Monroe County Commissioners Jody Madeira and Julie Thomas took the public podium at Wednesday’s city council meeting, asking that it reconsider part of the planned Hopewell neighborhood as the location for a new jail and justice center.
The request comes after a subcommittee tasked with recommending a new jail site recommended renovating the current jail with an expansion into the Curry and Fiscus buildings.
County commissioners did not have a formal role on the subcommittee.
Still underway is the American Civil Liberties Union federal class action lawsuit filed against the county, citing unconstitutional conditions at the Monroe County Jail. An overcrowding emergency was also declared at the jail by county commissioners earlier this month.
“We must proceed as quickly as possible with the construction of a jail facility, and unnecessary delays are not acceptable,” Madeira said.
Architects at DLZ conceptualized a new jail and justice center north of First Street and west of Rogers Street that would resolve a key concern with the Hopewell site, which had been limited to just a new jail when it was originally proposed.
Thomas mentioned the city’s expressed desire to advance a new jail site but said the Hopewell proposal cannot move forward if the property is subject to a full plan commission and city council review.
"That would mean an additional minimum of nine months of time that we really do not have,” she said.
Instead, Thomas asked the council to work through the city’s redevelopment commission; she also requested that the council respond as soon as possible.
“We would be open to considering purchase of the property or potentially to develop a land swap for the Thomson property, which is considerably more acreage," she said.
