A hitch in ownership of land promised by the state for construction of a Will County juvenile jail is expected to further postpone a decision on the 4-year-old project until early spring.
County officials said Tuesday they must try to get clear title to the 20 acres on Joliet’s southwest side before deciding on the controversial plan to construct the juvenile jail there.
County Board member Ron Svara, chairman of the board’s Executive Committee, said after a meeting with county and state officials that an effort will be made to buy the land from the state rather than to lease it as state officials had suggested.
In a letter this week to Svara, State’s Atty. James Glasgow warned county officials that a lease could create a legal tangle if the land is destined to become part of a project that even temporarily allows a private owner to control public property.
The purchase negotiations stall a decision that had been expected from the County Board Thursday on construction of the proposed 50-bed facility.
“We can’t go ahead with any design until we get the land,” Svara said, who added that a deal is not expected to be ironed out until April.
The land pledged by Gov. Jim Edgar on a campaign visit to Joliet last summer has emerged as the latest snag in the county’s hopes to have a sorely needed juvenile jail up and running by next year.
The 20 acres of open land is part of the 146-acre Illinois Youth Center on Joliet’s far southwest side.
Edgar promised Will County the state-owned land, but it was never clear whether the property would be donated or leased.
State officials say that without action by the General Assembly, the state is limited to offering a 30-year lease. Svara said county officials hope to persuade the state to sell the land for a nominal sum like $1.
Until Tuesday, haggling had centered on a controversial proposal by Turner Construction Co. to design, finance and build a facility that would be leased back to the county.
That proposal ran into opposition from local contractors who said they are being cut out of a major public building contract by the New York firm.
County Executive Charles Adelman, who insisted he will approve no contracts that fail to spell out eventual costs, said he doubts the Turner proposal will get the nod on Thursday as had been expected.
“The feeling right now is it is probably going to be tabled until all the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed,” Adelman said.
The County Board’s Judicial Committee, which has been studying jail plans for two years, recommended last week that the job be given to Turner under the beleaguered build-lease-finance plan opposed by local contractors.
The decision was a sharp reversal of earlier plans by the committee to offer the board a variety of options for constructing the building, which is expected to cost between $5.3 million and $6.9 million.
Both Svara and Adelman said state officials seem willing to work out an agreement on transferring the land.
“The state doesn’t have any problem with that (a sale),” Adelman said. “It just takes time.”
