Herkimer County Moving To Confiscate Private Property For New Jail

Herkimer County, NY (WIBX) - Herkimer County Deputy Mayor Gary Hartman said county officials are engaging in abuse of power by voting 13 - 3 last week to confiscate private property to build a new jail.

Hartman said the former P&C site on State Route 28 in Herkimer sits empty right now but confiscating it through the last resort standard, or the process of eminent domain will cause the village to lose future revenue. He said, "The village officials have been communicating with the property owner and I'm pretty confident that if we worked together with the property owner, pushing the site, that we can attract some new business there that will actually generate revenue and create private sector jobs."

In an open letter Hartman said, "The confiscation of the former P&C property, against the will of the private landowner, does not fit the last resort standard. The county already owns vacant property that has been approved as a jail site by the state. In this case, the seizure is not a necessity and is a heavy-handed misuse of power that does not meet the standards of fairness."

Herkimer County Administrator, James Wallace said the county looked at 50 properties before settling on the former P&C location and said other considerations were the cost to tax payers and the proximity to the courts. "We feel it's one of the better sites that we have, the location, the cost to the tax payers, by being so close to the courts. Several other sites we considered, the police operations around the county did not support because of the travel time that they would have to ensue. So, that played a big part into why we're looking at a spot in the Village of Herkimer."

Wallace said they also looked at locations in Schuyler but didn't have the vote to move forward with a proposal because it was determined to be too far. Also, he said access to public water was another obstacle the county faced. He said the Village of Herkimer refused to provide the jail with water if it was built in the village.

The county is up against a February 15th deadline from the New York State Commission of Corrections that mandated several years ago, after structural problems with the current facility were found, that the county start the process of building a new jail, or risk shutting down the current one. Wallace said Herkimer County Jail was technically closed by the Commission however, they allowed it to stay open with this variance: access to a recreation yard for inmates. He said that decision allowed them to maintain their operations but, he said that variance was taken away at the Commission's  last meeting in February 2010, giving the county until March of this year to begin the process of building a new jail.

The owner of the property for the proposed county jail is Richard A. Grossman, President and CEO of Gibraltar Real Estate & Development. Hartman says the county is going to "snatch" the property from Grossman adding, "They see it coming and they're not happy. They would prefer to see private business there."

Wallace painted a different picture when asked about the owners willingness to sell saying, "We've had several discussions with Mr. Grossman. Once the bonding goes through on February 10th, the next day we'll be on the phone to Mr. Grossman to try to work out a deal to purchase the property. If that doesn't work, the legislature would possibly move forward on eminent domain on the property." Wallace said county officials have been communicating with Grossman over the last two years about possibly purchasing the 27.1 acre property. "He's a willing seller," Wallace said.

According to Herkimer Town Accessor, John Macri, the property is 27.1 acres of land that sits across boundaries. He said it consists of 3 parcels of land--2 parcels totaling 19.4 acres sits in the village and the other 7.7 acres is in the Township. Macri says the property is valued at $229,900.00.

According to Wallace, construction of the 130 bed facility is scheduled to start early next year however, he said it could take another 2 years before they could start using it. He said the new building will have the ability to go to 25 percent double bunked capacity, bringing it up to house 154 beds. Also, the estimated cost for the new county jail will be upwards of $35 million Wallace said. "We've implemented a .25 percent sales tax several years ago and that sales tax would pay for the bond on that facility," he said. He added that since the implementation of the sales tax four years ago, the county already has $10 million set aside for the project.

The Ways and Means Committee will vote to move to bond the site tomorrow, (2/3) and start the process to purchase or confiscate the property. "We have to build it and we've been talking about it in the community for about 14 years," Wallace said. He said 75 percent of people support building the new facility and 25 percent say the county should consider something else. There are currently 70 inmates housed in the Herkimer County Jail but Wallace says they typically have between 65 and 85 inmates at any given time.