Jail could open by late October

By ROGER AMSDEN, LACONIA DAILY SUN

LACONIA — Work on the second phase of the $8 million Belknap County Corrections Center project is slated to start next week, with completion expected by the end of October.

Belknap County Commission Chairman Dave DeVoy (R-Sanbornton) said that three corrections officers have been hired and will start work on Aug. 14, which will allow the transfer of women prisoners from the current jail's gymnasium to the new 18,100-square-foot, 72-bed corrections center.

Two weeks ago, commissioners authorized Belknap County Corrections Superintendent Keith Gray to hire four new officers, even though the delegation has yet to approve a supplemental appropriation which has been requested by the commissioners for that purpose.

DeVoy said work on the final phase of the project has been delayed by the delegation's lack of action on the request. He said the corrections center has had an occupancy permit since late June and commissioners made the decision to go ahead with hiring the officers in part because the the drop-dead deadline for starting work on the jail portion of the project was Aug. 15.

Commissioners have maintained that the budget approved by the delegation lacked sufficient funds to hire the new officers and asked the delegation to approve a $136,500 supplemental appropriation for the new officers.

The delegation considered the request at its May 22 meeting and it failed on a 7-7 tie vote after Delegation Chairman Herb Vadney (R-Meredith) ruled that Delegation Vice Chairman Ray Howard (R-Alton) could not abstain on the vote. Howard then voted against the appropriation, creating the tie vote.

Members of the delegation who voted against the request maintain that the $27.447 million budget approved by the delegation is up substantially over what it was in recent years and maintain that there were sufficient funds in the budget to hire the new officers.

DeVoy says that the commissioners will reduce their request for the corrections officers when the delegation meets on Aug. 8 to hold a public hearing and vote on three supplemental appropriation requests.

Commissioners will also reduce their request for a $93,000 supplemental appropriation for the Belknap County Sheriff's Department. DeVoy said that the commissioners received a letter from Belknap County Sheriff Mike Moyer in which Moyer projects that $26,000 will enable his department to make it through the year without exceeding the budget approved by the delegation.

The delegation will also be considering for the first time a request for a $135,000 supplemental appropriation to make up for an increase in the $6.2 million health and human services budget line that pays for private nursing home care for county residents.

DeVoy says that he is still hoping that the corrections center project will come in about $600,000 under budget and that he will be able to convince the delegation to repurpose the surplus bond funds to use them to replace the roof of the Belknap County Nursing Home.

“That's a high priority project for the county. We can't work on the roof if it snows and I'm hoping that we can do the work before winter weather arrives,” said DeVoy.