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TOWN HALL MEETING
Fleming last week submitted an item to be placed on the agenda for commissioner's court - to better outline the format of what the court is calling town hall meetings - but it was left off the agenda. "I want people to be able to ask us question and have them answered during the meeting," Fleming said. "This is not the way town-hall meetings are conducted, in my experience." County Judge Joel Baker said the item was left off due to a "clerical error." But as it stands now - with an unchanged for- mat - Bullard will play host to the next meeting on the jail project beginning at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 18 at Bullard City Hall. "It is most disappointing this item important to the public 's understanding of the $125 million bond package was removed from public discussion, " Fleming said. But anyone attending the meeting may, according to Baker, submit questions in writing or ask them one on one after the slide and video presentation made by F Jeff Bradley of HDR Architecture. In the meeting held in Whitehouse last week, those in attendance were asked to vote on their favorite rendering with Post-It notes provided by the court. Bradley took the audience through the phases planned out to complete the Smith County Justice Complex, which, at this time, would include a jail tower, a low-risk facility and a law enforcement building. The plan allows for using several pieces of property already owned by the county, but it now includes the Region's Bank building - which, initially Baker denied would be considered. During Bradley's description of the proposed 1,104-bed jail, Smith County Auditor Ann Wilson explained the cost of operating this facility. With a larger jail, she said, the county would be able to house its own inmates and take on those of other counties. She estimated a net profit of $250,000 per year. Bradley said there is urgency to the issue. "Not only is the county paying out an average of $41 per day for each inmate housed in other counties, but the cost of construction rises $8 to $12 million for each year the county waits to build," she said. But Fleming maintains the project - which ballooned to the current now-$125 million project isn't necessarily sound. She was the lone vote against the final proposal. "This is the people's business, " Fleming said. "The least important people in the equation are the elected officials, yet they are the only ones who seem to have a voice. "We need to take the time to hear what they have to say and answer their questions publicly." Fleming is also concerned about the many incarnations of the plan. "The project has changed from week to week - changing the parking deck, etc. Instead of lowering cost of project, now we have courtrooms adding to project," she said. "That's a departure from the original mission." Fleming said the overall jail plan is deviating further and further from the master plan devised by consultants Carter Goble Lee Inc. "The master plan clearly emphasizes the value of a consolidated, integrated criminal justice system," she said. "It is most efficient to have courts together with their support services - district clerk, county clerk, DA, SO - rather than separated. "This is a conservative community and by the time officials hang a price tag on a project and call a bond election, the community wants to know exactly what they are being asked to pay for," Fleming said. Voting on the proposed jail bond package is set for Nov. 6 with early voting beginning on Oct. 22. Town Hall Meeting Anyone interested in hearing about the proposed Smith County Justice Center may do so at a special meeting set for 6 p.m. Oct. 18 at Bullard City Hall. |
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