And Dave,

I'm glad you don't think your property value has been

affected by your living near a jail. By the way, exactly

how far away did you say lived from the Clayton County

Jail? You neglected to mention this in your article. When

I pass the jail on McDonough Road, I notice the county

dump, trailer housing and gas station/convenience stores

surrounding it. I didn't notice any subdivisions with

homes valued from $60,000 to $500,000 within close

proximity.

For your

information and that of the commissioners, I am primarily

concerned about safety, decrease in property values, and

the projected cost of the facility but there are other

concerns about the proposed Fayette County jail

expansion:

1. Why have

alternative sites for the jail not been considered?

2. Has an

impact study been done for the surrounding neighborhoods?

3. What are

the specific concerns about the possibility of a federal

mandate that might force Fayette County to build a jail

expansion that isn't ideal? We would like to know what

the hurry is and be shown documentation where Fayette

County has been investigated by the feds to indicate an

urgency in moving forward without concern for the

community's input.

4. Why does

the county jail need to be part of a "county

campus"? What is the justification for this

"vision." Why does the Board of Commissioners

feel that such a "campus" would be embraced as

a prized cornerstone of our community as a cost to

taxpayers?

5. What

added cost is projected for the jail to make it

aesthetically compatible with the proposed "county

campus" and its central location in the heart of

Fayetteville? What jail construction costs could be saved

if this concern for aesthetic compatibility was not a

consideration?

6. What was

the basis for sizing the jail expansion site for four

pods? What is the likelihood that the four pods will not

meet future needs? What back-up plans exist if the

proposed expansion proves to be inadequate and an

additional expansion beyond 800 beds is required?

7. Since

this complex will be land-locked for additional

expansion, is there a possibility of a two-site complex

in Fayetteville's future?

8. Of the

$70 million price tag, is this earmarked strictly for the

jail construction or for the entire judicial complex:

jail, parking areas, courts, and renovations to the

existing facility? What is the anticipated final cost

going to be?

9. What

justification do the commissioners have to expand the

county complex part of this project?

10. How

will the commissioners resolve an already horrendous

traffic situation leading into and out of Fayetteville by

adding this large complex with a projected 1,400 parking

spaces to our downtown corridor?

11. Since

annexation to the city's boundaries seems to easily

achieved where deemed necessary (i.e., Fayette Community

Hospital), what is the difficulty in locating another

site for the jail/judicial complex which is not

landlocked, accessible by main roads, does not border

subdivisions or schools, and basically would be better

suited to house prisoners than downtown Fayetteville?

12. Why was

the engineering firm, Mallet and Associates, given this

job without consideration for other companies to bid on

it? How many jail complexes have Mallet and Associates

been consulted on, designed, and constructed?

I look

forward to the commissioners' answers to my questions at

their meeting, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2000 at 7:00 p.m. I

encourage the commissioners to allow more than one hour

to entertain questions from the citizens. Commissioner

Bost stated that he would stay all night to listen to

public comment, but it would be in the commission's best

interest to encourage two-way discussion about these

issues rather than one-way public discussion comments. I

hope too, that the commissioners' intentions are genuine

in allowing this public hearing and they are not simply

doing it to pacify the community without truly listening

to our concerns.

Denise

Fair

Fayetteville