BC 2006 11 20 REGULAR - Laserfiche WebLink

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November 20, 2006 (Regular Meeting) Page 169 urged the Board to complete the Annex, finish the tunnel and come up with an alternative which is much more cost effective for those future beds. Heath Ritchie of 391 Union Street S. in Concord stated he is still a big proponent of the jail - the $57 million dollar jail; the $101 million jail is a different ballgame. If the County builds a $57 million jail, he said he has every confidence that Sheriff Riley will make the most efficient use of that jail. He said Sheriff Riley is a wonderful Sheriff, we are very lucky to have him and he will make do with a jail that can handle the court requirements. He said the County does not need to overbuild and put up a 500 or 600 person jail. .Based on 500 prisoners per day, 365 days a year for 20 years, he estimated :there will be 3,650,000,000 man days in jail. By dividing the man days by $101 million, he said the cost is almost $30.00 per man day, which does not include debt service, staffing, food, utilities or anything else. He said it may be cheaper to send our people somewhere else in certain cases. He also calculated the jail will cost him $2,525.00 for his family of four and that is just for the principal. If the Board approves this financing, he said he will be stuck with a $2, 500.00 bill, which does not include interestand will double the figure. He stated the Board is biting off more than he can chew. He asked the Board to give the citizens a chance to express their feelings. He said there are 160,000 citizens in Cabarrus County and three Board members should not make this decision. Ed Hopper of 633 Union Street S. in Concord reviewed the recent history of how the jail project will be financed. He said just six months ago on May 15 of this year, Commissioner Carpenter tried to slow down the finances on this project, which was out of control. When Commissioners were asked to vote on financing up. to $90 million and Certificates of Participation, he reported it was Commissioner Carpenter's amendment that lowered that amount to $75 million and she said "voters would have to be involved in approving anything over that amount". He reported six months ago, on May 15, Commissioner Carpenter said "I cannot go with $90 million." He said some citizens pay attention to what our leaders do and what they say; your words and your actions matter. He said what the Board does tonight will affect Cabarrus County for years to come and the Board has an opportunity to take a stand for the people that they represent. He said if the $75 million was unacceptable and the $90 million was unacceptable, then $101 million is ludicrous and cannot be considered. He said it is totally out of sync with what the average taxpayer is willing and able to pay because the Murdock project in Kannapolis is going to be expensive, building schools in Cabarrus County is going to be expensive and somebody's going pay for it. He asked how much of the burden are the taxpaying citizens of Cabarrus County supposed to pay. He said certainly not $101 million plus interest. He reported the citizens do not hear answers from our leader and does not have a voice in their decisions. He asked if there is any wonder that the citizens might feel angry and left out. He stated he expects better from our elected representatives who make policy for Cabarrus County and authorize expenditures for it. Chairman Carruth announced that a Charrette will be held from 9:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 21, 2006, at the Historic Courthouse. He said the purpose of the Charrette is to provide input on what the corner of Corban Avenue and Union Street will look like. He reported a consultant will be facilitating the Charrette and urged citizensto attend. Debra Arbes of 348 Union Street S, in Concord said this project is one of those things that .have to be filed under the category "fact is stranger than fiction". She ;presented a photograph of the jobsite sign that is currently posted at the corner of Corban and Union Street. She said she would like to submit the photograph as a symbol of this project and believes the seal was probablylsupposed to be the seal for Cabarrus County instead of Mecklenburg County. $he said she does not know which firm is responsible for this error, but this sign has been posted on the corner for weeks. She said either no one noticed. or maybe the change order from the County to approve the $3.66 can of spray paint has not come through yet so someone can fix this error. She said thiserror illustrates every aspect of this project - it has all been one big mistake and she could not have done better if she had hired an artist to come up with a cartoon for this project. She asked if the Board can really look at this photograph and vote to expend another $60 million, for a total of $101 million, of taxpayers' money without some type of review of what is going on in this project. She appealed to the Board to postpone this vote and said the Board has one last chance to do the right thing. She said construction on the Annex and tunnel can continue, but the Board owes it to the taxpayers to have this project reviewed by an independent consultant because there are definitely cheaper and better options.