The commission chair rapped his knuckles on the table to quiet the quarreling voices.
“I guess we’re not going to see a final decision today,” said Rick Drummond, assistant county manager to the Alachua County Commission.
There was disagreement in an Alachua County Commission meeting Tuesday about how to renovate the county jail, which is said to be more or less falling apart.
Specifically, the commission discussed how much money to spend on the cooling and heating units as well as repairs to the roof.
The commission was given three price options. In three of the four, the project exceeds its original budget.
From the $7.7 million the county took out to cover jail renovations, $5.8 million remains. The price options: $9.7 million, $6.9 million, $6.8 million and $5.3 million. Commissioners are less than thrilled with this.
“Essentially, it’s just wasting money,” said Chair Lee Pinkoson. “I am not in favor of spending $9.8 million on this project.”
The commission decided to ask staff to get more information, including what additions were made that increased the project’s cost. One of the additions includes the installation of new air conditioning units instead of refurbishing the current ones.
The jail needs new, and pricier, air conditioning units “whether the county wanted to or not,” said Charlie Jackson, facilities manager.
Mike West, an engineer with AdvanTek Consulting, disagreed.
“With all due respect, Charlie,” West said, “I don’t think that’s correct.”
County staff will present more information to the commissioners on April 12. They are hoping to be able to fund the jail’s unit and roof repairs while staying in budget and also having energy-saving features.
