Houghton County Justice Center

Saturday, October 16, 2010

The Smart Choice will Generate Jobs

The Smart Choice will Generate Jobs

and Help Pay for the Justice Center

There are at least 5 different viable options for solving the shortcomings in the Criminal Justice components of our County Government. All of these possible options have both good and bad points about them that must be considered.

A) Option A is the current Justice Center proposal next to the existing historic courthouse, This option includes a 110 bed modern Jail, new Sheriff’s office, and a new District Court. All of these functions are housed in a 50,000 SF two story rectangular structure spanning 1 ½ city blocks. It is also build for efficient expansion when needed. Supporters of this plan point to efficiencies associated with housing all these functions in one building, but opponents have major objections to building a Large Urban Jail in central Houghton.

B) Option B would locate the jail at Camp Kitwen so that it could be a no-frills facility that is built large enough to be used to generate income by boarding inmates from other counties. The other functions of the Justice Center including the District Court and the Sheriff’s law enforcement functions could easily be accommodated in a more modest facility in Central Houghton. This more modest facility could also include community space and functions that would be available to all Houghton County residents (not just the inmates).

Michigan Law clearly states that the jail can be located anywhere in Houghton County. The Camp Kitwen facility was previously used as a minimum security prison for 240 inmates and was closed in 2009 resulting in 38 lost local jobs. A national expert on jails – Rod Miller of Community Resource Services (CRS), estimated it would cost $5.3 to $5.5 million to remodel Camp Kitwen into a modern Houghton County Jail. This estimate seems reasonable in light of the 125 bed jail just opened in West Branch, MI for under $6 million.

The primary advantage of the Camp Kitwen location is that unused beds could be rented to other counties to board inmates after sentencing. If a 200-bed jail were created at Kitwen, the 150 beds not currently needed by Houghton County could be rented out and could generate millions of dollars per year in additional income. This money could be used to create new jobs at the facility and for transporting inmates as needed. Many counties operate with their jail facilities separate from their courts and safely and efficiently transport inmates to court when needed. In fact, some of these counties also use a video link to handle some interactions with the courts.

C) Option C would involve moving the entire Houghton County Government activities to a new location. If a suitable location can be found in the city of Houghton, the county seat would not have to be moved. Leelanau County just build a new entire County Complex for $17.5 million and moved the county seat also. Their county complex includes a 72 person jail that can be expanded if needed. Depending on location, this type of move in Houghton County could happen over a period of time rather all at once.

D) Option D would include remodeling the existing courthouse facility by removing the parking deck and building a new 3-story addition on the back. This new addition could wrap around over the existing jail with steel perimeter columns on the outside of the jail. The jail and courthouse could remain operational while this construction occurred. The major disadvantage of this option relates to limited options for expanding the jail. Because of the sensitive nature of adding on to a historic building, this option would require a larger design fee.

E) Option E would include a scaled down jail from the current Justice Center plan in Option A, and be built as a 3 story structure next to the existing courthouse. The advantage of this option is that keeps the 3 components of the criminal justice system in one building and it could be built on only one city block. This type of facility would be less visible from downtown Houghton. Opponents object to the urban jail with concerns about future expansion.

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It would be nice if the Justice Center Committee could show up at the October 28^th meeting at the Houghton Public Library prepared to answer questions about their assertions about why these alternatives will not work.

In particular, it says on page 6 of the Sourcebook that over a 30 year period, the Camp Kitwen Jail alternative would cost more than the proposed urban jail. Please show us the numbers used to make this statement. In the comparison you made, do the budgets for either facility include income from boarding non-Houghton County inmates? If not, why not?

The Justice Center Committee claims their national expert recommended a size of 110 beds. Please provide a detailed explanation of the rationale used to arrive at this size. Specifically, what historic ADP numbers were used to arrive at the projected 2040 ADP and in the equation below, please explain the “mystery factor” of 1.5 apparently used to get to 110 beds.

# of Beds = Projected ADP (60) x Functional Size Factor (1.25) x Mystery Factor (1.5) = 110

Voters voted down an urban jail plan in 2000 and will likely do so again on Nov 2. The County Commissioners will then have to decide whether to abandon the urban jail concept in order to get voter approval. Sometimes it takes 3 or 4 jail votes before elected officials listen to the voters’ concerns and put forth a plan that a majority of the community can support.

IF YOU WANT TO_____AND

THEN

ON NOVEMBER 2

Letter Reveals Major Flaw in Jail Size Calculations

Justice Center Committee member Bill Fink wrote a letter to the editor finally revealing their rationale for sizing the large urban jail in central Houghton. In doing so, he reveals a major flaw in their calculations. They use the historic inmate population for the jail and airport workcamp combined to project future need. They then treat this combined jail and workcamp estimate as it were for the jail size only. Their estimated size of 78 beds would be reasonable if it were used for the combined jail and workcamp. Instead they take this combined estimate and arbitrarily add on 32 more beds to get to 110 beds.

http://mininggazette.com/page/content.detail/id/512170.html?nav=5004

If his speculations about Houghton County getting overrun with new inmates because of fears about what the State may do are true, then wouldn't it be better to locate the jail someplace where it can be easily expanded? Someplace like the empty Camp Kitwen? A 200 bed jail could be built at Kitwen with the extra beds rented out to create an income to pay for local jobs running the facility.

Open Kitwen - Create Jobs

Thursday, October 14, 2010

LWVCC endorses Large Urban Jail in Central Houghton

Read all about it - The Copper County League of Women Voters (LWVCC) endorses building a Large Urban Jail in Central Houghton.
http://mininggazette.com/page/content.detail/id/512162.html?nav=5004

I am confident that there are many LWVCC members that will VOTE NO on this project.

Most of their letter to the editor focuses on the need for a new jail which is not the main issue. In endorsing this particular project they only offer the assurance that the large size is "based on the best current projections by an expert consultant using years of local data and state trends" This same expert consultant (Rod Miller) advised adjacent counties in the Copper County to look to Houghton County for help with their future jail needs. This same national expert estimated it would cost $5.3 to $5.5 million to convert Kitwen into a modern regional jail.

There are better options than a regional jail in central Houghton.
Open Kitwen and Create Copper Country Jobs.

Voters said NO to an Urban Jail 10 years ago. Please VOTE NO on November 2 on this proposed urban jail so we can consider a better option. Please ask your friends to VOTE NO too.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Saturday Meeting - Yard Signs and fliers - Questions?

Saturday, October 9th
Noon - 1pm
Portage Lake Library, downtown Houghton

A gathering of Houghton County citizens
who are concerned about the Houghton
County Jail Facility Bond Proposal

Do you have questions or concerns about Houghton County's
ballot proposal for a $15 Million 110-bed jail complex in the
center of Houghton? We do! Have a voice in how your tax
dollars are spent. Want to be part of a better solution?
Be an informed voter on November 2nd.

Attend this brief meeting, get some yard signs and flyers, help
inform other voters. Please reply if you would like a sign, but can't attend.

Criminal Justice System - Demand a Better Solution

Houghton County Voters

Demand a Better Solution

George Dewey, Concerned Citizen

Houghton County Voters,

In addition to the many important candidate elections on the November 2 ballot, Houghton County voters will also be asked to vote on a bond proposal for $15 million to fund the construction of a Houghton County Justice Center. The proposed Justice Center consists of a new jail, sheriff’s office, and district court. More information about this proposal can be found in the Justice Center Sourcebook that can be found on the Houghton County website (HoughtonCounty.net). The Justice Center proposal represents the final recommendations of a committee formed by the Houghton County Commissioners in 2009 to address longstanding issues associated with the jail, sheriff’s office and district court.

Our Houghton County Commissioners voted (4-1) in July to accept the committee’s recommendations and to ask voters to fund the proposed Justice Center with a $15 million bond referendum on November 2. There has been a lot of recent discussion in the community related to this proposal with a number of different opinions expressed. Houghton County voters have a responsibility to educate themselves on the merits of this bond referendum so they can make an informed decision (rather than an emotional one) before they vote. I have studied this issue at length and will try to express some of my observations and opinions in the hope that they will generate a dialog with interested voters.

I would first like to thank the Justice Center Committee for the time and effort they have put into studying this issue and developing what they believe is the best solution for Houghton County. The committee membership is listed in the first pages of the Sourcebook and includes a virtual who’s who of good people in our community. I would urge everyone interested in this topic to respect the work done by this committee and restrict your comments to the merits of the proposed Justice Center and not to question the motivations or integrity of those who served on this committee. While I personally have a number differences and concerns about what has been recommended, I value the effort and contribution made by this committee.

The committee has done a good job of highlighting a very real and continuing need in our community. I believe that anyone who has taken the time to look closely at this issue will agree that we have serious shortcomings in our jail, sheriff’s, and district court. While these elements of our local government are the focus on this discussion, I also recognize that almost all other groups housed in the existing courthouse also function in cramped and dated quarters. For those of us that have little or no direct interaction with these elements of our local government, it is easy to ignore these shortcomings or feel that they are someone else’s problem. But as citizens of this community, we do have a legal and moral responsibility to address them. Regardless of what we may personally believe is the best course of action, I can assure you that these shortcomings will not go away and that we will have to address them, including paying higher taxes to pay for the necessary improvements.

The most common objections that I hear from other concerned citizens relate to 1) the size of the proposed jail (110 beds), 2) the central location of the proposed new jail (next to the existing courthouse), and 3) the cost of the project. I will try to address each of these separately. As for the proposed jail size, I realize that projecting the future need or numbers of local inmates (over the 30 yr life of the bonds) is difficult at best. Many things will influence this including future population trends, Michigan laws concerning which inmates that counties must house, local approaches to how offenders are sentenced, and many other things that we may or may not have control over. Regardless of the difficulty in projecting future needs, the proposed size must be based on something rational that can be easily communicated to those asked to make a decision (i.e. voters). Lots of information about existing Upper Peninsula Jail populations and trends is available online (at http://www.upcap.org/programs_services/jail.html). Information specific to Houghton County is contained in Appendix G. A summary of trends and projections for all UP counties is presented in Appendix V. Throughout this report, the approach used to project future need is to use a linear regression of past average daily inmate population (ADP). They then multiply this ADP by a 1.25 factor to get from a projected ADP to a functional jail capacity. I assume that data from this report was used to arrive at the proposed 110 bed jail size. Someone on the Justice Center committee should be able to answer specific questions about how the 110 bed size was arrived at. To date my requests for specific information on this process have been met with either silence or a blanket statement that they relied on a nationally recognized expert to recommend a size. The committee should not be surprised that county residents have real concerns about the size and so they should be able to provide or obtain answers to specific questions on this issue. Lacking this supporting information, it is not surprising that voters are left to speculate on why the size is 110 beds and what will come of the beds above the current Houghton County ADP of 35. Elsewhere in this report prepared by their national expert, governments officials in Keweenaw and Ontonagon Counties are advised to look to Houghton County to help with their jail needs. The combination of a lack of answers to justify the proposed size and advice to adjacent counties to look to Houghton County would cause many reasonable people to be concerned about whether the Justice Center is being sized to accommodate Houghton County needs alone.

On the issue of the proposed location in central Houghton next to the existing County offices, there are many different opinions. The committee points out that this central location offers efficiencies associated with keeping all County government activities in a single location, which is reasonable. When adjacent residents express their objections to the new jail, some argue that a jail has always existed in that area. While it is true that a small jail has existed adjacent to the courthouse, it is in fact very low profile and not visible from more than a block away. The new proposed facility is a 50,000 SF multistory building that will be clearly visible from downtown Houghton and across the canal in Hancock. Many believe it would be more appropriate to locate the jail out of a residential neighborhood. The option expressed most often is using Camp Kitwen, which is 9 miles from the current courthouse. This option is rejected by the committee as more costly because of the travel necessary to bring inmates to court. The only way I know to account for these additional costs is by a life cycle cost analysis. As noted in the Planning Synopsis for the New Allegan County Jail - "Jail facilities are complex facilities and construction costs typically only reflect between 10 and 15% of the overall cost of a facility over a 30 year period." The committee makes the statement on pg 6 of their Sourcebook "The consultants found that the 30-year costs to renovate and operate Camp Kitwen as a jail would cost $7.3 million more (11.7%) to operate than the proposed new jail that would be part of the Justice Center." When asked for the specifics of the analysis used to arrive at this number we are told that they do not exist. It is hard for me to imagine that they would make this statement as fact in their Sourcebook and not have data to back it up. Locating the jail out of the County seat is allowed by Michigan law. While there are reasonable arguments for why this is not desirable, these reasons need to be balanced in light of the undesirable impact, now and in the future, of locating a large and expandable jail in the urban core. Reasonable people are right to question if this is good urban planning. Many communities have jails remote from the courts and rely on transporting inmates safely to and from court. Yes there are costs associated with this option, but lets do a realistic comparison of the real costs associated with all options and then try to balance them with the other factors that are not easily quantified. Of course this option does not deal with the very real needs of the district court. The district court could be accommodated with a separate much smaller new stand alone building next to the existing courthouse or could even be part of a combined court/jail complex located on the edge of town in a non-residential neighborhood. If it is reasonable to expect our jail needs to continue to grow as we are led to believe, it seems more reasonable to me to work hard now to move it out of the center of town. If that means eventually moving the entire County complex too, that should also be planned for.

Lastly is the issue of cost. I agree that nobody really likes to pay for government buildings, salaries, and services that they feel they do not benefit directly from. We all benefit from the services of the jail, sheriff’s office, and district court whether we realize it or not. Some argue that the timing of this proposal in not good in light of the current economic conditions, but people need to realize we are dealing with a long term issue that will be with us through good and bad times. I am concerned with the cost of this proposal but have come to realize that we will be required to bear the cost of finding a solution to these real and pressing needs one way or another. We cannot continue to put it off indefinitely without incurring additional costs (both financial and safety).

While I personally do not feel I can support the bond initiative for this Justice Center for the reasons stated, I acknowledge we will face this issue again - sooner rather than later. I would like to be a constructive part of finding a suitable solution. I hope that next time the county actively engages the citizens as part of the planning process, rather than assume that we need to be educated only after the decisions are made.

Asking us to be Quiet and just vote will not work.

3 Reasons to Vote NO on the Justice Center

Reason #1 - It is TOO LARGE

The proposed size of 110 beds is not justified.

The data provided by the Justice Center Committee does not support the projections of needed jail size. The data used by the Committee to estimate needed capacity in 2040 uses total Jail and Work Camp population since 1990. In projecting need in a recent regional jail study, every other county in the UP used inmate data since 1996. If Houghton County uses the same range of data as the other UP Counties, the projected need is much smaller.

Using inmate data (both jail and workcamp) since 1996 (same as other UP counties), the projected average daily inmate population in Houghton County in 30 years is under 60 inmates. If 60 is multiplied by 1.25 to account for classification (male/female/health,etc), peaking, and maintenance – a reasonable size jail would be closer to 80 total including work release (since work release numbers were used in the original projections).

When asked how they arrived at the proposed size, the committee members say they relied on a National expert to recommend a size. This is the same National expert that advised adjacent counties to look to Houghton County for future help housing their inmates.

The Committee notes that the current county budget will not cover the expected costs of operating the new larger jail complex. Are they counting on renting out beds to adjacent counties to cover the increased operating costs? If the jail serves adjacent counties as expected, it in effect becomes a regional jail financed by Houghton County taxpayers.

Reason #2 – It is TOO EXPENSIVE

The published cost estimates do not tell the entire story. Borrowing $15 million over 30 years will require taxpayers to pay almost $15 million additional in interest over the life of the bonds. The total project cost over 30 years is closer to $30 million.

Ogemaw County just built a new 125 bed jail in West Branch, MI for under $6 million and they plan to run it like a business by renting out inmate space to adjacent counties.

Jails are complex facilities and construction costs typically only reflect about 10% to 15% of the overall cost of a facility over a 30 year period.

Reason #3 – It is the WRONG LOCATION

To build a large jail in central Houghton that is designed for efficient expansion is just bad urban planning.

The county should seriously consider creating a regional jail at Camp Kitwen. Many other counties in the UP have similar needs for additional jail facilities. Camp Kitwen has a large bed capacity and would cost less than the current jail proposal. Considering facility costs (the state still owes $5 million in Bonds), and remodeling costs (Houghton County jail consultant estimated $5.5 million remodeling costs to convert Camp Kitwen to a Jail) – a regional jail at Camp Kitwen would cost less to build than a new regional jail in Central Houghton (Sourcebook pg 9 – “The proposed Justice Center is planned and sited to provide a range of future options for regional partnerships, with Houghton County as the lead partner.”) The proposed plan shows a jail complex spanning over 1 1⁄2 city blocks with plans for expansion. (Sourcebook pg 5 –“ It is possible, if not likely, that other counties would be interested in boarding inmates in the new jail as space is available. The proposed Justice Center is sited and designed to facilitate efficient future expansion.”)

The idea of a Regional Jail in Central Houghton that could eventually span 2 entire city blocks simply does not make sense.

- George Dewey