Decision expected on C-Falls jail site

The Flathead County commissioners on Tuesday, Oct. 10, are expected to make a decision about the proposed purchase of acreage in Columbia Falls for a future jail site.

The commissioners will take public comment at 8:45 a.m. and then consider the property purchase at 9 a.m.

The county has a buy-sell agreement to purchase 24 acres of land owned by Weyerhaeuser on Columbia Falls’ west side for $2.6 million. The property includes a 35,000-square-foot office building — known as the “Cedar Palace” — that the Sheriff’s Office potentially would use.

Earnest money of $130,000 accompanied the buy-sell agreement, which expires Oct. 31. The commissioners could ask for an extension of that agreement.

During recent community meetings and again during a commissioner work session last week, Columbia Falls residents expressed opposition to having a jail in their city. The biggest concern is that the county’s purchase of the Weyerhaeuser property would take valuable open space off the tax roll for future development.

The Columbia Falls City Council is expected to take a vote Oct. 16 to determine how the council stands on the jail-site proposal.

Building a 260-bed facility off-site is estimated to cost about $50 million and would need voter support through a ballot issue that could be presented as soon as November 2018 if the commissioners decide to move forward with the Columbia Falls property purchase.

Other off-site locations also are being explored, including 40 acres of county property off Willow Glen Drive in Kalispell and 14 acres of county land at the former Kalispell Feed and Grain site south of Kalispell.

Expanding the existing jail at the Justice Center also is being explored, though a new facility off-site is the preferred option, county Administrator Mike Pence said in a status update issued last week.

To alleviate the chronic overcrowding of the current jail, a $1.64 million addition opened in July, adding 40 beds as a temporary solution. Space was created by renovating the second floor of the Justice Center where the County Attorney office complex was located.

That gives the county total capacity of 164 beds between the two facilities.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.