DO YOU KNOW, CARE OR WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE TRUTH ABOUT THE FAIRFIELD OUNTY PLANS FOR A HUGE JAIL ON OUR GATEWAY. PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING WRITTEN BY COUNCILMAN RANDY GROFF. GROFF AND COUNCILMAN BOB HEDGES HAVE SPENT ENDLESS HOURS POURING OVER PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS PROVING THIS IS A DANGEROUS LOCATION AND A HUGE WASTE OF TAXPAYER DOLL Download Beling Subsurface Invest Report - Charley Horse Site 5-19-94.pdf (867.8 KB) Beling Subsurface Invest Report - Charley Horse Site 5-19-94. Download Public Records Summary.pdf (70.3 KB) Public Records Summary In response to the Lancaster Eagle Gazette article on Friday, March 21st, I suggest Mr. Davis refer back to Rule #1… dont fight, particularly when the facts and a growing number of people are not on your side. Commissioner Davis states, Weve got some members of Lancaster City Council right now who are making up stories and complaining about the location of the new jail and roughing us up pretty good. The term making up leads one to believe the statements are false while Commissioner Davis is fully aware that the statements are all based on facts gathered from the public records searches of the commissioners own files. Using another of Mr. Davis terms, he seems to be yapping while the council members were pouring through more than a thousand pages of his files and excerpting his previous quotes from Eagle Gazette articles. Mr. Davis does have a tendency to take different positions based on the location he is speaking from (Lancaster vs Pickerington). It has been stated from the beginning that there is no question of the need for a new jail; that need has existed for a long time, since before the county purchased the land at Liberty Center for that very purpose more than 10 years ago. The issue for many years has been money and new revenue from casinos will help that situation. The controversy has arisen more recently over the disregard of many issues pertaining to site selection. Perhaps Commissioner Davis would like to expand on his statement as to exactly what stories he suggests are being made up? I would be happy to meet with him on air at WLOH for total clarification. Mr. Davis did mention our concern over the potential harm to the communitys water supply, a true concern based on records from studies the commissioners contracted for with Beling and Geotechnical Consultants (copies attached for those who would like to see the facts). This also drew attention when the commissioners misrepresented the position of the EPA on this issue, stating the EPA had no concerns with the Wheeling Street/Memorial Drive site while EPA responded that they never made such a claim. We are fortunate also that Mr. Hedges, a councilman at-large and chairman of our water committee, is a trained hydrogeologist with more than 40 years experience in this field. There is much more to be addressed and disclosed with this particular issue. Further, perhaps Mr. Davis would like to delve into the issues of construction, maintenance and operating costs, all of which according to the consultants the commissioners contracted with and information gathered from the public records will be considerably higher at the Wheeling/Memorial site than at Liberty Center. Based on the public records information, the $2 million difference the commissioners elude to will not even be a good start and will increase by several million dollars quickly. The substantiation for this exists in the public records, but I have yet to see any substantiation for Commissioner Davis claim. Mr. Davis claims that savings will be generated each year in operating/transportation cost from the Wheeling/Memorial site… again not according to the consultants they hired (public records). While the commissioners talk about transportation to the courts, they fail to provide the full story by including transportation from time of arrest; they do not tell you that the population center/crime center of the county is 12 miles northwest of Lancaster, which makes the total transportation cost less from Liberty Center (not to mention the consultants recommendations for expanded use of video arraignment for cost reduction). Maintenance costs are also expected to be greater at the Wheeling/Memorial site due to the soft fill and unstable soils. No matter where you live in Fairfield County, Im sure you expect good financial decisions from our commissioners. The extra $6 million - $7 million or more saved by building the jail at Liberty Center, plus the additional savings on operational and maintenance each year could be put to better use in your area. It could also help to prevent future tax increases if and when casino revenues are down. Furthermore, I doubt the bonds for building the new jail can be secured by casino revenue (general revenue bonds). Lastly, the commissioners state that the sheriff located in downtown Lancaster is a positive, really? Again, remembering the population/crime center above, Liberty Center would provide a faster response time to the greatest majority of the population of Fairfield County utilizing the easy access to route 33 and the by-pass. The sheriff does not respond to crime in Lancaster, Lancaster Police Department does. Per the public records request, all of the consultants hired by the commissioners over the past several years recommended Liberty Center for all of the above reasons. The commissioners choose to ignore the recommendations of the professionals for the interest of the downtown Lancaster attorneys, of which Mr. Davis is one. The commissioners continue to make unsubstantiated claims. All of the above information is based on public records; if other information exists then the commissioners may be in violation of full disclosure under public records law. If, as Mr. Davis stated, they are getting roughed up pretty good, then perhaps they should provide the public with the full truth, make good financial decisions, and stop spending thousands of taxpayer dollars (more recently another $81,430 for borings at a fraction of the recommended depth) to make a bad location (Wheeling/Memorial) look better… just build on the better Liberty Center site. Respectfully, Randy Groff
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 23:10:52 +0000
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