Halifax County commissioners are expected to decide in August whether to build a new detention center on 22 acres of land near the county corporate park.

If the proposal is approved, Halifax County Economic Development Director Cathy Scott said during today’s meeting that it would not interfere with recruitment efforts since the property under consideration is across from the corporate park.

Discussions regarding an alternate site — rather than the current jail location adjoining the sheriff’s office on Ferrell Lane in Halifax — came after Mayor John White questioned the location and numerous residents in the county seat posted yard signs objecting to a new jail being built there.

Assistant County Manager Thomas Everette told the board the county has discussed the matter with Moseley Designs and Bordeaux Construction. Both companies stated that preliminary site assessments indicate the property on the south side of Highway 561 is suitable.

However, there are matters that need to be addressed, he said.

The wooded area at the back of the property contains wetlands and would need to be avoided. Additionally, a drainage ditch running across the land will have to be rerouted, an action that requires permitting from the Army Corps of Engineers. Moseley, the architectural firm designing the new jail, is proposing to enlist the services of S&ME to assist with the permitting process. Everette also noted that because the site is located off a public road, the county would need to consult with the state Department of Transportation for assistance with DOT permitting.

“Staff supports a decision to move forward with the alternate site and cease any further activity with respect to the Ferrell Lane site,” he said in a memo to the board.

Everette added that the cost of changing the location has not yet been determined, nor has how it will affect the project timeline.

There is the potential that the county could save around $1 million by relocating the construction site, Commissioner Sammy Webb said.

Those potential cost savings could result from a reduced need for additional decorative walls and landscaping, County Manager Dia Denton said. “You will incur some costs moving the site. It may end up being a wash. We don’t exactly know yet.”

Denton said the Office of State Budget and Management has agreed to let the county use the $8 million originally allocated for the third-floor courthouse renovation project for the jail project instead. She noted that moving construction to a new location will delay the project. “We had estimated possibly four to six months. Now, it could be eight months. A lot of that will depend on the Corps of Engineers and their timing.”

The $8 million is expected to help the county finance less of the overall jail project, she said.

Commissioner Thomas Barrett wanted to know whether the sheriff supports the change and whether he anticipates extra costs on his end.

While she didn’t want to speak for the sheriff, Denton said that regardless of the location, inmates would have to be transported. “I’ve heard some other conversations that he would be in support, but I don’t want to speak for him.”

Sheriff Tyree Davis said this afternoon that he supports constructing the jail off Highway 561. “When it comes to transporting inmates to the courthouse, we have to go through the same processes, no matter if we transport them across the street or we transport them a couple of miles down the road. When we have to bring them out of the cells, we have to search them. We have to put them on the transport vehicle, transport them over to the courthouse, and then bring them back out and do the exact same process.”

That’s because the sheriff’s office cannot walk inmates across the yard due to the safety and security of the inmates, the staff, and the public. “The only difference is we will be transporting them roughly two blocks to the back of the jail versus three miles down the road.”

He noted there will be an additional cost associated with fuel and vehicle maintenance, but added there would also be cost savings on Highway 561. “We had discussed paying for mature trees and getting nicer fencing so the people in the town of Halifax wouldn’t have to see the back end of the detention center, and we would have to pay for the upgrade of the town’s sewer system.”

Davis said those upgrades would likely have cost the county up to $2.5 million. He noted that now that the OSBM has approved the $8 million to go toward the detention center, “That’s an extra $10 million to $10.5 million that the county will be saving. Hopefully, they’ll take that $10.5 million and we can get a combo sheriff’s office and jail, because that’s what is needed. We need a new jail and we need a sheriff’s office. Having them both together will be an asset to the sheriff’s office, the jail, and the community.”

Chairman Vernon Bryant told the board a decision needs to be made by the next meeting. “We don’t need to kick that can anymore. We were hoping to have everything today.”

County Attorney Glynn Rollins told the board that choosing the Highway 561 site would introduce additional costs, including redesign work by Moseley, money for geotechnical work, a traffic engineering study, and work toward the Corps of Engineers permit, for a possible total of $265,000.

Rollins noted that the land now under consideration is not subject to the restrictive covenants of the corporate park.