Fayette County commission to take on prison issue
Fayette County commissioners remain entrenched in the 2016 budget, but have indicated the next issue to be addressed will be prison overcrowding.
Commission Chairman Vincent Vicites announced his intention to begin focusing on the matter during last week’s agenda-setting meeting.
“I’m going to start reviewing (the issue) to bring myself up to speed,” he said, indicating that further studies were not needed. “I will utilize existing information and anything that I am able to ascertain I will share with my fellow commissioners and other people.”
While the prison issue was at the forefront of the past administration’s agenda and two separate firms hired to provide solutions for the overcrowding and inadequate operation system, neither plan was implemented.
Shortly after taking office in 2012, former Commissioners Al Ambrosini and Vince Zapotosky embarked on a plan that would result in a new prison being built.
The initial plan – designed by Crabtree Rohrbaugh and Associates of Mechanicsburg, and RW Sleighter Engineers of Lemon Furnace – included a new 115,000 square-foot, 480-bed correctional facility, courtrooms, counseling and family visitation areas and other amenities.
However, the estimated $32 million plan evoked controversy between supporters and opponents.
The supporters, including the county prison board, prison administration and the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), among others, hailed the Crabtree design as the solution to the problems plaguing the prison and court system.
Opponents claimed it was too costly and that the process failed to include public participation.
As bidding for construction costs were being readied, a lawsuit was filed claiming that the zoning board erred in its decision-making that would allow a new prison to be built in Dunbar Township.
The project was later shelved by Zapotosky and Commissioner Angela M. Zimmerlink.
Several months later, Astorino/CannonDesign of Pittsburgh was hired to prepare a conceptual design that would enlarge and rehabilitate the current prison.
The two-phase project would add 128 beds to the prison, at a cost of $32 million.
The firm was not advised to design architectural plans for the project.
According to the county controller’s office, Crabtree was paid $1.83 million for a feasibility study, construction documents, and other services provided during the planning process. The firm was also paid $25,683 for design work completed for a proposed temporary women’s annex.
During the initial planning, Ambrosini and Zapotosky considered moving in-county and out-of-county female inmates into one location to reduce overall costs.
Astorino has been paid $185,000 for its design plan, according to the figures compiled by the controller’s office.
Like Vicites, Zimmerlink and Commissioner Dave Lohr, said they, too, are ready to move forward.
“From day one I’ve advocated to explore and consider all options to address the physical condition of the jail,” said Zimmerlink.
Lohr, who was elected to his first term in office in November, has been very outspoken in his support for a new jail.
During a UMWA rally in December, Lohr said that county employees and inmates should not be made to work or live in the unhealthy environment of the current prison.
“Our staff should not have to work in those conditions,” he said following a tour with UMWA officials, incoming officials and others. “If a health officer walked in there and was doing their job properly, who knows how many infractions there would be.”
On Tuesday, Lohr agreed that after the budget was resolved, the prison matter should garner the attention of the commission.
“I’m ready,” he said.
Vicites, meanwhile, indicated he plans to take a hands-on approach.
“This is an issue I’m going to handle,” he said. “I’m not going to delegate it. I’m going to do the due diligence and homework on my own to come up with the right solution.”