Columbus City Council discusses fate of deteriorating Muscogee County Jail

COLUMBUS, Ga. ( WRBL ) — The Muscogee County Jail was a hot topic at the Columbus City Council meeting Tuesday, as city councilors debated how to allocate the funding needed to improve the jail.

The jail, currently housing over 1,000 inmates, is at capacity. Muscogee County Sheriff Greg Countryman says major improvements need to be made before a new jail can be built, as the current conditions of the jail puts staff and inmates at a health risk.

We have to be fiscally responsible about the monies because we have to realize that whatever money we put into this jail, we’re going to lose it, and there is no return on it. So, we have to make sure that we are smart about how we get to this next step, because we don’t want to lose too much money. I’m with the council. So, this is why if we can take that first step of just maintaining what we have… if we have to build pods outside of the jail while we get to that next step of building a new jail, that means that we can move individuals from inside of the jail to still keep them on the jail property and to keep them safe while we go through the process. Instead of just pouring taxpayers dollars into this.

Greg Countryman, Muscogee County Sheriff

Columbus Public Works Director, Drale Short, offered a multi-million dollar proposal for the council to consider. Short estimates the project budget ranges from $22.2 million to $37.3 million.

The proposal outlined the estimated maintenance and repair costs for the project, with input from CGL and Gilbane. CGL is the Georgia statewide contract holder for facility maintenance services. The company is a known provider of “justice facility planning, design, program management and maintenance solutions.” Gilbane is one of the city’s current partners working on this project.

Some of the key recommendations made by Gilbane include repairing the roof, leaking pipes and replacing lighting throughout the facility.

Council decided to table the conversation, as many councilors have concerns as to how this project will be funded. Council is set to reconvene on the issue in two weeks.

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