The Wakefield Republican -

The Dixon County Citizen’s Committee to gather information about a proposed new jail or courthouse in Dixon County met for their ninth gathering on Thursday, April 20 in Ponca.
Twelve members of the committee and five guests were present for the Prochaska & Associates-led meeting, and discussed topics considering the options for a new jail or new courthouse/county offices/jail in light of previous information gathered by the Committee.
One of the major discussion topics was that of the timeline – including a suggestion for a “campaign” phase of about six months, and then a Bond Vote to the public for the project in May of 2024, and perhaps Bid letting in January or February of 2025. The final decisions will be made by the County Supervisors.
A second new piece of information was released that the new jail would likely not contain a female prisoner part of the jail, as that would require additional female staff.
The group’s next meeting will be on Thursday, May 18 at 6 p.m., and is open to guests and the public.
Discussion topics included:
1. An update from the Jail that a recent requirement that all new dispatch areas have to be housed in a FEMA-rated storm shelter, and that the addition should be made to the current plant.
2. Discussion on the Option 1 offer, which ended with the need to hire a surveyor for the property;
3. The creation of a Request for Proposals for a surveyor to give to the County Board for their May 9 meeting;
4. A second entrance to the development, and its review by the Department of Transportation, the entrance layout will be investigated further;
5. A suggestion that the City of Ponca could consider contributing to the cost of the frontage road on the plan, since its extension could be used for future city development.
6. A suggestion for a closer look at actual project cost to include all site development costs as well as other “soft costs” – an proposing an updated building construction estimate.
7. Discussion on the project schedule, beginning with when the campaign phase might begin, including how long the campaign should last. The architect suggested a 6 month campaign and perhaps around 12 months for the bidding/drawings to be completed – a Bond vote in May of 2024 was suggested, with a bid date of January or February 2025.
8. Discussion on the cost of a special election for around $8-10,000, and reminder that Dixon County as a mail-in voter county could have over 80% voter participation.
9. The committee agreed to further floor plan development to show the communities during the Campaign Phase, and a suggestion that the plan for the new jail include 10 beds plus four holding cells for full classification. The architect warned that if that differs from the Needs Assessment count that Jail Standards may need to be consulted. The template that has been used includes 14 cells with three holding cells.