It was a matter of education at the latest Warren County Board meeting on the current progress of a potential new jail being constructed within the county. Chairman Mike Pearson says the board is currently seeking funding sources to put money down on the project:
“We are looking at various different ways to put in some up-front money. One would be to use American Rescue funds. The discussion is we may throw a little over half of the American Rescue funds at the jail building project, which of course brings the overall cost down and means that the taxpayers need to put in less and that is a plus. Looking at other funding sources, is also important because this is up-front money and so essentially that means that the county would have to borrow less.”
The next step in the process of building a new jail is presenting a bond referendum to the voters of Warren County, explains Buildings and Grounds Chairman Sean Cavanaugh:
“The voters have the total decision if we are going to build this because they will decide if they want to take on ‘x’ number of bonds the county will pay for. Of course, costs have gone up since COVID, but we have people working very, very hard on the project. It is something that will now only benefit the county, but it will benefit greatly the city. The current prospective jail site is on the north end of town, which would be very near the fire department, the hospital, ambulance; it is not located in a residential area, and by the bypass. It is going to take a lot of education; just getting the information out there for the public so they have the best, most informed decisions.”
$2 million is the current projected total in up front monies for the project from the American Rescue Fund.
