Codington County hires architect at $40K for jail predesign

J.T. Fey

The Codington County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved hiring HDR Engineering of Omaha to perform pre-design work on a potential new jail.

Architecture Inc. of Sioux Falls will also be part of the pre-design process.

HDR Engineering was chosen by the county’s Justice Advisory Committee. Six architectural firms responded to requests for proposals and four were given follow-up interviews by the JAC.

The two firms doing the work will be paid $40,000 from the county’s original total of $70,000 to study and prepare plans to either build upon the current jail site or seek an alternate location in Watertown.

“The predesign process is meant to provide a good concept - a clear idea of the building we need, its feasibility, and a good estimate of the construction and operational costs,” Commissioner Lee Gabel said after the meeting. “This is information we need to approach the voters with.”

If voters approve a general obligation bond vote, perhaps occurring during November’s general election, the architect, project manager Tegra and a cost estimator will produce the final design.

Gabel told fellow commissioners that HDR (Henningson, Durham, Richardson) is the biggest jail designer in the United States and was recommended by Tegra. HDR has been doing engineering work for more than 100 years and its website lists almost 600 projects, including many in foreign countries.

During department head reports, Veterans Service Officer Todd Rose said information briefings for veterans will be held Saturday, March 23 at the Watertown Event Center. Two sessions, covering the same information, are set for 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The event is aimed at Gulf War and post 9/11 veterans, but Rose said any veteran may attend. Organizations presenting information include the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration of Sioux Falls, South Dakota Army National Guard, the Honor the Pact Act and South Dakota Transitional Assistance Advisors.

Rose also said his department is seeking drivers to transport veterans to the Sioux Falls VA. Anyone interested should contact county Veterans Service at 605-882-6289.

In VA claims for county veterans, Rose said $14,413 were paid out in February, bringing the 2024 total to $19,405. He said there are 182 open claims, including 87 pending with the VA. Processed retroactive claims totaled $67,757 for February and $232,410 year-to-date.

In other actions, the commissioners:

  • Approved seeking eminent domain action, if needed, in regard to reconstruction of a load-limited bridge on County Road 20 (176th St.). The issue is seeking permanent easement of one-quarter acre on private land and a temporary easement of 1.1 acres. Highway Superintendent Rick Hartley said the state wants to bid the project late this summer. Reconstruction costs are estimated at $2.5 million.

  • Approved a payment of $54,746.42 to Dakota Traffic Services of Tea for pavement markings on 40 miles of paved county roads. Hartley said the striping will occur on roads being chip-sealed this summer.

  • Approved moving $10,000 of the Community Services rent assistance budget to Watertown Cares, the non-profit organization working to find housing for the homeless.

  • Approved an agreement with Lake Area Technical College to allow community health worker student Erin Haufschild to job shadow Sara Foust, Community Services director, for an anticipated 20 hours.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Architect hired for Codington County jail predesign

Advertisement