Yesterday afternoon, I started writing an editorial about a Pagosa Springs Town Council discussion that took place on January 24. The discussion concerned the municipal regulations that require homeowners to shovel the Town-owned sidewalk in front of their house “by 12:00 noon of the second day following the snowfall to provide a clear walking path for pedestrians.”
Just to be clear, the sidewalks within the Town limits — where they exist — legally belong to our municipal government, and were installed by our municipal government. (Many neighborhoods still have no sidewalks, 128 years after the Town government was incorporated.) But the Town, like many other Colorado communities, has a long tradition of requiring adjacent property owners to maintain the sidewalks during snow events. Except that certain sidewalks are maintained by the Town street crews.
I could go on, and explain how this tradition came about… except that we have something else, very important, going on in our community today, and we really ought to talk about that, first.
Last week, the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners sent out the information packet for today’s February 5 meeting at 1:30pm. Here’s the first item listed on today’s agenda, under New Business:
A. Resolution 2019 – ___ Approving The Principles And Parameters For Construction Of The Proposed Fred C. Harman III Law Enforcement Complex At Harman Park
Resolution 2019 – ___ details and explains the principles and parameters for the construction of the proposed Fred C. Harman III Law Enforcement Complex at Harman Park.
Presentor: Gregory J. Schulte
The resolution has no number yet; it gets its number when the BOCC votes to approve it.
You can read the complete text below, as copied from the resolution (and, with my annotations):
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF ARCHULETA COUNTY, COLORADO APPROVING THE PRINCIPLES AND PARAMETERS FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE FRED C. HARMAN III LAW ENFORCEMENT COMPLEX
WHEREAS, the detention facility for Archuleta County, located in the downtown Courthouse was flooded and rendered unusable in May 2015 and detainees have ever since been transported to La Plata County, at significant cost and potential liability for both law enforcement officers and detainees; and
(Notes: The flooding event actually occurred in April 2015, as I recall. The jail was not rendered “unusable.” It merely suffered extensive water damage to its electronics and electrical system. The existing jail was condemned — not because it suffered irreparable damage — but because the BOCC wanted to build a new jail, on Hot Springs Boulevard.)
WHEREAS, the County Commissioners and County Sheriff have gone through an extensive four year process to evaluate various sites and configurations and held over 100 public meetings to take public testimony on the subject; and
(Notes: The BOCC convened an “independent” citizen task force to study the jail issue in May 2015, but the task force began asking questions the BOCC didn’t appreciate, so the task force was abandoned after its second meeting. The “100 meetings to take public input” is a sorry figment of the BOCC’s imagination. The jail was indeed discussed at over 100 work sessions and other meetings — where it was, typically, one of numerous items on the agenda, and where, typically, no public input was seriously listened to. I know this because I attended most of the meetings.)
WHEREAS, the County Sheriff and County Commissioners have consulted relevant data sources and detention experts regarding daily inmate census counts, segregation requirements, growth projections, and cost considerations regarding the present and future spaces needs for a detention facility and have determined a 54 bed jail with required ancillary services and space needs; and
(Note: According to daily inmate counts provided by the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office, the average daily census count between 2010 and 2018 was about 19 inmates. In order to fill a 54-bed jail, the Sheriff will presumably need to double the average number of arrests made per day. This might be feasible, if the Sheriff could actually find qualified deputies to fill the department’s current vacancies — and then perhaps double the number of deputies.)
WHEREAS, Archuleta County has been generously and advantageously offered and subsequently decided to purchase a 4.98 acres parcel of land in Harman Park for construction of a new law enforcement complex; and
(Note: The project is being described as a “law enforcement complex…” but no information has been released about what, exactly, the BOCC plans to include in the “complex” besides the “54-bed detention center” mentioned in this resolution.)
WHEREAS, in connection with the purchase of the property, the County was also offered and purchased a First Right of Refusal for the acquisition of an additional approximately 5 acres adjacent to the first parcel for future expansion of justice facilities; and
(Note: Obviously, the BOCC has big plans for our community’s future. The current County Courthouse — which, once upon a time in 2014, housed nearly all of the County government offices, plus a 34-bed jail, plus the Sixth Judicial District court facilities — sits on about one acre of land. The apparent plan now is to build a 10-acre complex that includes only “justice facilities.”)
WHEREAS, to secure a dedicated revenue stream for the construction of the new law enforcement complex, the County Commissioners placed on a county-wide ballot a one cent sales tax increase in both 2017 and 2018; and
WHEREAS, the ballot measures failed both times; and
(Note: The ballot measure failed both times, because the BOCC put proposals before the voters that the taxpayers didn’t like.)
WHEREAS, as specified in state statute (C.R.S. 17-26-101) “There shall be maintained in each county in this state, at the expense of the county, a county jail for the detention, safekeeping, and confinement of persons and prisoners lawfully committed.”; and
(Note: We have a jail, already; one that suffered water damage in 2015. According to architect consultant Bob Johnson, speaking in 2016, it could have been renovated into a “state of the art jail” for around $2 million.)
WHEREAS, Reynold Ash + Associates and Reilly Johnson architects have completed schematic design level plans for the proposed 54 bed detention facility; and
WHEREAS, time is now of the essence for construction of a new detention facility since it is estimated that it will take at least 2 construction seasons to build and, for cost and liability reasons, construction absolutely needs to be underway in 2019.
(Note: This is the first time I’ve seen the word “absolutely” used in a local government document. Impressive. We’ve watched the BOCC spend four years refusing to even talk about renovating our existing facility — even, after two botched ballot measures — and suddenly, we have an “absolute” need for a $13 million jail.)
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF ARCHULETA COUNTY, COLORADO that County Administration and Finance staff are directed to:
- Proceed with the construction and financing of a 54-bed detention center located in Harman Park, as schematically designed by Reynolds Ash + Associates and Reilly Johnson Architects.
- Assume the construction cost is approximately $13 million and is to be financed through Certificates of Participation (COPs).
- Assume a construction contingency of 15% be funded from existing cash in the Justice System Capital Fund.
- Assume the required Debt Service Reserve for COP financing is secured by either using existing cash from the Justice System Capital Fund or by purchasing a surety bond, whichever is in the financial best interests of the County.
- Assume the Cost of Issuance (bond counsel, muni advisor, and credit report) for the COP financing is included in the cost of financing.
APPROVED AND ADOPTED, this ____ day of ___________, 2019.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
____________________________
Ronnie Maez, Chairman
I sat down with a knowledgable former County employee last week, to find out where the $13 million estimate (plus a 15% “contingency” plus millions of dollars in COP interest payments) had come from. From that conversation, it appears to me that the BOCC picked the $13 million figure because that was the largest amount of debt they thought they could qualify for, in terms of a COP arrangement. That is to say, the largest amount of debt they could yoke around the shoulders of the taxpayers, without voter approval.
Additional “engagement letters” and “contract amendments” concerning the design and financing of the $13 million jail project will be considered at today’s 1:30pm meeting. It appears from the following agenda item, for example, that the BOCC wants to avoid the annoying hassle of getting competitive bids for this project, by using a ‘Construction Management/General Contractor’ form of construction contract.
Approval of Construction Methodology and Release of RFQ/RFP for The Fred C. Harman III Law Enforcement Complex Construction Management
This item discusses the advantages of a CM/GC construction management approach and requests approval to release an RFQ/RFP for construction management services for the proposed Fred C. Harman III Law Enforcement Complex at Harman Park.
Presentor: Gregory J. Schulte
We have no evidence, based on the agenda, that the BOCC will consider a smaller, expandable facility funded from existing cash flow, as proposed — repeatedly — by local activist Mark Weiler.
See you at the meeting?