New Burnet County jail moves closer to completion
Work continues on the new Burnet County Jail near the Ellen Halbert Unit for Women. Officials believe the facility will open in April.
BURNET — The first day of spring could mark another first — the day the county starts moving into the new public-private jail.
“We expect to move in April 1,” Precinct 1 Commissioner Bill Neve told The Daily Tribune Monday. “We haven’t run into any problems.”
Neve is president of the five-member Burnet County Public Facility Corp. board chartered by the state to oversee construction of the new 587-bed detention facility near the Ellen Halbert Unit for Women.
Also on the board are County Judge Donna Klaeger, Sheriff-elect W.T. Smith, County Treasurer Betty Trapp and County Subdivision Coordinator George Russell.
About 70 percent of the $23 million project is complete, according to contractors for Hale Mills Construction, who began building the jail near the Ellen Halbert Unit for Women earlier this year.
The project is supported by private revenue bonds sold to private investors and will be managed by the private firm Southwestern LLC and supervised by county officials upon completion, officials have said.
During the PFC meeting last week at the County Courthouse, the board approved payment of more than $4.1 million to Hale Mills for work at the jail through last month, including air conditioning, doors, masonry, waterproofing and walls.
As the project trustee, the U.S. National Bank Association in Denver will make the payment to Hale Mills, according to officials.
Plans are under way to continue work on sprinkler systems, roofing, plumbing, painting, electronic security wiring, fire alarms, metal framing and several other tasks at the construction site this month, officials have said.
Also during the meeting, the PFC authorized the trustee to transfer more than $21 million of construction, reserve and bond funds for the jail project from a money market fund earning .02 percent interest to the government-backed, Triple-A rated First American Government Obligations Fund, currently earning about 1.3 percent.
“We did it to get a little bit of a higher interest rate,” Neve said. “It’s very secure.”
Local contractors have been paid more than $1.7 million for their work at the jail to date, officials have said.
raymond@thepicayune.com
Courtesy photo