Built 25 years ago, Cortland County's public safety building is no longer serving the community's needs. That's according to a report from the sheriff's office. As Phillip O'Driscoll explains, county leaders are considering a plan to replace the aging facility.
CORTLAND, N.Y. -- It doesn't take long for the Cortland County Jail to get overcrowded. The building is only designed to hold up to 50 people. The idea of a new facility has been in the works for more than a decade.
But the sheriff says the need is now more immediate because the jail has reached the end of its serviceable life.
"I realize this is an expensive project but it's time we looked at building toward the future. We need to build 50 years down the road," Cortland County Sheriff Lee Price said.
The current proposal carries a $38 million price tag. But as it stands now, the county is spending money everytime they hit their inmate limit by outboarding to other nearby county jails.
"I always have Lee say to me how he hates writing a check for Cayuga County to Chenango County to board our inmates. We're just taking out money and giving it to their counties," Cortland County Legislator Dick Bushnell said.
A check for $150,000 was written Thursday morning, but leaders are hoping that's something that will end soon.
One important aspect of phase 1 includes conducting a site check survey on where to build a new facility. Neither the sheriff's office nor the legislature feel that expansion of the current location is viable due to concerns of eminent domain and getting rid of badly needed parking spaces.
"The goal is to find several plots of land, evaluate those. Corrections commission then comes down and says yes, no or yes to all or whatever. Then at that point, thats when you'll see the critical decision," Kevin Whitney, the Budget and Finance Committee chair said.
The county is looking to contract that part of the process with Albany-based SMRT for $149,000. But with such an undertaking some say it's important for the public to get involved.
"Now that they have some specific information that they can share now they need to take the time to share that with the public and listen to what they have to say," Tony Pace, a former county legislator said.
The legislature is being given time to read through the report and will vote on phase 1 later this month.
Get the full Cortland County Sheriff RFP to move forward with a new Jail and Public Safety facility for the county.