def #133 07/09/2009

JAIL EXPANSION WORK CONTINUES

TOMS RIVER – Work on expanding the Ocean County Jail in the downtown area is moving into its next phase with the delivery and installation of prefabricated cells scheduled to begin in the next few weeks.

Prior to the cells arriving, a large crane will be erected at the work site on Courthouse Lane, here, the week of July 13. The crane will be used for the installation of the cells and will remain on site for the duration of the work, which is expected to continue into December.

“This construction is not expected to disrupt the work that goes on in the Justice Complex, which also houses courtrooms, the Sheriff’s Department and other offices,” said Freeholder John P. Kelly, who serves as Director of Law and Public Safety. “The construction of the jail expansion is relatively self-contained.”

However, Kelly noted that the delivery of the crane and the prefabricated cells may have an affect on traffic in the downtown area.

Kelly noted the county has been closely working with officials from Toms River Township and the Toms River Business Improvement District to make sure those most effected are informed of what will occur during this construction phase.

“I have been working with the Mayor and Council, Police Chief Michael Mastronardy, and the Business Improvement District so that any inconveniences posed by the work will be kept to a minimum,” Kelly said. “The work is being scheduled at times that will be least disruptive to traffic.”

Over the next few months 91 modules consisting of 182 cells will be trucked into the downtown area. About seven to 10 deliveries are expected daily from July through November. During the delivery and installation phase, Courthouse Lane will be closed and used as a primary access area for the precast deliveries.

The contractor will be installing a fence and signs along the Courthouse Lane sidewalk and access to the areas will be for pedestrians only. There will be no motor vehicle traffic from the corner of Courthouse Lane and Washington Street to the corner of Courthouse Lane and Sheriff Street during the workday. Parking at Courthouse Lane will not be accessible. The alley between 204 and 206 Courthouse Lane will not be accessible during the day.

“Safety is a priority for this Board,” Kelly said. “It’s important we take all the appropriate measures to make sure those citizens using downtown Toms River are not inconvenienced but more importantly not put into harm’s way during this project.”

In 2008, the county awarded a contract to New Enterprise Stone and Lime Company, Inc. of Pennsylvania in the amount of $15,150,000, for the housing units that will be delivered over the next few months.

By pre-ordering the units the county assured having them available when they need to be installed and saved money for ordering them early.

Work on the 157,000 square foot addition to the Ocean County Jail on Hooper Avenue, here, got underway in late 2008.

“This project is a very large undertaking and will take about two years to complete,” Kelly said. “We are making every effort to minimize any inconvenience the construction may pose.”

Initially the most apparent change to the area was the reduction to some of the public parking and the installation of fencing around the construction site.

“To accommodate the work we had to reduce some of the parking in the area of the Ocean County Justice Complex,” Kelly said. “However, there continues to be plenty of parking available in the Ocean County parking garage.”

The garage is located on Madison and Hadley avenues just a short distance from the justice complex. Visitors parking in the garage can access the Justice Complex by using the overhead walkway across Hooper Avenue. The jail is located on the fourth and fifth floors of the Justice Complex.

As part of the construction, the county also relocated the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post from its building on the corner of Sheriffs Street and Courthouse Lane to a new facility across the street.

“This had to be done to accommodate the addition,” Kelly said.

Because the new jail cells are prefabricated units, areas of downtown Toms River will be used for brief periods as staging areas until all the units have been installed into the addition.

Once the prefabricated cells are installed the addition will look complete but all the interior work will then get started.

The contractor doing the jail expansion is Patock Construction Co., Tinton Falls at a cost of $36,690,000.

The county is adding space for an additional 400 beds, which would increase the jail capacity to 680 beds.

The proposed expansion includes the construction of new space at the rear of the Justice Complex and a two-story addition on the south side of the existing building.

According to a needs assessment completed in 2005, since 1985 when the Board of Freeholders opened the jail atop the Ocean County Justice Complex, the County’s population has increased by almost 200,000 people. Since that time period, new mandatory sentencing laws have gone into effect resulting in longer jail terms; municipalities have employed more police officers resulting in an increase in patrols and arrests.

The combination of both increasing admissions at the Ocean County Jail and increased average length of stay has created a higher average daily population at the jail according to the study done by Carter Goble Associates, Inc. The current average population at the facility routinely exceeds more than 500 inmates while the jail was built to hold 280.

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