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Tour of new jail site draws approval from county officials

BURNET — About 87 percent of the $23 million Burnet County Jail project is complete, contractors told county officials during an oversight meeting Thursday.

Contractors for Hale-Mills Construction, who began building the jail near the state-owned Ellen Halbert Prison Unit for Women earlier this year, said the private-public, 587-bed facility could be finished by February. 

The Burnet Public Facility Corp. board toured the jail site and found no problems with ongoing construction. 

“It’s going good,” Precinct 1 Commissioner Bill Neve said. “I’m looking forward to it.” 

Neve is president of the five-member board, chartered by the state to oversee construction of the new facility. 

Also on the board are County Judge Donna Klaeger, Sheriff-elect W.T. Smith, County Treasurer Betty Trapp and County Subdivision Coordinator George Russell. 

The project is supported by private revenue bonds sold to private investors and will be managed by Southwestern LLC and supervised by county officials when the jail opens, the board has said. 

Officials said the jail will also save taxpayers money because prisoners won’t have to be transferred out of the county to other jails, which is what happens when the current 98-bed jail fills up. Extra fees have to be paid when prisoners are moved out of the county.

After finishing their walk-through at the jail construction site, the PFC members met in the Burnet County Courthouse to hear updates from Southwestern and review progress reports submitted by Hale-Mills representatives. 

The jail is “definitely on target” to finish construction perhaps by the end of February and be ready to admit inmates by April 1, Tim Kurpiewski said. 

“If we get any inclination we can move a little faster, we will do that,” added Kurpiewski, the Southwestern director of business operations. 

During recent job fairs in Burnet at Texas Workforce Solutions, about 250 people have filed for 115 positions at the new detention facility, “and the applications are continuing to stream in,” Kurpiewski told the board. 

Southwestern plans to hire wardens, captains and sergeants next month, Kurpiewski said, adding the firm will employ administrative, maintenance, food-service personnel and other correctional officers by March. 

Also, Southwestern is reviewing bids for inmate phone services, Kurpiewski said. 

Non-detention door installation, bolting furniture to the floors, installing security cameras and more roofing and fence work will begin this month, according to Hale-Mills records. 

Before the meeting ended, the PFC approved paying more than $3.8 million to Hale-Mills for work at the jail through last month, including more than $1.5 million to local subcontractors. 

Work finished last month includes steel erection and installation of detention doors and several other jobs. 

As the project trustee, the U.S. National Bank Association in Denver will make the $3.8 million payment to Hale-Mills, according to officials.

raymond@thepicayune.com