Meeting Information
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2016
4:00 p.m.
CONSENT AGENDA
(1) (a) Consider approval of Commission Orders;
(b) Consider approval of addendum to the jail expansion contract with Treanor Architects (Craig Weinaug); and
(c) Consider approval of Third Amendment to East Hills Business Park Protective Covenants and Restrictions (Craig Weinaug/Adam Handshy)
REGULAR AGENDA
(2) Consider approval of air conditioning for LPD computer room (David Sparkes)
(3) (a) Consider approval of Accounts Payable (if necessary)
(b) Appointments
-Board of Construction Codes Appeals (1) position 12/15
-Community Corrections Board (2) positions 01/16 and 05/16
(c) Public Comment
(d) Miscellaneous
(4) Adjourn
June 29, 2016
Flory called the regular meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 29, 2016 with all members present.
CONSENT AGENDA 06-29-16
Flory moved approval of the following Consent Agenda:
► Commission Order No. 16-023 (on file in the office the Count Clerk); and
► Approval of Third Amendment to East Hills Business Park Protective Covenants and Restrictions.
Motion was seconded by Gaughan and carried 3-0.
Pulled from the agenda:
ADMINISTRATION/JAIL EXPANSION 06-29-16
The County Commissioners considered approval of an addendum to the jail expansion contract with Treanor Architects.
The addendum is an addition to a jail expansion contract with Treanor Architects that has been before the Commission previously. The addendum work will provide a cost estimate for design alternatives for the crisis center.
Gaughan stated the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) heard a report on growth population in the jail system with key drivers being more serious offenses. Gaughan said the report was meaty, detailed and hard to work with. The Council has had a lot of good conversations at the last several meetings. Flory added that is what the Board hoped for when the CJCC was created.
Flory opened the item for public comment.
Barbara Sable, 500 Florida, asked what resources did the County approve for the addendum, what is the cost and was it part of the original bid process. She commented that she has attended the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) meetings, and she feels that approval of the addendum is premature.
Craig Weinaug, County Administrator, stated the dollar amount is in two phases: $296,000 plus $222,000 and are consistent with what was originally negotiated on the contract two years ago. This is normal for a project this size to have multiple phases. The addendum does not cover preparing for a bid process of which the County does not plan to enter into that phase unless voters approve whatever project we propose. Weinaug said what this does is take us to a level of determining a cost when we know the number of beds needed. This was part of the negotiated contract.
Matt Conklin, advocate for Kansas Appleseed, asked why the County Commission needs to approve this now when the CJCC is still trying to collect information. If the Council is looking at alternatives for incarceration, why you are we looking at adding to the jail?
Gaughan said what is important to know is that the changes in the jail are not exclusively driven by the number of people in the population. It is also the type of people we are seeing. That has changed over the past 20 years. There are more people with mental illness and more women. There are two other pieces to the project: 1) how to manage the population to make sure they are getting the best situation for them while they are in the facility and when they leave; and we have a classification pod that will help staff evaluate people on entry and then put them in the right placement; and 2) expanding the work release to step down into the community. We have a good program we are under utilizing because we have to outsource to other communities. The needs in the female portion of the facility include adding additional pods. Currently all women are co-housed together mixing different levels of women, which is unsafe and inappropriate for the women in that pod. This is a particular problem for those with mental health and special needs that have to be there. We want to get them to a better environment than what is currently there. Meanwhile, the CJCC is looking at alternative diversions from to jail. With the addition of a crisis center and a mental health court, we think the number of people that can be reduced will be significant. The facility needs will still remain even if the council meets its goal. Gaughan said he is on board with the council. There are things he thinks we do well in this community and there are things we can do better. We owe the same level of care to the people that have to be in the facility as those we don’t want to have put in the facility.
Flory said we have come to the conclusion that changes will need to be made at our existing facility to accommodate certain populations. We know something is needed and we asked the CJCC to help determine alternatives to incarceration we can utilize. There will still need to be changes, revisions and remodeling of the facility. The County Commission has decided to go forth with the planning process. That will not in any way make short shrift
of what the council decides and makes recommendations to the Board. Flory said the Board will fully consider everything they have. This is a step we need to take to go forward and he does not feel it is premature at this point. We arenot making a commitment to a particular design. We are getting additional information so we can appropriately apprise the voters at the time we ask for their consideration.
Thellman said she was part of the process in taking the new public works facility from an idea to a finished final facility. There are so many steps along the way. The architects are there from a purely theoretical idea to knowing where an electrical socket is going to be in a particular room. We don’t know exactly what the building is we are going to need in terms of size and configuration. We need to have a good sense of cost in some detail that can be changed. Right now we are working with theoretical numbers and speculation though it’s pretty good speculation. Thellman said this is the next step we need to take in getting more factual information. It doesn’t mean it’s the final information. Thellman added this is how these processes go.
Conklin stated according the newspaper, misdemeanors are affecting population growth. He suggested that targeting alternatives for misdemeanors would free up space in the jail.
Gaughan responded the two components that drive the average daily population in the jails are the number of people and the length of time they stay. With more serious offenses on the rise, people are there longer. That is what pushes us over our capacity and into other communities.
Bill Simons, mental health consumer, stated concerns that the architect will have to create a different plan based upon the recommendations of the CJCC and that will cost more in the future. Gaughan said he does not believe so. The addendum is for a certain phase of the project not a specific timeline. We want the design because it takes a long time and there is base line work that needs to be done whether there are 10 beds in a pod for 40. Adding to the footprint will have a significant cost but adding additional beds is not a significant cost.
Simons said he does not like the idea of building a brand new jail. And he doesn’t feel it’s the responsibility of Douglas County to offer a mental health pod. He feels the state should offer a state hospital that works or a mental health unit at the hospital.
Flory responded we are not building a new jail. We are looking at expansion and remodeling of the existing jail. The architect is looking at how best to utilize our existing space and meet the needs of the sheriff and classification within the existing space. We need the space so we can get the people that are all over in different counties back into our facilities so they can take advantage of the programs we have to offer.
Jeff Lowe, Douglas County resident, asked if Douglas County sends some of its jail residents to other counties and do other counties send their residents to Douglas County.
Flory responded, yes we do have to send some of our jail population to other counties. We are not looking to add residents from other counties. Our goal is to try to get our population back into our facility so that they will be close to their attorneys here, to the courts here, and to the various programs we have that other counties may not have; such as reentry and work release programs. We are working parallel to reduce the people that we have in our populations and into alternative programs. Flory went on to explain the differences between the mental health POD, the crisis center and the mental health court. Flory then suggested anyone interested in hearing more about this should follow the CJCC agendas and come to the meetings to hear the upcoming discussions. The next meeting is July 19 in the County Commission meeting.
Ben MacConnell, Justice Matters, asked for a description of the $500,000 piece of the contract we are discussing. Weinaug responded it’s a portion of Phase 4 and Phase 5 for Schematic Design and Design Development Phases and the fee is based on the same percentages as the original contract with a preliminary $20M estimate for the project. The part we are approving does not prepare documents for bidding. That won’t happen unless the project is approved by voters.
Flory moved to approve the addendum to the jail expansion contract with Treanor Architects for Phase V: Schematic Design Phase, $296,000.00; and Design Development Phase, $222,000.00. Motion was seconded by Gaughan and carried 3-0.
MAINTENANCE 06-29-16
The Board considered the approval of an air conditioning unit for the Lawrence Police Department computer room. David Sparkes, Director of Maintenance, stated the air conditioning unit in the LPC computer room has been rising in temperature since last August. It was determined the current system is not large enough to accommodate the heat load produced by the computer equipment.
Sparkes asked the Board waive the bidding process to purchase an air unit designed for computer rooms from Liebert Corporation Inc. dba Innovative Technology Solution LLC. Electrical work will be done through Jayhawk Power System, and roofing work through Garland Roofing. Douglas County Maintenance Department will supply installation of the equipment. The total cost of equipment and replacement is $28,613.00
Flory opened the item for public comment. No comment was received.
Flory moved to waive the formal bidding process to enter inter contracts with Liebert Corporation, Jayhawk Power System and Garland Roofing and approve a not-to-exceed cost of $28,613 for the replacement of an air conditioning unit for the LPD computer room. Motion was seconded by Thellman and carried 3-0.
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE 06-29-16
Flory moved to approve accounts payable in the amounts of $480,521.30
to be paid on 06/30/16. Motion was seconded by Thellman carried 3-0.
APPOINTMENT 06-29-16
Gaughan moved to appoint Charles Epp as an expert on intersection of race and criminal justice to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. Motion was seconded Flory and carried 3-0.
APPOINTMENT 06-29-16
Thellman moved to appoint Cathy Dwigans to the Heritage Conservation Council filling the unexpired term of Mike Thomas. Motion was seconded Flory and carried 3-0.
MISCELLANEOUS 06-29-16
The County Commission setup a work session for the following:
-4:00 p.m., July 6, 2016 – Work Session on Mental Health Court
-4:00 p.m., July 20, 2016 – Work Session on Crisis Intervention Center
Flory moved to adjourn the meeting. Motion was seconded by Gaughan and carried 3-0.
____________________________ ____________________________
James E. Flory, Chair Mike Gaughan, Vice-Chair
ATTEST:
___________________________ _____________________________
Jamie Shew, County Clerk Nancy Thellman, Member
Time and Date