SIOUX CITY -- After a tumultuous start to the project, construction continues on the new Woodbury County Law Enforcement Center, with walls for the complex starting to emerge from the ground.
Grading at the 38-acre site in the vicinity of 28th Street started last year, with a groundbreaking ceremony held in September.
The $66 million project is anticipated for completion in March 2023.
"Things are moving along as best as we possibly can," Law Enforcement Center Authority Chair Ron Wieck said.
The 122,000-square-foot jail will hold up to 448 inmates; nearly double the roughly 234 inmate-capacity for the current aging jail, located across the street from the county courthouse. The new Law Enforcement Center also will have separate offices for the county sheriff and attorney, plus five courtrooms.
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For years, county officials faced various deficiencies, compliance issues, operations costs and lack of space in the current jail, built in 1987. Most recently, experts recommended at least $22 million in critical repairs. At the time of the studies, county officials warned critical systems could fail at any time, which would force the evacuation of the jail and require taxpayers to pay millions of dollars to transport and house inmates in other jails scattered around the state on top of the repair costs.
In 2019, the county board of supervisors moved to place a bond issue for a new jail in March 2020. A joint three-member city-county panel, called the Woodbury County Law Enforcement Center Authority, was formed. Taking advantage of a provision in state law, the Authority only needed a simple majority for the bond issue, rather than the 60-percent “supermajority” needed for most local government projects funded by property taxes.
The authority is led by Wieck and its members also include Sioux City Mayor Pro-Tem Dan Moore and county supervisor Rocky De Witt.
In March 2020, county voters approved a $50.3 million bond with a 57 percent voter approval. With interest, the 20-year bonds could cost in the range from $64 million to $68 million.
Construction on the project was originally set to begin in early 2021, but was delayed by the rising costs of building materials, triggered by a disruption in supply chains due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The price of building materials essential to jail construction -- steel, concrete, PVC, copper -- had jumped by as much as 70 percent in some cases. Lumber prices in particular had gone through the roof.
In June, the LEC Authority approved a $58.4 million contract to Lincoln-based Hausmann Construction, which submitted the low bid for the general contractor phase of the project. The original estimate for the main phase was $43 million. The low bid represents a 36 percent increase in cost, said Kenny Schmitz, the county building services director in June 2021.
Counting $59.9 million in construction costs and $6.2 million in other items such as land cost, design fees and project management, the price for the project ballooned to $66 million.
To bridge the gap between actual costs and the voter approved bond, the board of supervisors has allocated $10 million of the American Rescue Plan Act COVID-19 relief funding to the project.
A number of citizens, including local contractors and union leaders, had urged the Authority to reject the two general contractor bids and put the project on hold in hopes the costs would fall by the time it was rebid. People also spoke out against the use of COVID-19 relief funding on the project.
Wieck said he spoke individually with many of those who were initially against the project, and once there was an opportunity to explain the project, some changed their minds.
"Once this facility is completed they will see that it was worth the process," he said.
