VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Five month ago, architects, engineers and construction managers gave presentations to the Barnes County Jail committee. At that time, a majority of the committee members voted to pursue every available resource to build a new jail. The cost is estimated between $9 million to $13 million depending on the architect and construction firm selected.
The Valley City Barnes County Development Corporation held a regular meeting on Monday, March 11 to discuss one issue. Spokeswoman Jennifer Feist said board members approved of a proposal to allow the county to purchase land for the new facility along the I-94 corridor east of the National Guard Maintenance Facility.
Under the proposal, a joint law enforcement center would be constructed to house the Valley City Police Department, Barnes County Sheriff’s Office and the Public Service Answering Point Center according to Barnes County Commissioner John Froehlich. He believe most of the jail committee members and county commissioners would like to build a 40 bed facility.
The Barnes County Jail Committee continues to work on putting a plan together for the county commission to review but nothing has been finalized. The proposals will be discussed again during the Barnes County Commission’s next regular board meeting on Tuesday, March 19th.