Dempster site as a location for a new jail, sheriff's office?
City Councilman says, "It's not a viable site"
BEATRICE – Heading into two open house events on detention facilities, one already mentioned site location is the former Dempster Manufacturing facility property.
However, Beatrice City Councilman Ted Fairbanks says that comes with a high price tag for preparing the site.
"If you wanted to build a jail there...you have to dig down fifteen feet...fill that back up with fill dirt and the cap....you're probably in rough numbers, and in a conservative estimate...you're going to have $18 million in the site, before you built anything on it."
Fairbanks, who chairs a special committee of the city dealing with the Dempster issue…said the multi-year clean-up project would require digging out underground concrete railcar loading and company cafeteria facilities. The Dempster property totals 17.3 acres…the main building along the highway making up about 8.5 acres of the total.
"The estimated cost just to remove the buildings you see on the street...is about $3.98 million. But, to level the other buildings, you're probably talking about an additional million and a half to two million dollars.....rough numbers, six to seven million dollars to clear the structures from the site. That's not dig up the foundations, or take away the roads or the sidewalks in 'em."
Fairbanks spoke before Gage County Supervisors Wednesday morning in advance of two townhall sessions…….Wednesday and Friday nights at seven p.m., at the Beatrice High School Hevelone Center.
The sessions are simply to obtain public input and will cover the same topics and issues. Supervisor Emily Haxby says that means members of the public would only have to attend one session, or the other.
Gage County Law Enforcement Committee Chairman Gary Lytle says there is not a pre-determined site for a new jail and sheriff’s office.
"There's not a site that's been picked, yet. That's part of the process is, with the townhall meetings. There's been some discussions about different options, but nothing, there's been no sites that have been picked out or said, here's our five or seven sites, or whatever. Part of the process is figuring out what the community wants...what we're looking at....and then putting a dollar amount on."
County officials are trying to determine the potential for a bond issue this November, for detention and sheriff’s space that would replace facilities built in the 1970s.
The long-term goal of the City of Beatrice is to demolish the Dempster-site buildings and transform the site into green space for park usage. The city has a pending EPA Brownfields Grant program application, seeking about $4 million to aid in the clean-up project.