The Allen County Residents Against the Jail (ACRAJ) sent a letter to the Allen County Council urging it to hold off on funding building the new jail and instead consider an alternative proposal.
The letter, which council members said they received on Wednesday, called for finishing the fourth, fifth and sixth floors which were part of a previous expansion project and building a health care annex at the same time as construction on those floors goes on.
“We are asking that you consider all alternatives before you approve $350 to $500 million and saddle us with this debt,” ACRAJ said in the letter.
ACRAJ also said later in the letter “this plan is from the community who are not experts,” and that a separate group of experts would have to go over the plan for two months to determine its viability.
U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty, who is overseeing the case against the county government, said he wanted the Allen County Council to take action before Nov. 1 or the court would be forced to.
County Council members like Third District Paul Lagemann (R), who said he’s not gotten a chance to look too deeply into the proposal yet, said now is not the time to explore alternatives to building the new jail.
“We’re looking down the proverbial barrel of the judge’s gun to make sure we get this done,” Lagemann said.
Council President Tom Harris, (R-2nd) agreed.
“The federal judge has made it very clear that he will not want to come back to this community without a resolution, and if he does, he indicated during the hearing, it will not be pleasant for Allen County,” Harris said.
Harris said the Allen County Council will likely vote on funding for building the new jail late next week.
