CLEARFIELD – After hearing from an engineering representative on Tuesday, the Clearfield County Commissioners are moving forward in considering whether to expand parking at the Clearfield County Jail.
Rex Read, commissioner chairman, said that parking can get congested at the jail on Wednesdays during preliminary hearings. Read said that he has counted as many as 29 cars parked in the grass around the parking parking area on these days. This leads to patches of grass being torn up, muddy conditions and the potential for vehicles to get stuck.
“This is something that needs doing,” said Read.
Carrie Stewart of Hugues Engineering presented a preliminary plan to the commissioners that would expand existing parking at the jail by 53 spaces. Stewart said the estimated cost of the project would cost between $85,000 to $150,000. Stewart said she could come up with a fairly hard number for the project by the county commissioner’s next meeting.
Stewart said the plans intend to keep land disturbance to a minimum and to utilize the existing stormwater to keep costs on the project down.
Mike Lytle, county commissioner, questioned whether this was a project they were looking to do this year or next spring. He also pointed out that the county does not have funds budgeted for the project. Read was unsure which option was more feasible, and brought up the possibility of doing the project in phases.
“Cost wise, the quicker you do it the better off you are,” commented Stewart. She added that material costs go up almost monthly.
“It needs to be done,” said Lytle, agreeing with Reads earlier statement.
A decision on what step the county will take next in the proposed project could come as early as the Sept. 7 meeting.