Top three sites considered for vote by commissioners with PR campaign to follow
By RYAN LANCASTER
Staff Reporter
Spokane County commissioners are analyzing the top three possible county jail sites, two on the West Plains, before deciding which they'll ask voters to approve as a replacement for the Geiger Corrections Center.
Commissioners last week set a final public hearing date on the project for May 12, after which public comments will be accepted for a few more weeks before a final site is chosen in late May or early June from the initial list of 10 locations.
Commissioners also set a public hearing for May 4 to hear comments regarding the allocation of $62,000 to hire a public relations firm for the project. Gallatin Public Affairs will subcontract Spokane-based Tobby Hatley and Associates for a six-month public education push beginning in mid-May.
“It's not a political campaign, we won't be asking for public input or support, it's purely for public information,” Hatley said, adding that another entity will mount an official political campaign starting in November and running until Election Day next April.
Meanwhile, county officials are examining the pros and cons of each remaining site.
Site number seven, the existing courthouse campus in downtown Spokane, offers the most expensive option at $265.7 million and brings opposition from many in the downtown business community. But consultants have twice named the location as the best choice and say it would cost less to operate than the alternatives, adding $1.9 million a year to what it now costs to run Geiger as opposed to an additional $3.3 million for a remote location. In 2008 commissioners voted in favor of the courthouse site but later determined costs were too high and started over on the essential public facilities siting process.
Site number six, a 40-plus acre portion of an active gravel pit mine at Sprague and Russell roads in Airway Heights, would cost $226.8 million in total project expenses and is ranked second in the siting process. Airway Heights Correction Center is across the street, which could mean some coordination of services, but the location also carries the baggage of being near residential neighborhoods and adjacent to the Spokane County Raceway Park.
“It's not smart to put a bunch of money into the raceway park and then build a jail next to it,” Airway Heights Mayor Patrick Rushing said. “It will hamper our involvement with a park with a jail next door.”
While he'd prefer the jail be built away from the West Plains entirely, Rushing sees the third site possibility, site number five at the Medical Lake interchange on Interstate 90, as the best remaining choice. “It's not within city limits, it's one of the more commonly accessible sites and has easy freeway access,” he said. “It's the smartest avenue to go.”
In agreement is Mike Lee, who represents the interests of Sam Lee LLC, a family corporation overseeing the 560 acres of undeveloped farmland that contains site five. A prison built on that site is estimated to cost $229 million and has been ranked last on the final list, due in part to a greater need for roadway and infrastructure improvements there. Lee, however, said it's the only location that makes sense from a political standpoint.
“You're getting negative feedback everywhere else,” he said. “I'm the only one saying, ‘hey, how about me?' This site has the best overall perspective.”
The property is buffered from the public, provides additional acreage for future expansion needs and is located just three miles from the existing Geiger site, meaning fewer disruptions to employees and existing services, Lee said.
Of the three remaining sites, Lee's site has had the least amount of public input, negative or otherwise, according to jail expansion project manager Lt. Mike Sparber. Sparber said commissioners are still weighing the top sites equally in advance of a final decision.
Ryan Lancaster can be reached at ryan@cheneyfreepress.com.
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