The report from CGL Company cost the county $217,000. It was outlined in a presentation by company representative Chloe Janco and the report discussed by commissioners with Janco.
The report includes short- and long-term facility needs and the outlines a potential road map for action. Priorities were placed on the downtown Troy jail and county Incarceration Facility, the Animal Shelter, Job and Family Services, the courts and the Hobart Center for County Government.
The consultants’ team visited all county owned facilities, talked with staff of department and the maintenance staff and compiled a profile sheet for each building and how it compares to life, safety, code and other considerations, Janco said.
“Overall Miami County, you really do take pride in maintaining your buildings,” she said. “I will say this was one of the cleanest, organized engineer’s storage buildings have been in.”
The building in the poorest condition likely is the Animal Shelter, in part due to its age, and the growth of services since the shelter became a no-kill operation a few years ago, Janco said. The overall needs assessment looked at how space is now utilized and future space needs.
The county is looking to a new Animal Shelter, with a private fund-raising effort now under way. A study of the Job and Family Services office and space needs also is in the works as is a jail needs assessment study, which is being paid for, in part, by a state grant.
“We will use this document. We won’t let it set on a shelf too long,” said Commissioner Ted Mercer. “We have a lot of challenges in total county operations. Facilities are expensive to build and maintain.”
An eye will be kept on growth of the county and the need for its services, he said.
The cost of projects, if pursued, would reach into the millions.
The best route for the county on jail space could be the removal of the Incarceration Facility and construction of a new jail facility to house both maximum- and minimum-security inmates along with other needed services, said Commissioner Greg Simmons. Time will test what options are pursued but commissioners have said in discussions on a jail that the county likely will have to turn to taxpayers for money to build a jail.
Contact this contributing writer at nancykburr@aol.com.
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