If

you have any thoughts on the controversial plans

for a new Fayette County Jail and courthouse in

downtown Fayetteville, tomorrow night is the time

to air them.

County

commissioners will have a public hearing

Thursday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. in their meeting room

at the County Administrative Complex, 140

Stonewall Ave., Fayetteville.

The

meeting is likely to be a long one.

"We'll

stay here until sunrise if that's what it

takes," vowed commission Chairman Harold

Bost when the hearing was announced last month.

The

county government has purchased land to add to

the county's previously owned acreage around the

current jail and judicial complex, creating a

65-acre tract on which they hope to put the jail

and courthouse with plenty of room left over for

a future county administrative office building.

The

acreage is bordered by Lee Street on the west,

Johnson Avenue on the north and Jimmy Mayfield

Boulevard on the east (there's no street

bordering the complex on the south).

But

opponents say the site is too close to homes and

schools, and complain that traffic problems will

be exacerbated and property devalued in the

downtown area if the project goes on as planned.

Some

have suggested moving the jail outside the city,

leaving only the courthouse at the proposed site,

while others say the entire complex should be

moved to Fayetteville's heavily commercial areas

north of downtown.

Commissioners

say they'll listen with open minds to everyone's

suggestions, but Bost said commissoners are

unlikely to change their minds unless presented

with "compelling arguments."

County

officials will present details on the current

plan tomorrow before taking public comment.

"We're

going to try to make it as clear as we

possibility can, and we want [the information

presented] to be as complete and as right as we

possibly can," said Bost.

According

to the plan, the existing jail will be renovated

to house only maximum security prisoners, and two

pods (one medium security and one minimum

security) will be added, increasing its holding

capacity from 75 currently to 459 when finished.

The

design includes two future pods that, if built,

would eventually increase the jail's capacity to

843.

Underground

passages will connect the jail and new

courthouse, and the current judicial center will

be renovated and used as Sheriff's Department

offices.

Options

for financing the construction also will be

discussed. A special purpose local option sales

tax is one option, along with various kinds of

bond issue. County commissioners also recently

activated the county's facilities authority,

which could issue bonds to pay for the

construction without seeking voter approval, but

have not yet named members to the authority.

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