COLUMBUS – Work has started at Polk County’s new law enforcement complex just outside the town limits of Columbus with a trailer and workers on scene this week.

The Polk County Board of Commissioners met Dec. 19 and heard from county manager Marche Pittman that construction should begin after the holidays.

Pittman said a Cooper Construction Company trailer is on site and all the paperwork is signed. Pittman also said contractors and the county had a kickoff meeting the week prior and a foreman was already on site as of Dec. 19.

“Progress is being made,” Pittman told commissioners.

The property for the law enforcement center has been marked off, a fire hydrant and water installed, and the construction trailer is on site. Grass is also growing on the banks surrounding the property.

Polk County purchased 19.19 acres of property adjacent to the Milliken plant just outside Columbus earlier this year for $1,950,000 and another 2.6 acres off Park Street for $125,000 to construct a new jail, sheriff’s office and a future courthouse.

The purchase price included site preparation and roads with access both from Hwy. 108 near Milliken and from Park Street. The Park Street entrance now has a metal gate installed.

Commissioners recently approved a construction bid with Cooper Construction out of Hendersonville for $9,603,350. The county also held a groundbreaking ceremony on Dec. 3.

The county has also approved a project budget ordinance for $13.5 million for the new law enforcement center. The county will pay for the project through a loan, with the N.C. Local Government Commission (LGC) already giving its approval. The county plans to pay for the loan through a series of tax increases. Polk approved a two-cent property tax increase this fiscal year and plans to approve another two-cent increase next fiscal year and presumably another two-cent increase the following fiscal year for a total of six cents.

The new jail is designed for 60 beds and will house both females and juveniles, which the current jail does not. The current jail has 25 beds and the county has to house females and juveniles in other county jails, mainly in Transylvania County.

Polk County conducted a study of its current jail and future needs by hiring Moseley Architects, which is also the architect who designed the new law enforcement center.

Moseley said the current jail’s average daily population is 31 inmates. Moseley’s feasibility study projected that by 2040 Polk County would need 60 beds.

The current jail was built in the early 1970s, with some commissioners and officials saying it was too small to begin with. The current jail has been said by county officials to be functionally obsolete and has not been able to meet state guidelines for years, including for jail fire safety.

Construction of the facility is expected to take approximately one year with an expected opening date of December 2016 or January 2017.