As long as I can remember, Lincoln County has been saying they need a new jail, courthouse and administrative offices;
The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners, after years of study, is poised to select one of two options to address the critical need for additional courtroom space. After careful analysis and input from the court system, the Tegra Group from Minneapolis and a citizen advisory committee, two options were found, with a greenfield site being the most advantageous.
Many people have told me that the greenfield site makes the most sense because of parking availability.
The Commission has been very conscious of the cost and impact on the taxpayer. While Lincoln County’s tax levy is one of the lowest in the state, any tax increase has to be scrutinized.
Lincoln County has the lowest per capita debt of any county in the state considering it’s property values and size. The county is flush with property tax revenue. There really is NO excuse that they have dragged their feet for so long except for lacking courage and incredible incompetence. With inflation over the past year and the rising cost of construction it is easy to estimate that if they would have pulled the trigger just 5-10 years ago they would have saved taxpayers millions. While controversy and debate between commissioners can be valuable to the process it can also hamper making logical fiscal decisions. We elect representatives to make important decisions about our public needs, if only they can get out of bed and make those decisions. I pity Lincoln County residents.
Law enforcement is one of the primary roles of a county. It is well past time in Lincoln County that the resources of law enforcement and the judiciary be brought to the capacity required by the expanding population.
Even though the Facebook page of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office still features “beer party busts” of 18-20 year old adults consuming alcohol at a gathering in a house [gasp!], it really is necessary to evolve beyond Mayberry.
The greenfield site is more desirable as it offers possibility to expand in the future. The population growth in the county has not stopped.
Taupeville is responsible for most of the growth in Lincoln County. Can’t Taupeville just bus its alleged criminals to north of 57th street? Maybe then they could be redressed as panhandlers. Problem solved.
“beer party busts”?…. Well, maybe (Mayberry?) we have finally evolved away from food truck stories, huh?
LOL. The County Commission f’d around with a couple of motions, but weren’t able to pass a resolution on this issue.
In the past, Big Jim Schmidt could vote for a county ‘justice center’ (read as jail [a real large jail], court rooms, sheriff dept and state attorney staff offices) … when it was to be located in Tea. Even voted for a surreptitious, dark of night land purchase associated with that proposal.
Total lack of courage to advance against that which is necessary.