Last week in this editorial series, we heard the Pagosa Springs Town Council express its disappointment with the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners’ “Plan A” — a proposal to increase the local sales tax for perhaps 15 years, to fund a $20 million Sheriff’s facility that would include a new 54-bed jail.
The Town Council had expressed similar disappointment last summer, when essentially the same (failed) plan was approved by two of the three County commissioners.
We also heard, last week, a discussion between the BOCC and their official committee, ‘Citizens for a New Jail,’ about the (unethical?) funding of an ongoing political campaign — using taxpayer revenues — to sell “Plan A” to the voters this coming November. We heard the commissioners refuse to reveal, to the voters, how much money could be saved by renovating and perhaps expanding the existing (abandoned) jail facility downtown, instead of building a new $20 million facility.
(You can visit the ‘New Jail’ committee website here.)
We also heard County Finance Director Larry Walton discuss “Plan B” with the commissioners — a newly-formulated plan to fund a “significantly reduced project” that would include a “jail only.” This plan might kick in, if the voters once again reject the proposed sales tax increase. “Plan B” would apparently entail reductions to road maintenance and other County services — for many years to come.
Also, last week, we introduced “Plan C.” This plan for County facilities is being championed by local activist Mark Weiler — former President of Parelli Natural Horsemanship, former Town Council member, former Community Development Corporation board member, current Pagosa Peak Open School board member. (“Plan C” is my designation of his concept, although I have no problem if Mr. Weiler wants to use that designation in the future.)
Like Plan B, the plan being promoted by Mr. Weiler includes only a detention center — with no new Sheriff’s administration offices included.
During our interview last week, Mr. Weiler shared his conversation with Pagosa Springs architect Brad Ash, one of the consulting architects who’s been helping develop various County facilities concepts since 2015. According to Mr. Weiler, the architect had suggested that a full-size jail could be built for “$10 to $11 million” if the Board of County Commissioners did not include a “Sheriff’s Palace” in the plan. (“Sheriff’s Palace” is Mr. Weiler’s designation.)
Mark Weiler:
“And I said, ‘What if we started with a footprint that starts with all four leaves of the four-leaf-clover, but what we actually build, starting in April of 2019, is just two of the four leaves of the clover?’”
In other words, can we start by building a smaller jail that can easily be expanded in the future, as needed? Seems that we can.
Here’s an explanation of the “four-leaf-clover.” When architects Brad Ash and Bob Johnson presented a series of possible ‘Justice Center’ concepts back in late 2015 and early 2016, the concepts showed the jail facility in a “clover” shape. Below, for example, is the Ash-Johnson drawing for a ‘Justice Center’ that could be constructed on the site of the existing Courthouse, by purchasing the vacant lot next door. We will note that this concept — estimated at about $20 million — includes not only a jail and Sheriff’s administration, but also includes a new 14,000 square foot courtroom facility. (None of the plans currently being discussed by the BOCC include courtroom facilities.)
In the concept drawing shown above, Highway 160 run across the top. South 5th Street and the Town’s geothermal pump house are on the far left. The oldest portion of the Courthouse is on the far right. In the center, we see brand new courtroom facilities, installed in the existing (but currently abandoned) 14,000 square foot ‘west wing’ of the County Courthouse.
Here’s a modified drawing, highlighting just the new courtroom facilities:
Did we mention that neither “Plan A” nor “Plan B” addresses the needs of the Sixth Judicial District?
In the next drawing, we will see, highlighted, a proposed “four-leaf-clover” Detention Center. This particular jail design has a control room in the very center — shown in ‘red’ — from which detention officers have clear sight-lines of every nook and cranny inside the jail. In this sketch, architects Ash and Johnson are portraying a full-size 54-bed jail, including all four “leaves” of the clover.
Every Colorado county is required to have a jail, under state law. But the law doesn’t specify any particular size of jail. The BOCC and their official campaign committee, ‘Citizens for a New Jail,’ have been fixated on a 54-bed jail, even though the average number of inmates held by the Sheriff is currently around 23. If the County were to build, say, a 27-bed jail, they could easily house any occasional ‘overflow’ at a nearby jail facility, such as the La Plata County Jail.
In Mr. Weiler’s plan, the County would not build all four segments of the clover right off the bat. Instead, the County would construct two segments of the clover, on a footprint that would allow Section Three and Four to be added on later.
If needed?
In the next concept drawing, for example, we have a 2016 Ash-Johnson sketch of a potential ‘Justice Center’ that would have made use of the existing Parelli Building in Aspen Village. I’ve highlighted the jail.
Once again, we see the control room in the center of the clover shape — in ‘red’ — but the fourth “leaf” on the south side of the clover is missing from the drawing. This allows for future expansion, without building a completely new jail. Like this:
Using this “clover-leaf” concept, a county government can start with a jail including one, two, three or four “leaves.” According to Mr. Weiler — based on his conversations with architect Brad Ash — the cost of a “two-leaf clover” would be around 60 percent of the cost of a complete 54-bed jail. If a full-size, state-of-the-art jail were “$10 to $11 million” as suggested by architect Brad Ash, then a “two-leaf clover” might cost the taxpayers around $7 million.
One-third the cost of the $20 million facility currently being promoted by the ‘Citizens for a New Jail’ committee.
Able to be expanded as needed.
We will note that ‘Citizens for a New Jail’ are currently pushing for a one-percent sales tax increase… an estimated $2.9 million tax increase in the first year. But they consistently neglect to mention that the proposed facility includes a greatly expanded Sheriff’s Office. That proposed administration office is about three times the square footage occupied by the County Sheriff in 2014, prior to the roof leak at the County Courthouse.
We can all acknowledge that the population of Archuleta County has increased since 2007… by an estimated 100 residents, according to the US Census Bureau. That’s a whopping 7 percent increase over the past ten years. If things keep up at this hectic pace, the population of the county will double in the next 150 years. But whether we need, in 2018, a Sheriff’s Office three times the size it was in 2014…?
Something for the voters to consider…