Sheriff Austin Garrett
The county is facing increased costs for completion of major renovations at the Silverdale Detention Center.
The County Commission will vote next Wednesday on extending the design contract with Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK) to include redesign of the IDF Room and additional construction administration services. The cost is $242,712.
Another resolution is for $848,521 to increase and extend the contract with KTM Builders.
Commissioners were told that part of the issue should not fall on the county and that HOK should have had a representative at the meeting to discuss that matter.
Ron Bernard, chief of staff for Sheriff Austin Garrett, said the contract would be extended through May.
He said part of the work upgrades all the cameras. Sheriff Garrett said when the sheriff's office took over the facility from the private Core Civic that 40 percent of the cameras and locks did not work. He said Silverdale was originally designed for a workhouse and not for maximum security.
There will be 450 state of the art cameras installed.
The sheriff said it will eventually be necessary to close a couple of the older buildings at Silverdale and add more new space.