Carter County, Tenn. -- It endured a long, hard road, but the Carter County Jail has some light at the end of its tunnel.
Here's a brief history:
Carter County's new jail looks intimidating. Superintendent Clyde Peters gave me a "between beams tour." This is Peters’ sixth jail project and he points out the features included in the county’s newest facility. The exercise yard includes a roll-up door to let sunlight in; and the control room, with 24-hour surveillance, is encased in 15 inches of unbreakable glass.
"The job is kind of scary,” said Peters, “it's going so smooth. It ain't always like this."
Cookeville Architect J. Mark Rogers says, the county entertained bids from three construction companies, all experienced correctional contractors.
"Out of that group, the county wisely chose not to just pick the low price,” said Rogers, “but to actually let qualifications be part of the process."
But Blaine's base bid was too expensive, so Rogers cut more than 4.5-million dollars. "The bid price, which is all part of the public record, was higher than they felt Carter County can afford. So, they entered into a series of value engineering exercises," he said.
Rogers says "value engineering" cuts quantity, not quality. Instead of four elevator cars, the jail will have two. He says other cuts were cosmetic -- like a brick exterior, and a standing seam metal roof.
The problem? Carter County couldn't show me how they added it all up.
"We got a list of the reductions that was made,” said Carter County Mayor Johnny Holder, “and we would like a list with an itemized statement of how much money was taken off of that.”
No one seems to be able to answer that question.
Carter County Sheriff Chris Mathes doesn't have an engineering degree, and to build a jail is not in his job description – but, to run a jail is. Mathes says he isn’t sure what he’ll have to work with when the jail is completed.
"There could be great improvements made to the jail. I don't know that,” he said. “There could be a lot of things taken out of the jail. I don't know that."
Those unknowns piqued the interest of retired engineer Dale Moeller.
"With a very few exceptions, the Carter County commissioners are totally incapable of addressing a project of this magnitude,” said Moeller. “They simply don't know what's going on."
Robert Davis, chairman of the Jail Task Force Committee, conceded as much during their Monday meeting.
"Me not being an architect, an engineer, a construction-type manager, I can't say things are going exactly the way it's supposed to be, because I don't know,"
Davis said.
So, who's protecting Carter County's interests? A field technician, but cost is not on his list of considerations.
"We have nobody, other than the contractor, who I'm sure is smiling all the way to the bank," Moeller said.
Before construction started, Moeller suggested the county hire an objective engineer, called a "project manager." Finance Director Jerome Kitchens says, they couldn't afford one -- that Blaine and Rogers keep each other in check.
"We know from the history, that Carter County has not done a good job in building jails," Sheriff Mathes said. Taxpayers can only hope this one is the exception.
To date, the new jail is $2,022.77 under budget, Kitchens said, with no changes to the original contract.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement