The Adair County Public Safety Center and Jail in Greenfield is slated to open in about two-weeks. Sheriff Brad Newton says to celebrate the long-awaited event, they’re holding an open house for the public on Saturday, beginning at 1-p.m. The only thing holding back the Sheriff’s Office and Greenfield Police force from moving in right now, according to Newton, is the installation of new E-9-1-1 Communications equipment. He says Adair County is one of seven counties in the area that’s set to receive new E-9-1-1 equipment. Newton said if they were to move the existing communications equipment into the new facility, it would cost about $10,000. But if they wait, the new equipment is included in the contract price of the facility. Voters in Adair County approved a 3-million dollar bond referendum for the combination jail/Public Safety Center, in May, 2010. The facility is in a lot adjacent to the current, 110-year old jail. The new facility will serve as the jail, house the offices of the Greenfield Police and Sheriff’s Departments, dispatch, evidence room, and a file room. Officers with the Greenfield P.D. will be in an open area, called the “Squad Room,” with Sheriff’s deputies.  The Sheriff says persons who attend the open house on Saturday, from 1-to 3-pm, will be impressed by what their tax dollars have purchased.

He says it’s a modern facility, built to serve the needs of the County for years to come. Newton says it doesn’t have any extravagant features, but is much more secure than the old facility, from which at least three escapes have occurred over the past few years. He said they held the costs down as much as possible, and are currently under budget. Bids for the project came in at around $2.8-million dollars. The 3-million dollar bond covers other, non-construction related costs. Newton says they have enough in reserve to tear down the old jail, a plan that wasn’t included in the original project. He says the land on which the 110-year old jail sits, will be used in-part, for parking.

Escapes from the old jail often took place in an outdoor exercise area for inmates. Sheriff Newton says that won’t happen with the new jail. That’s because it’s totally indoors. No one can see in, and no one can see out. Newton said the old exercise area “Has been a pain in our side since it was built.”

Atlantic City Administrator Doug Harris says the City isn’t receiving its fair share of funds from the County for the Public Library. Harris said he’s been looking at how services the City pays for are used by Cass County residents and vice-versa. He says looking at the circulation numbers at the library, and the population numbers in comparing what Atlantic gets from the County in support of the library, as compare to the other cities in the County, the “Fair Share” from the rural customers would be almost $72,000. Harris says since the residents of Atlantic contribute to 30% of the County tax bill, the County would have to contribute almost $103,000 for the rural customers to pay their $72,000. The City receives just $13,000 from the County. He says looking at other cities in the County, based on circulation at their libraries, the County funds an average of $4.42 per capita, whereas in Atlantic, the County is only funding 73-cents.

Harris says if the county funded the City of Atlantic at $4.42, then the County would be contributing $78,526 to the City. Based on population, he says, the County has been funding at $15.57 per capita, but the City only gets $1.83. If Atlantic were to be funded on a per capita basis, that would amount to $110,703.  Doug Harris says it appears the County is funding what would be our fair share for the other cities in the County, but the Atlantic Public Library is being “Underfunded.” Harris says he’s not sure how that happened, or why, but the City provides a lot of services to rural residents, such as a subsidy for the Nishna Valley YMCA, which the County residents can use at the same price as City residents. Harris says “We’re getting to the point where the City residents really can’t shoulder all that burden. The costs need to be more fairly allocated between County and City residents.”

He says the issue will have to be discussed between the City Council and the County Commissioners and/or Board of Supervisors. Harris said the Supervisors may not even be aware of the disparity.

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Department says an Exira man was arrested late Wednesday morning. 19-year old Dilan Seth Olesen was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant out of Audubon County, and charged with Revocation of his Probation. Olesen posted a $5,000 bond that same day, and was released from the jail. Olesen had been sentenced to one-year of probation in July, 2011, after entering a written plea of guilty to a charge of OWI/2nd offense.