Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Jail Replacement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Architects present 224-bed concept and $114M'$120M range for Chautauqua County jail replacement
Summary
LaBella Associates and Justice Planners presented a jail needs assessment that recommends planning around a 224-bed facility with concept cost estimates roughly $115 million to $120 million after escalation; presenters urged next steps for schematic design and updated budgets while the sheriff warned that the 1939 section may need closure soon.
Chautauqua County public safety officials and their consultants presented a jail needs assessment and concept plan that recommends planning for a 224-bed facility on the existing site and provided high-level cost estimates for an addition and renovation.
Mark Kukufka, principal in charge for LaBella Associates' municipal justice group, Dave Weller, senior project manager at LaBella, and Alan Richardson of Justice Planners summarized the study. Richardson said the team compiled jail, court and demographic data and produced baseline and alternate forecasts of average daily population (ADP). "With the data that we've gotten so far, said if nothing changes in the system in processing, this is the estimated forecast for the average daily population," Richardson said.
The consultants presented three forecasts: a base forecast and two alternates that modeled (1) bookings returning to pre-COVID levels and (2) bookings and lengths of stay returning toward pre-COVID levels. Projected bed needs under the scenarios ranged from roughly 152 to as high as 316 beds depending on assumptions and whether federal inmates are housed locally; the team said a 224-bed option without federal inmates was the consensus planning target. LaBella's gross-square-foot estimate for an all-new facility was about 114,000'115,000 square feet; the consultants said a design that salvages usable portions of the existing complex while removing the 1939 section would be used as the road map for concept design.
On cost, the consultants provided a concept budget range. Using 2024 pricing the 224-bed addition and renovation was estimated at $103'$108 million; projecting escalation into mid-2025 pushed the concept estimate to roughly $114'$120 million. "When we were looking at it...the concept budget was between $103 and $108 million," Weller said. "Extrapolating out to 2025...that is now projected up to $114'$120 million."
Sheriff's office speakers emphasized operational risk if the 1939 section is taken out of service. The sheriff said parts of the older section are deteriorating, that staff maintain variances with inspections, and that closure could force boarding out inmates to other counties with increased cost and safety impacts. "If we are forced at some point to close it down, the construction costs and the other costs will likely go up," the sheriff said, and added the county faces a time horizon to act.
The consultants outlined next steps if the legislature pursues the project: refine the program to 5,000-foot or lower-detail level, develop a schematic design and traffic/parking plan, and produce updated budgets and schedules. They estimated roughly 12 months of design followed by about two years of construction, with a total delivery timeframe roughly three to three-and-a-half years from project start to closeout. The committee reserved time for questions and indicated the presentation would be shared with the full legislature for further consideration.
