Plans for LEC sally port scrapped


These are drawings of what a new sally port extension to the Humboldt County Law Enforcement Center would look like. Prisoners are currently ushered into the jail in the open air. The city and county is exposed to some additional liability by not having a secure, enclosed location for vehicles to drive into and unload. The addition was planned to be about 900 square feet. It now looks like the addition will not happen due to cost concerns. Graphic rendering courtesy of ISG.

Plans for a sally port, an enclosed garage area, for the loading and off loading of prisoners at the Humboldt County Law Enforcement Center in downtown Humboldt have been scrapped because of costs. The issue was discussed and tabled at Monday's Humboldt County Board of Supervisors meeting. Then Tuesday, the Humboldt County Public Safety Commission, which is comprised of two supervisors and two city representatives, decided the structure would be cost-prohibitive.
The county and city have been talking about the project for the better part of a year, discussing options and what is needed or not needed in the structure. The Public Safety Commission hired ISG, the city's civil engineering firm, for design and engineering services for a cost of $46,900. Nick Frederiksen, group leader with ISG, told the supervisors about the plans.
“It is a drive through CMU (concrete masonry unit) adjacent to the building on Fifth Street. It will have high-speed garage doors for incoming and outgoing. For safety purposes everything is card read so (staff) have to card in and card out so it can’t be controlled with a door opener,” Frederiksen said.
“This is something we have talked about since last November and explored multiple, multiple different options and this is the plan we settled on due to the fact of the codes which are pretty extensive that you have to follow,” District 3 Supervisor Rick Pedersen said. Pedersen sits on the Public Safety Commission.
Frederiksen said the estimated cost would be $550,000 to $600,000. Two bids were received. When the bids were opened, they were higher than the projected amounts. Sande Construction of Humboldt had a bid of $659,197. Jensen Builders of Fort Dodge had a base bid of $892,300.
Read more about this story and other government news in the Humboldt Independent, your trusted source for local news and sports.

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