The Webster County Board of Supervisors gave Sheriff Luke Fleener the go-ahead on Wednesday to have a consultant group begin the work of developing a communications campaign to inform the voters on the need for a new jail facility.

For the last two and a half years, Fleener has worked with West Des Moines consulting firm The Samuels Group to look into whether Webster County needs a new jail or law enforcement center to replace the current one located at 702 First Ave. S., giving periodic updates to the Board of Supervisors.

The results of the study conducted by The Samuels Group were clear — the current Webster County Jail and Law Enforcement Center are not meeting the county’s needs and, in fact, are a source of hemorrhaging money.

Fleener has noted on multiple occasions that the county is paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to house Webster County Jail inmates in other counties’ jails because the jail on the third floor of the Law Enforcement Center is not meeting the needs.

For the fiscal year that started last Saturday, Fleener budgeted $300,000 to pay for housing inmates elsewhere — and that number does not include the cost of transportation or the wages of the deputies transporting the inmates..

In May, Fleener and representatives from The Samuels Group gave a presentation to the board with design proposals. The first proposal for an 87,195-square-foot jail facility with 82 inmate beds and the ability to expand to 139 with double-bunking is estimated to cost about $54.5 million with current construction costs and inflation.

On Wednesday, Fleener recommended moving forward with a design with a smaller footprint of 31,000 square feet, which is estimated to cost roughly $38 million. With the reduced size, it would have a maximum capacity of 132 beds and smaller areas for administration, investigation and patrol.

During Wednesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, the board approved a professional services agreement with The Samuels Group for communication services in preparation for a possible general bond referendum vote. The company will be paid $35,000.

Because of the amount of funds that the county would have to borrow to complete this project, it will have to first pass a public general obligation bond referendum, with at least 60 percent of voters casting their ballots in favor.

The Samuels Group’s role will now be to work on a campaign to educate the voters of Webster County on what, exactly, their individual tax impact will be for this project. Plans include developing a database for residents to type in their address and get the actual dollar amount that their property taxes would be impacted by.