Which will it be: Project 1, 2 or 3?

Much like a game of “Let’s Make A Deal,” Gage County taxpayers will have to decide whether to vote for Project No. 1, Project No. 2 or Project No. 3 or possibly all three.

Those projects include a proposed $2.13 million renovation of the Gage County Courthouse and construction of a new Gage County Detention Center estimated to cost between $10.5 and $11.5 million. In addition, Beatrice residents are also faced with the prospect of funding a proposed new fire station in the future.

Because preliminary estimates indicate the detention center could cost between $10.5 and $11.5 million, those involved with the project are hoping to educate people as to why they think a new jail is needed while also being aware of other projects on the horizon.

In an unscientific Daily Sun Web poll last week asking whether persons favored construction of a new Gage County jail, out of 566 votes cast, 52 percent voted yes and 48 percent voted no.

In addition, county voters will decide this spring on a bond issue to renovate the Gage County Courthouse.

Renovations are expected to cost $2.13 million, but the exact amount of the bond issue has not been determined. The bond issue is scheduled to be placed on the ballot of the May 13 primary election.

The third project is a proposal to build a new fire station within Beatrice. While the Beatrice City Council has only recently voted in favor of looking into the option of building a new fire station, an architect’s evaluation listed the estimated cost of the project at $3.5 million.

Because the courthouse renovations and the fire station proposal are expected to be big-budget items as well as the jail, Mary Ann Rowe, chairman of the citizen’s steering committee for the new jail, said the committee members have developed a strategy to educate the taxpayers and voters of Gage County.

She explained the committee members have essentially divided the county into sections with various committee members assigned to different areas. For instance, one person would be in charge of going to Odell while another committee member would help publicize the jail around Adams.

“We’re trying to have those people talk to people in the various communities and organize tours of the jail so people can see the deficiencies the jail facility has,” Rowe said. “There are 15,000 to 16,000 registered voters in Gage County and we need to make sure everybody knows the situation.”

Although Rowe said a resolution on a bond issue for the new jail facility could be on the ballot of the November general election, she is not concerned about possibly asking voters to support the jail six months after voting on the courthouse renovations.

She added although the votes on the two bond issues may only be a few months apart, she doesn’t anticipate ground being broken on the jail for at least a year from now if the bond issue is approved.

“As far as the courthouse renovations are concerned, that should have been done 10 years ago,” Rowe said. “Regarding the jail, (Gage County) Sheriff (Millard) Gustafson tried to save money on it over the years, but the simple fact is that it has just become overcrowded. With the 26-inmate capacity in the jail, it is starting to take on legal problems as well. The most important thing is that the jail continue to be compliant with standards and the public has to know the jail situation.”

While the jail’s maximum capacity is 26 prisoners, Gustafson said the number of inmates in the detention center as of Feb. 1 was 37. Because the number of inmates at the jail is beyond capacity, cots have been brought into the detention center in order to accommodate all of the prisoners.

Gustafson said the other possibility would be to “farm out” prisoners to facilities in other counties.

However, he said he is hesitant to do this because of transportation costs involved in such a practice. On average, Gustafson said it costs the county $1.25 per mile to transport a prisoner.

“Last year, we tried to show people what we could save and earn by building a new jail facility,” Gustafson said.

“Now we are trying to go back and use the recommendations from the jail consultant and everyone we have dealt with to show the loss of income to us and the increase in expenses to the department by shipping prisoners elsewhere. It is unfortunate, but it is what we have to look at.”

Rex Adams, chairman of the Gage County Board of Supervisors, commented the County Board’s only strategy for the jail was creating the steering committee itself to educate people as to why supporters believe a new jail is needed.

“Education is the No. 1 priority on this project,” Adams said. “The primary reason why we formed a citizen’s steering committee was so they could take care of things like this. Ultimately, this is an issue which will be voted on by the people.”

Adams also said while he is somewhat concerned about asking the citizens of Gage County to consider the jail issue and the courthouse issue at the same time, he added both projects are equally important. He also said such things as the courthouse roof, which was damaged in a 2006 hailstorm, will have to be fixed eventually whether from a bond issue or from county funds.

Supervisor Ron Fleecs, chairman of the county’s building and grounds committee, shared Adams’ opinion regarding the steering committee’s purpose.

However, he said because there are still several unknown factors regarding the jail that have to be determined, such as location and how many beds will be needed, the courthouse renovation project should be handled first.

“We’re trying to show people what needs to be done with that and that we need a workable house, so to speak, in which to do the county’s business,” Fleecs said.

“We have already cut $2 million out of the bond issue, so we are just going with the essential works at this time. If we take a ‘wait-and-see’ approach, you soon find yourself waiting and waiting with nothing happening. For the people of the county, the courthouse is essentially their house; we need to have functional buildings in the county.”