The size of the April bond proposal may be increased according to County Commissioner Dan Deming.

He sent a letter to members of the Reno County Jail Committee stating that architect Dan Rowe has now estimated it will cost $427,271 to accomplish the floor plan and renovation requested by Sheriff Henderson in the old jail. The most expensive part would be $208,800 for the mechanical system needed to properly vent the evidence space.

Deming says this is considerably more than the $100,000 earlier estimate. That brings the grand total for the overall project of $28,865,134. Deming adds, “if the public survey supports moving ahead and the committee continues to recommend the “total solution”, the bond issue will probably be set at 28.9 million.” That would still enable the half cent sales tax to be paid off and the tax would sunset in 10-years or less.

That figure includes jail construction inflation as calculated by the architect and construction manager at risk.

The jail committee won’t meet again until after the first of the year, once the opinion survey of residents is complete.