{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"KZYX News","title":"Cost overruns, delays on new jail project climb","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":390,"description":"Cost overruns and delays at the new jail county continue, with exasperation on all sides at inaccurate estimates, delays at the state level, a continuing lack of financial information, and fears that the county will be unable to meet its obligations. \r\n\r\nThe new estimated date to complete construction, which has not yet begun, is May 2025, rather than March 2024, which was the originally anticipated milestone. The new cost estimate is more than ten million dollars higher than the original, with an estimated funding shortfall of $1.4 million. \r\n\r\nSupervisor Dan Gjerde expressed frustration over the estimates provided by contractor Nacht and Lewis, the architecture firm that’s been working on the design phase of the project. \r\n\r\n“We may be about one year behind schedule at this point, but now the costs are estimated by Nacht and Lewis as being 42% higher than originally estimated,” he calculated. “I don’t know if Nacht and Lewis has any insurance policy or anything. To what extent do they validate, when they’re hired by customers, that they are providing agencies with a good estimate when agencies submit a grant application, because for example, had we known when we applied that the costs were going to be substantially higher, we could have asked for a grant form the state for more than $25 million. We asked for $25 million because Nacht and Lewis said the project would cost $26 million, and it required a minimal county match. At this point, the county match has ballooned from one million to I think it’s about $12 million at this point or more. So I really wonder about the ethical practices of Nacht and Lewis, if they are that far off the mark…and just finally, ultimately, I feel like the county needs to make a full court press to go back to the state and say, hey, this is your program. You’re realigning people from state prisons into county jails. It’s in the best interests of the public that we do that, but it’s not bearable for a small rural poor county like...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/xZpAumwbhFUpJUYcwaQ1-q6snzOyqAm13l7cW6AWPCM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mMzkz/NjAwNjc2OWMyZmFk/YWY2YTdmYjI5M2Mz/YWMxNy5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}