Citizens still have questions abot how the new Haywood County Jail will Impact them in the Future

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County Commissioners voted tonight, Monday, March 8, 2024 to award the contract for the new detention center to Vannoy Construction. Speakers asked many questions and the county commissioners tried to address as many as possible. It was a hard decision to make because of the the increase in taxes and property revaluation, but the decision was made to go ahead with the construction that will benefit Haywood County citizens in future years. The hope is that with a bigger jail, the message to criminals is that you will be arrested if you break the law in Haywood County. Sheriff Bill Wilke gave a guarantee that no transient vagrants or illegal immigrants will be housed in his jail. He also stated if criminals from other counties are housed in Haywood County, they will be returned to their county of arrest before being released. The county commissioners addressed questions about the interest rate, which is 3.51 percent and the possibility of state funds from Rep. Mark Pless. Terry Ramey explained his reason for voting no at the last meeting was to clarify many questions the public had before his vote of "yes" tonight to award the contract to Vannoy Construction, which is a quality construction company. Terry Ramey stated the commissioners voted at the last meeting to build the jail and this meeting was just to award the construction contract. Tommy Long stated the jail annex would be removed and went over details of all the meetings the commissioners had since 2020 about the detention center. The commissioners didn't go into operating costs for the new jail or the cost to bring the existing jail up to standard with the new jail, but the total cost does include renovating the existing jail.
https://www.themountaineer.com/news/pub ... 99idA1Y1JU

County Commissioners Meeting, Monday, March 8, 2024 at 5:30 PM at the historic court house on Main Street, commissioners will vote to request approval of award of contract in the amount of $27,432,258 to Vannoy Construction for the Detention Center expansion project and approval of $31,051,228 Capital Project Ordinance. Come support Terry Ramy as he questions the extra costs of the new jail and addresses citizen's concerns. He is the only county commissioner willing to examine how the new jail will impact Haywood County Citizens in the future. The jail is supposed to be for keeping criminals off the street and keeping citizens safe. The law abiding citizens are paying for this project, so the county commissioners should address their questions.

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County Commissioners have voted to build a new jail. Citizens of Haywood County still have many questions about how their taxpayer money is going to be spent over the years to come. This project started with a $17 million dollar price tag and now has increased to a 27.5 million, with a 1.5 % to 2 % property tax increase and a 64 % revaluation of the appraised value of your property.

What is the timeline and deadlines for completion of the project?

Citizens have not heard from the bank financing the project. What are the terms of the loan and what is the interest rate? Is the rate a fixed rate for the entire term or is it a variable rate?

What is the increase in operating cost of the new jail including adding employees, increase in insurance and other costs incurred to run the new jail?

Does the annex need to be demolished and relocated to build the new jail and where will the new annex be built?

Is the new jail a pod construction similar to the existing jail and what is the plan to bring the existing jail up to standards with the new jail?

The existing jail is running below capacity now with 89 of the 109 beds being used. What is the plan for the unused additional capacity? Do we want criminals from other counties to fill our jail? Will criminals be released into our county? Will our jail be used for housing people other than criminals such as vagrants or illegal immigrants?

Our county commissioners should have a town hall "question and answer session" for such a big tax increase with questions still outstanding.

Jan 6, 2024 https://www.themountaineer.com/news/dec ... 94cbd.html

Feb 4, 2024 https://www.themountaineer.com/news/pub ... c250b.html

Feb 7, 2024 https://www.themountaineer.com/news/com ... 1d47f.html

Feb 21, 2024 https://www.themountaineer.com/news/cou ... 33c05.html

March 6, 2024 https://www.themountaineer.com/news/jai ... 87329.html



https://smokymountainnews.com/news/item ... on-project

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Come watch! County Commissioner Meeting, Monday, March 8th, 2024!
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