Local News

Soil Problem Discovered At Future Jail Site

PRINEVILLE, OR -- Plans for the new Crook County Jail have hit a snag. Sheriff John Gautney says the design team is now working with contractors to re-engineer the foundation. "When they came and did the core samples on the soil, in the location where the jail is going to be built, what they found is that the soil there is a little bit too soft based on the seismic regulations for the area."

 

Those changes will likely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, although Gautney says final estimates are not yet in. "We have to be within the budget," he tells KBND News, "So it’s just a matter of how we get there. We’re looking at cost savings that we can do in order to still have the jail functionable [sic] and still meet budget requirements." In November, voters approved a $10 million bond to help pay for the $17 million project. To offset the foundation changes, Gautney says they'll adjust other components like which building materials will be used. Also, he says they'd hoped to make the inmate housing area two stories so there was room to eventually expand into the second level. But, Gautney says, "At this point in time, it made more sense to reduce the housing level to a single level. That would save us money on construction costs, currently, and it would save us money in the long run on maintaining the building, because the heating and cooling of an area that wouldn’t even be in use for some years."
 
He says such a large project was bound to have some surprises. "It’s a changing target, you know? Our target is we have to hit the $17 million; we have to come in under that. But, how we get there and what change we have to make on the way, that’s constantly changing. It’s just trying to make everything work out and still have the facility functionable [sic] for what we need in order to be able to open up when we’re done building."

 

Crews finished asbestos and lead paint removal at the site, this week. Gautney expects contractors will demolish the existing buildings at the site by next month, with construction slated to begin on the new 76-bed facility by fall. He says, so far, they’re still on schedule to open late in 2018.   

On Air Now

America in the Morning
5:00am - 6:00am
America in the Morning

FlashAlert

KBND ON FACEBOOK

News Disclaimers