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November 20, 2006 (Regular Meeting) Page 168 will have to spend to replace it. She said the Board has an opportunity tonight to plunge forward, put the brakes on and come up with a better solution. She said the jail is poorly planned, in the wrong place and the whole thing is out of control. If the Board does not put the brakes on, she said she and her husband will join with their neighbors to file suit tomorrow, put their trust to an independent court, hoping a Judge will put a stop to this part of the project and require the Board to find a better solution. Paul Churchyard of 161 Union Street N. in Concord pointed out Commissioner Carpenter made an issue before the last school bond vote that she would not support any more non-voter approved financing and that he believed Commissioner Freeman also made similar statements. Yet, he said the Board stands poised to do this tonight. He reported at the February 20, 2006 Commissioners' meeting, an alternative jail design proposal was submitted by residents who are opposed to the County's plan. However, to the dismay of the people, he said the Board voted against the proposal because an alternative plan might cost the County as much as 3.8 percent more and that was unacceptable. Now, he said the County is facing an increase of more than ten times that amount. He called upon the Board to put the project back into the hands of the voters and said the project has already ballooned from a $60 million project to a $101 million plus project. He stated taxpayer money was spent to save the Tribune Building which was later destroyed in a messy and unprofessional way. He said Commissioners Carpenter and Freeman have strong support for the schools in the County. If the Board changes the second part of the project, the giant land locked housing unit, the housing unit can be built somewhere less expensive with a less expensive design and materials. By doing so, he said the Board will save money to fund the cost of several new schools and by using General Obligation bonds instead of Certifications of Participation will also save the cost of several more new schools. He said the Board should be proud of providing the new Annex, but what remains of this project is the legacy of the Commissioners to the County. He asked the Board to reject the two fiscally irresponsible actions and take a stand on behalf of the taxpayers and students of the County. Ellen Sewell of 299 Union Street S. in Concord reported last week, Mr. Day was quoted as saying "the cost of this prison is a bit more". She said she sat here only six months ago and members of this Commission could not, in good conscious, approve $90 million and only approved $75 million. Tonight, she said the cost is $101 million, which is an increase of 35 percent or more than $25 million more when compared to the last estimate. She said this cost is not "a bit more". She said the use of COPS (Certificates of Participation) denies your constituents the opportunity to weigh-in on a project of this magnitude. COPS, she said are viewed as being riskier and hence require a higher interest rate to compensate investors. She said a one to one-and-a-half percentage point differential, which sounds so very small, when applied to the cost of this project, translates into millions of dollars, which is not loose change. I£ the financing is not subject to competitive bidding, she said the differential could be even higher and these are not insignificant sums of money. She said she does not believe the folks in Cabarrus County would characterize these higher costs as "a bit more". She said the citizens will have to pay the bill; do not deny them the right to participate and do not waste their hard earned money. David Cohen of 192 Union Street N. in Concord stated if the Cabarrus County jail was not a mistake to begin with, it certainly has become one now. He said clearly, opposition to the jail complex was originally started form neighbors in the surrounding areas, and to be honest, many people, in their busy lives in the other areas of the County, did not perceive they were going to be impacted by this project. However, he said we know now that every taxpayer in Cabarrus County is about to be greatly affected by it, right in the pocketbook. At the beginning when the cost was still $60 million, he said citizens learned this was the largest and most expensive project this County has ever undertaken. That alone, he said should have made us all sit up and take notice. In less than a year, he said projected costs have risen almost 70 percent - $101 million dollars and taxpayers of this County want to know the terms and the cost o£ financing this project. But even without the enormous cost of financing, he reported this figure represents more than $2,600.00 per family and this price does not include the cost of running the jail. He said we are all repeatedly being told that to delay is only going to increase cost, when all around us, counties are building jail cells for far less money. He said our silence is not going to make the land any more level; our quietness will not make the soil any better; and our consent will not make that tunnel get dug any faster. He said the cost of this project has become intolerable. He said we support our Sheriff and his staff. He