Week of 3/20/02
   
 
 
County wants land adjacent to satellite jail
By Scott McLeod
Haywood County commissioners are negotiating to buy 5 acres of land adjacent to their satellite jail off Brown Avenue in Hazelwood to build a new jail facility and law enforcement center.

Commissioners emerged from a closed session on March 18 and voted unanimously to give attorney Leon “Chip” Killian authority to begin negotiations to acquire five acres of land. The property is in two separate tracts. Since negotiations are still under way, commissioners did not reveal the proposed price for the land.

The decision to pursue this land comes after the commissioners were considering a tract of land owned by Tim Welch at the site of the old tannery close to the downtown section of old Hazelwood. That 13-acre tract had been considered for the entire justice center and jail project, but commissioners voted recently to keep the justice center project downtown. That meant less land was required for the jail.

It is not clear what will become of the current satellite jail, but commissioners have discussed turning it into a juvenile facility. Final architectural plans for the jail have not been developed, but estimated costs have hovered around $10 to $11 million for a jail and law enforcement facilities. A space study projected the need for around 160 beds in the jail.

Building a new jail will open up space in the historic courthouse downtown because the top floor of that facility is currently used as a county jail. The old jail will likely become office space as plans for the new justice center and county administrative offices are finalized.

The decision to pursue the jail site adjacent to the current satellite jail marks the second major decision regarding the justice center and jail project made in the last several weeks. Two weeks ago commissioners endorsed plan for a $4 million parking deck on Branner Avenue and instructed architects to proceed with developing construction plans.

Justice center plans will be discussed during a March 25 meeting with architects. The meeting is at 2 p.m. in the conference room of the Haywood County Annex II (across the street from the school system central offices).