Sheriff Joe Pollock steps down from jail board

Pollock had served on the Burnet County Public Facility Corp. since it was formed last January.  

Sheriff-elect W. T. Smith was nominated to replace him during the Friday meeting of the PFC, chartered by the state to oversee construction of the facility near the Ellen Halbert Prison Unit for Women.

Precinct 1 Commissioner Bill Neve applauded the nomination. 

“I think it is the proper thing to do,” said Neve, the PFC president. 

County Judge Donna Klaeger, County Treasurer Betty Trapp and County Subdivision Coordinator George Russell also serve on the five-member board. 

“Since I am leaving office as sheriff of Burnet County on Jan. 1, 2009, it is in the best interest of the county to replace me as a member of the Public Facility Corp. prior to that date,” Pollock told the board in his resignation latter. 

“This will allow the new appointment you make to have a transition period and be well informed in the major issues prior to the completion of the new jail facility after the first of year,” Pollock said. “I wish the very best for Burnet County and the new jail facility.” 

Smith defeated Pollock for nomination as sheriff during the Republican primary last spring. With no other opponent to contest the sheriff’s race in the general election next month, Smith is the presumed winner to succeed Pollock. 

Neve saluted Pollock for his contributions toward building the new jail. 

“The sheriff did a lot of work on it,” Neve said. “It was his idea. We appreciate what he brought to this project.” 

Klaeger nominated Smith to replace Pollock, and the board unanimously accepted the nomination. 

The Commissioners Court likely will consider the Smith nomination Oct. 14, Neve said. 

Also during the meeting, the board learned the company under contract to manage the new jail met 17 guards at the present county jail last week to discuss their prospects for employment at the new facility. 

“They (the jailers) are the first people we will be talking to,” said Tim Kurpiewski, the Southwestern Correctional LLC director of business operations. 

Southwestern will manage the new jail after final inspection by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards set for March, officials have said. 

In addition to jailers, more than 100 other employees will be needed at the new jail for administrative, food service, medical, maintenance and other positions, Kurpiewski said.

There is “a real possibility” Southwestern will begin accepting personnel for the new facility after Jan. 1, Kurpiewski added. 

Southwestern plans to hold a job fair for new jail applicants “sometime this month,” Kurpiewski said.

The Texas Workforce Center near Burnet City Hall is the best local source of information for jail applications and the job fair, Kurpiewski added. 

Turning to other matters, the board received an update on the progress of construction at the new jail site from Hale Mills Construction, the main building contractor for the project,which is financed by private revenue bonds totaling more than $23 million. 

“Construction is going very smoothly,” Hale Mills manager Sean Butler told the board. 

Building crews at jail site plan to continue filling blocks and installing pipes for chiller units and several other jobs this month, Butler said. 

Construction of the new jail is about 53 percent complete, Butler added. 

“It looks good,” Neve told Butler. “As usual, you are doing a good job.”

Butler pointed out Hale Mills has so far paid local subcontractors more than $1.6 million for their work on the new jail. 

Before the meeting ended, the board approved an invoice from Hale Mills to Southwestern for more than $1.6 million for work completed by the construction company during September. 

As trustee of the project, the U.S. National Bank Association in Denver will pay Hale Mills from proceeds of the revenue bonds, officials said. 

More than $11.9 million is available to complete the jail project, according to the notarized application and certificate for payment submitted by Southwestern officials. 

The next PFC meeting set for 10 p.m. Oct. 31 in the Courthouse on the Square. 

raymond@thepicayune.com