There will be a vote on February 22 regarding the new county jail bond and operating proposal
MANISTIQUE -- Keeping up the jail in Schoolcraft County is proving to be more trouble than it's worth. There's a big liability risk with the aging building and the many 'band-aid' fixes it requires.
Building a new jail and the cost of it were hot topics during Monday night's town hall meeting.
“In the long run it would cost more money to try to operate on our current jail and fix the things,” explains Schoolcraft County Sheriff, Grant Harris.
The city will vote on a county jail facility bond proposal and operating proposal on February 22.
The board of commissioners is pursuing the idea of building a new and improved jail. They said that renovating the existing Camp Manistique site would cost taxpayers much more than it would to build a new facility.
“I'm embarrassed to put people in the jail right now,” Harris said. “People make mistakes and then end up in jail. To put them in one environment that we're putting them into is a lot like putting people back into Alcatraz."
If residents vote yes, they will be approving an estimated average millage rate of 1.21 mills per year over a timeframe of 20 years.
The sheriff said that a new jail facility would offer safety and efficiency to the officers.
“With the podular design, it's highly efficient,” Sheriff Harris explains. “They stay in one location and monitor the whole jail, plus they can control all the other doors."
If residents vote no, the county will have to bring the current jail up to standards or find out how to replace it.
The county is asking for $5.9 million on the bond proposal ballot to fund construction of a new jail.
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