With costs escalating since it was first proposed in May 2000, County Engineer Bob Jasek told the Board of Freeholders last week that the expansion of the county correctional facility in Kearny will be completed in May 2005 and – barring an unforeseen disaster – will not cost more than 3 percent over the $45 million estimate.
Jasek also said the project has finally been catching up, after being delayed several times. Last June, the expansion was 14 months behind the original mid-2004 estimate.
The report came as a result of a proposed $197,000 change order, which is a request for additional money to the original request for a particular part of the project.
“The project is running smoothly,” Jasek said. “We are catching up with the schedule and should be done within 12 months.”
Bidding issues and splitting up construction contracts caused many of the delays, Jasek said, but work has gone well since these issues were resolved.
This estimate, however, was in dispute with some of the timeline projections included in a written report issued to the freeholders. Jasek said the written estimates were wrong, and that he would recheck the schedule.
Freeholder Bill O’Dea asked how much more the freeholders would be asked to spend on a project that has seen several increases since first proposed.
In May 2000, officials estimated the cost of the expansion would be $35 million, but the figure was revised to a higher amount within a month, with the last estimate being $45 million.
The sixth floor addition to the jail, which would be the most significant improvement to the jail since its construction in 1987, is being constructed along the western side of the original facility and is required to avoid potential federal fines for overcrowding. The facility was constructed to house 1,400 inmates, but has had an average daily population of 2,000, at times even reaching as high as 2,500.
Although the 2,500 figure is rare, county officials said the original design for the jail was intended for only 750 inmates. This figure was increased to 1,400 during construction in the late 1980s, as the increase in crime at the time promised a significantly higher population in the jail. The cell structures currently used were originally supposed to provide space only for one person. Before the jail was finished, the plans had doubled this number.
The project also includes significant improvements to the security system, which was originally created with a lower prison population in mind.
The new sixth floor addition to the jail will provide new kitchen facilities on the lowest floor, a mezzanine on the second floor, and four floors of dormitory-style housing complete with showers, toilets, a class room, tables, and outside exercise area for each unit. These dormitories will house prisoners who need less security. The traditional cell structure in the current building will be for the more at-risk population.
Since many of the activities will be conducted in these dormitories, such as meals and other services, prisoners will be moved less often and lessen the security risks.
Each of the four floors will have two dormitories; each one will house 64 prisoners. Officers in a special area will be able to observe all that goes on in each dormitory. Of the six floors, only two would be connected to the existing jail.
Town to purchase wetlands from Jersey City
In a move that would purchase nearly 15 acres of wetlands from the City of Jersey City, the freeholders voted to spend about $82,000 to match funds supplied by the state Green Acres grant program.
As a result, Laurel Hill County Park in Secaucus could double in size.
The land is situated at the southeastern side of the existing park, in an area known locally as Snake Hill, said Steve Marks, director of the County Division of Strategic Redevelopment.
When proposed last year, the property was key to plans to provide a contiguous pedestrian walkway along the waterfront, as well as environmental restoration, passive trails and a canoe docking station.
The new site is connected to the existing park by a strip of land that runs under the arches of the New Jersey Turnpike and along Snake Hill. The site is currently used by off-road vehicles.
In a related matter, the freeholders also moved ahead with another aspect of the Open Space, Recreation and Historic Trust Fund approved by voters last November, which could impose a small tax on county residents for the purchase or upgrade of land for open space and parks. The freeholders passed a resolution approving the trust fund policies and procedures, and the establishing of an advisory board.
O’Dea said he would like to have a freeholder liaison to the board to serve as “the eyes and ears” for the freeholders as to what plans are being made.