County leaders have finally found the "X" to mark the spot where the new county jail will go - approximately 3000 N. 100 West in Spanish Fork.
Wednesday night, the Spanish Fork City Council voted 4-1 to approve a change for 60 acres in the city from an industrial zone to a public-facilities zone. That zone change will allow Utah County to build its new Utah County Security Center, or county jail. The deal is contingent upon the county and city settling an interlocal cooperation agreement by July 1.That agreement requires the county to pay for improvements needed to bring city utility services (electricity, water and sewer) to the facility, provide or guarantee transportation to inmates released from the jail and guarantee that federal and state penitentiary inmates will not be housed there.
Councilmen Rex Woodhouse, Sheldon Gordon, Jerald Chapple and Clyde Swenson voted in favor of the change, which was necessitated after the city specially created the new public-facilities zone. The jail would have not fit the requirements of the new industrial zone. Councilman Kim Peterson voted against the change, saying he needed more information.
Utah County Sheriff Dave Bateman said he and other county officials were pleased by the action, but called it "one hurdle in a long run to be run.
"There are still a lot of issues yet to be resolved, such as the funding and meeting (the cooperative agreement)," Bateman said. "It's not quite a done deal yet."
Though the deal still hangs on final details, the county has the option to buy the 60 acres from Frank, Arlene, Robert and Janice Gull for $430,000.
Jail officials want to build a 300-bed facility that can be expanded to 600 beds within the next 20 years. It will include all sheriff's department operations, as well as a new animal control center. An emissions testing and control center would be built later. Officials selected the Spanish Fork site after being turned away by Provo officials last year.
Earlier this month, the Spanish Fork Planning Commission voted 3-2 against recommending the zone change, saying it will take precious industrial land that could be used for businesses. J. Merrill Hallam, a member of the planning commission, said a survey of 500 Spanish Fork residents indicated that many, if not most, were opposed to placing the jail in Spanish Fork.
"There is a limited number of new employees and we'll receive no property tax from the county," Hallam said. "And for that we're closing off prime industrial land."
However, Councilman Rex Woodhouse said there are no guarantees the city will find tenants for the space. "I don't think it's a big gamble," Woodhouse said.
Additionally, a city-prepared report on the impact a jail would have on the city showed it would add about $300,000 in utility and infrastructure improvements to other industrial property near the airport. The study also showed that if the property was removed from the industrial zone, the city would still have more than 1,400 acres of industrial property and another 1,500 acres of potential industrial property.
Part of that study also includes interviews with officials from other cities where jails have been built in the past decade. Officials from Cedar City, Vernal, South Salt Lake, Farmington and St. George all say their cities have not been negatively impacted by the jails. That report also concluded that a jail would not decrease property values and that security would actually improve because of increased county patrol in the area.
County officials hope to hold a bond election in May to finance a new jail, which is expected to cost about $18 million. However, county commissioners may package the bond with old bond issues into a refinancing deal.