New Somerset jail on time, under budget

SKOWHEGAN – The $50 million county jail project is running ahead of schedule and more than $2 million under budget, according to the chairman of the Somerset County commissioners.

“We are on schedule for an October turn-over date,” Phil Roy said Thursday. “The Sheriff’s Department area is getting sheetrocked today and the floor tile will be installed over the next 10 days.”

Meanwhile, the roller coaster that the county has been on since the jail project began appears to be smoothing out. No sooner had work started on the new facility last fall than Gov. John Baldacci announced a consolidation plan for all county and state jails.

The original plan did not call for relieving any of the debt for counties that owe money on their jails. That plan would have left Somerset County taxpayers owing $50 million for the new jail with no opportunity to rent out beds for increased revenue.

“That would have bankrupted Somerset County,” Roy said.

But the Maine County Commissioners Association has been working behind closed doors to create a joint agreement with the state that counties could live with.

“It appears that the governor has adopted our plan and is tweaking it,” Roy said. “The negotiating team is working out the fine details.”

Roy said the new agreement would save the county $4.5 million to $4.8 million a year because the state would pay the yearly debt service on the jail.

“They would also pay us to operate the new facility,” Roy said. “They would cap our operating costs at 70 inmates.”

Roy said the commissioners now are preparing a one-year budget based on 70 inmates.

“Under the state’s plan, it would pay the county for any increased operating costs, which could be anything from food to additional guards,” he said.

In return, the county would house other county and state inmates at no additional charge to the state.

But some concerns remain, Roy said.

“Nothing binds the state to this agreement year after year. And, as we know, the state does not have a good track record for managing its own funds. I’m very concerned about this,” he said.

Roy said he is a member of the county commissioners’ association negotiating team that is working out the details of the agreement.

Meanwhile, progress at the new jail site is amazing, he said.

“I visit the site three times a week and walk through the project twice,” he said. “Sheridan Corporation is doing a great job and they would probably tell you I’m the devil. There are not a lot of changes that I approve. I go through everything with a fine-toothed comb, whether it is a $10 or $10,000 expense.”