JAIL BREAKDOWN
Administration wants to put most or possibly all rescue plan money toward jail project; idea irks some county commissioners
The county executive’s administration has again altered its plans for use of a $170 million windfall from the federal government by putting most or possibly all of the money into a new jail intake center.
Some county commissioners were taken aback and not happy they have been kept in the dark about county Executive Mark Hackel’s administration expanding the scope of the jail-intake project and nixing a $77-million, threepronged plan to demolish the health department headquarters, renovate the Verkuilen Building and construct a consolidated health center in the south end, the latter of which was newly proposed only months ago.
The new plan would maintain $40 million for three Department
of Public Works projects, although the county could transfer that same amount, $40 million, from its $100 fund balance to complete the jail project, thereby putting the total jail project cost at $170 million.
The changes were met with skeptical responses from board members when Finance Director Stephen Smigiel and Sheriff Anthony Wickersham appeared before them Nov. 15 at a Board of Commissioners committee meeting.
Most of the 13 members of the county’s legislative branch said they support the jail-intake center but criticized administration officials and Wickersham for not informing them earlier, with Commissioner Don VanSyckel of Sterling Heights saying the board has been “backed into a corner.”
Most of the 13 members of the county’s legislative branch said they support the jail-intake center but criticized administration officials and (Sheriff) Wickersham for not informing them earlier, with Commissioner Don VanSyckel of Sterling Heights saying the board has been “backed into a corner.”
Commissioner Jeff Farrington of Utica responded to Wickersham informing them the new proposal has been in the works for three to four months. Farrington said the board “should at least be part of the discussion.”
“That’s how the administration and legislation (sic) should work together,” said Farrington, a former state representative.
“We’re having that discussion now,” Wickersham replied.
“I think that we’re having that discussion now, three or four months later, that’s ridiculous,” Farrington shot back.
Commissioners, in critiquing the administration’s decision to use the ARPA funds for the jail and Public Works projects without consulting them, noted the administration still must gain board approval to spend the money.
The jail, located at Groesbeck Highway and Elizabeth Road in Mount Clemens, was built piecemeal over the past 70 years. Plans for some type of new facility has been in discussion for about four years. The board was ready to place a 0.64 mill request on the 2020 primary ballot to fund a new $300-million jail, but that was abandoned when the COVID-19 lockdown hit in March 2020.
The county and the jail medical provider, Wellpath, have paid out at least $3.5 million dollars in recent years over jail deaths as outcomes of some of the many lawsuits filed by estates of inmates.
The jail houses both violent and non-violent criminals and accused criminals. A growing percentage of the inmates are accused of violent acts and held in medium- or high-security cells while awaiting trial, typically for one to two years, occasionally longer. The jail also houses people convicted of crimes that involve incarceration of one year or less. A vast majority of inmates have issues with substance abuse and/or mental illness, and the facilities were not built with those factors taken into consideration.
“What we really need to do is build a whole new jail, knock the things down. There’s a ton of problems,” Wickersham said.
But in lieu of what would cost several hundred million dollars for an entirely new jail, the county is seeking to build the intake center serving as a “footprint” for the future, the sheriff said.
“We have one shot at this, let’s get it right,” he told the board in explaining the need to increase beds at the new the facility.
The new plan for the jail is to build an intake center to more effectively process those who have been arrested, including cells for up to 320 inmates on a new third floor in need of mental, physical and/or substance abuse help. Wickersham said this project would be in line with what is happening for incarceration of inmates across the country. The original plan was for two levels with 208 beds.
The jail-intake project would involve
demolishing all of the jail facilities except for the highly visible duel tower that houses 750 to 800 inmates, with a capacity of up to 900, and is in the process of receiving $5.1 million worth of temporary upgrades. When a new tower is built in a few years, after Wickersham is no longer sheriff, there is enough property for it to remain while a new tower is built, he said.
Rising inflation for building materials and labor have contributed to an increased cost of the expanded intake center.
Commissioner Joe Sabatini of Macomb Township pointed out the $300 million jail project that was considered nearly three years ago now “would’ve been a pretty good bargain” today. Wickersham agreed.
Momentum was building leading up to spring 2020 for a 0.64 mill question to go before voters when the pandemic hit. Since then, officials have also noted a declining jail population.
Commissioners Sabatini and Antoinette Wallace of Mount Clemens said while they support the project, they oppose transferring $40 million from the general fund for it. That transfer would drop the fund balance to about $60 million, which Smigiel said is the lowest he would recommend to keep it at 20% of the $300 million general fund to help the county maintain its top bond rating.
In recent months, Commissioner Julie Matuzak of Clinton Township has voiced support for using some general-fund dollars for other projects to increase or improve county services. But Smigiel pointed out that while a $100 million fund balance “sounds like a fair amount of money, if you break it down a little bit, it really isn’t. It’s not as much as you think on its surface.”
Smigiel said with other capital projects needed, the county has to come up with another $80 million, or $16 million a year, “to do everything on the list.”
That money would be raised by issuing bonds, using the surplus and/ or reducing the cost of other projects, he added.
Several commissioners questioned the administration’s authority to decide how the American Rescue Plan Act dollars are to be used and whether the money can be spent on the jail.
Commissioner Mai Xiong of Warren went as far as to question county lawyer John Schapka’s opinion the ARPA dollars can go for the jail project.
“Frankly, I’m not convinced this project would be eligible,” Xiong said. “It seems like such a huge amount of your ARPA funds are going to the intake center. If you make the case for it, I’d be willing to consider it. It seems like it’s been a oneway conversation.”
She would prefer to see the money spent on food for the needy, affordable housing, child care and education.
Commissioner Harold Haugh of Roseville stated the jail project is a top priority.
“This needs to be done; its prioritization,” Haugh said. “We can’t solve world hunger with one-time money … with this amount of money.”
Xiong said she “would love” to be included and provide input in discussions about options for ARPA funds.
“I look forward to hearing that,” Wickersham said.
Matuzak said based on her discussions with many senior citizens groups this year, she believes a millage for an intake center would have voter support.
Board Chairman Don Brown of Washington Township suggested to Smigiel the county hire a third party to “advise and support your staff on giving everyone the clarification and assurance that everything we’re doing is right, and filing all of the reports.”
Smigiel said officials have considered and set aside funds for that but that it may not be needed.
The administration and/or Wickersham early next year will propose a plan to seek bids to complete the “schematic design” of the project.
Officials face a deadline of Dec. 31, 2024 to allocate the funds or lose them.
Farrington also criticized the cost estimates, noting the rising price of everything.
“It’s a flip of the coin on whether those numbers are accurate,” he said. “The problem I have with this is I just have zero faith in the numbers.”
The $40 million for Public Works would be spent on the Macomb Interceptor Drainage District sewer rehabilitation to reduce the possibility of any more sinkholes, and combined sewer overflow reduction projects at the Chapaton Pump Station located in St. Clair Shores, which handles the combined flow from all of Eastpointe and about 80% of St. Clair Shores, and at the Martin Drain Retention Treatment Basin, which serves the rest of St. Clair Shores and Roseville, Public Works officials said. The ARPA money will not be enough to complete the projects, but officials have secured federal and state dollars to help pay for them.
Two current commissioners — Farrington and Veronica Klinefelt of Eastpointe — will vacate their seats Jan. 1 as Klinefelt will begin serving as a state senator and Farrington lost his seat in the primary to Sylvia Grot. A third commissioner, Matuzak, resigned within days of the Nov. 15 election to occupy the Clinton Township Board of Trustees post she won in November.