Drainage issues create pause in jail project

By Justin Messner

Nevada Daily Mail

A number of water drainage issues have caused delays in the progress of Vernon County's schedule for constructing a new jail.

It was recently discovered that the construction site sits near a drainage pond and has several inlets were water runs from neighboring structures and parking lots on to the property. "This site which is a great site -- it is a drainage area for 40 to 50 acres around it," said Larry Goldberg Architect of the jail. "We had no idea that this is a drainage catch for 40 to 50 acres around us."

Goldberg said he believed information not disclosed by a past civil engineer for the site led to this oversight.

Currently reports from Goldberg indicate that drainage water runs from other close businesses such as 3M, Wal-Mart and Sutherlands.

Originally it was believed that this could be controlled with added culverts and drainage devices, but County Commissioners now report that several much larger changes had to be made.

The 60-by-100-foot metal storage building neighboring the jail which was slated to have been started the week of Jan. 21, will be raised by approximately 1 foot and has been moved to the west of its previous position and turned 90 degrees on the blueprints. This new positioning will reportedly remove the structure from any significant heavy-water danger zones.

This blueprint rewrite will cause some other changes to take place with the jail's parking lot and vehicle facilities. An impound lot previously expected to be attached to the storage building will be separated and moved to the east of the storage structure -- not necessarily a bad thing, since it brings with it an unexpected positive feature. Kevin Sprenkle, the civil engineer for the jail site reported this move would have positive effects on the jail's flow of traffic.

Aside from a delay in the schedule, the only drawback mentioned by Sprenkle or the commissioners was an increase in paved surfaces, which will ultimately result in more spending for asphalt and other building materials. A specific number for the added cost is not yet available.

The main structure of the jail is also to be raised between 16 and 18 inches from original drawings in order to add extra clearance in times of high water. This additional height will be reached with extra ground work and dirt filler.

Two culverts have been slated for positioning on the property including one scheduled for placement on the West side of the lot that will be approximately 8 feet by 3 feet, and should be the largest of the water reliefs. According to Sprenkle, the other will be significantly smaller in diameter and placed in the Northeast corner of the property.

Goldberg said the impact of water shedding from the jail site onto other properties is also a major concern, since no one wants to cause future flooding problems for lots in close proximity to the jail.

"We want to make sure whatever we do to the jail will work for the surrounding properties. We don't want to penalize anyone who wants to acquire or develop the surrounding property," said Goldberg. "We can't do that to the family (property owners), just say 'you're out of luck.'"

Despite some large delays in construction most officials are satisfied with the jails progress and optimistic about it's opening. The Vernon County Commissioners said they were happy to have found these problems now, prior to actual construction.

Vernon County Sheriff Ron Peckman said, "I think it will work even better, and we just want it done right. It's put us further behind; but it's a big project, and we want it done right."

Sprenkle said he intends to have the storage building site staked and ready for construction to begin by Thursday. Miller Construction of El Dorado Springs won the bid for this building in December and sub-contracted the job to Marjo Schmidt of Harwood.

The pre-bid conference for the Vernon County jail has been moved to March 12 and the bid opening is set for March 26. The commissioners stated Tuesday there has been no indication these dates will change.