-renovated building nearby.

But the project is expected to cost a total of $22 million, and some members of the Calvert County Board of County Commissioners seemed to balk.

"It just seems to be a lot of big, empty space at the bottom of the [first floor]," Commissioner Barbara Stinnett (D) said of the design. "I realize you're talking about training, etc., but this is a lot of space that's not being utilized except for programs, devoting a large portion of the time and I have some problems with it."

"With the times we're facing here, is there an opportunity to save some money by repackaging it?" commissioners' President Wilson Parran (D) asked, noting the expansion of the substance abuse center from about 6,000 square feet to 9,200.

Commissioner Jerry Clark (R) spoke up for the project.

"I can understand looking at efficiency in dollar costs, but I can bet Commissioner Linda Kelley will be sitting here in 12 years saying, I'm glad we built that," he said.

Kelley (D), who was hesitant about the price, jokingly answered, "I won't be here in 12 years."

Commissioner Susan Shaw (R) also supported the expansion, calling a proposal to have a staff member search for ways to trim it "nothing more than a way to delay it."

"This is a way to make sure we're spending tax money properly," Kelley answered.

emitrano@somdnews.com