Eighth St. Vacation, Cty Atty DUBUQUE
_ COUNTY ATTORNEY
County Attorney
Fred H. McCaw
Ralph R. Potter,
First Assistan'~
Timothy J. Gallagher
Jean A. Becket
Christine O. Corken
Lyle R. Galliacc
Michael J. Wha[en
Mark T. Hostager
Brad R Wa[z
Alisha A. Stach
Victim and Witness
Assistance
Julie C. McCIuvg
Holly M. Elliot
April 11, 2001
Hon. Mayor Terry Duggan & City Coancil
City Hall-13* & Iowa
Dubuque, IA 52001
Dear Mayor Duggan & Members of the Council:
Please consid~ this to be the formal request of Dubuque County for the vacation of
that portion of Eighth Street which lies between Central Avenue and Iowa Street.
The request is made necessary by the planned construction of an extension to the
Dubuque County Ja'fl and the Dubuque Law Enforcement Center which extends to
the north across the present Eighth Street right-of-way.
Accompanying this request are two topographic and boundary survey documents
and a letter bom Barney A. Bishop of Durrant Architects dated June 29, 1999,
explaining the design and the need for the vacation.
Please let me know if you need additional information. Ttmnk you very much for
your attention and consideration.
Sincerely,
Fred H. McCaw
Dubuque County Attorney
FI-lM/tmh
Enc.
cc: Board of Supervisors
FI:\T IvllBWp\Fred McCavgLETTERS -MEMO SL2001 ~Du gganMayorT m3~42trCdConnc/L do~
Dubuque County Courthouse, Dubuque, Iowa 52001-7057
(319) 589-4470, Fax {319} 589-4477
Durrant
Architects
A Part of The
J~,,,, urrant Group Inc.
Dubuque,
June 29, 1999
Donna L. Smith, Chairperson
Dubuque County Board of Supervisors
Dubuque County Courthouse
Dubuque, IA 52001
Re: Dubuque City - County LEC Expansion
As a follow up to the discussion during the joint Dubuque City Council - County
Board of Supervisors meeting last Wednesday, June 23, it was suggested that I
prepare a letter describing the design concept in general and more specifically why
the concept depends on maintaining 8th Street as a closed street. During the joint
meeting I identified four reasons supporting keeping 8th Street closed as it has
been for the last 25 years. They were:
1. Maintains consistency in operation and in how the combined facility would
function;
2. Provides for greater staff efficiency and fewer new staff to operate a combined
facility;
3. Wouldn't present height limitation problems for vehicular traffic on 8th Street
using the facility; and
4. Problems associated with the existing underground utilities would be negated.
There is one other reason that bears mentioning: that of developing greater
security around the facility. One could argue that if 8th Street ~s opened to
through traffic, the threat of attack to the structures would be greater. However,
considering that both the existing facility, as well as the proposed addition, would
still have exposure to public streets and/or alley, this argument tends to be
somewhat subjective.
First, i believe it's important to remember that the 1973 design of the existing
Dubuque City-County Law Enforcement Center was predicated on the closing of
8th Street and was endorsed by the Dubuque City Council. One of the most
important aspects of that design, and any correctional facility design was, and
would continue to be under this design concept, the way prisoners are brought into
the facility and processed. This intake procedure should be as efficient and safe
as possible for staff and prisoners alike and should occur as close to the exterior of
the building as possible. As originally designed, the intake procedure consisted of
moving a prisoner from the secure vehicle sally port into an elevator and up to
second floor for processing. Additionally, within the last couple years the county
spent (;34,000.00 developing an arraignment court from this area over to the
County Courthouse. Also, due to the increased demand on this vehicular sally port
Donna L. Smith, Chairperson
Dubuque County Board of Supervisors
June 29,1999
99237.00
Page 2
by the local sheriff's department as well as other outside agencies over the last 25
years, the new design concept suggests maintaining the intake procedure within
the existing facility and incorporating a new drive-thru three vehicle sally port
across the width of 8th Street. The layout, as presented, would still allow for
sheriff's department vehicles to park along the south side of 8th with some limited
parking on the north side of 8th Street east of the sally port. This would allow
vehicles entering or leaving the double door portion of the sally port to do so
unimpeded. If access to the single stall of the sally port is required, parked
vehicles would need to be relocated. Stated another way, the design as presented
facilitates staff, inmate, and other outside law enforcement agency movemant into
and out of the facility consistent with the present operation. As an added benefit,
no dollars are being spent having to redo the existing intake area. Aisc, as shown
on the design concept, traffic moving either north or south on Iowa Street would
be abl'e to turn east onto 8th Street to access the north/south alley between 8th
and 9th Streets. Vehicles leaving the vehicular sally port could either move west
on 8th Street to iowa Street and head north or south on Iowa or they could head
north through the alley.
Second, the First to Second Floor dimension in the existing facility is 12' 8". By
maintaining approximately the same floor-to-floor heights and connecting the
existing facility to the addition with a second floor bridge above the on-grade -
vehicular sally port, supervising correctional staff can "rove" back and forth
between the existing LEC and the addition. This negates having to duplicate this
staff were they not connected. Again, stated another way, sharing this staff
position with the existing facility saves approximately $250,000 annually (1 staff
position = 5 staff persons at approximately $50,000 annually including benefits).
Additionally, food, laundry and other services can move back and forth with ease
and under appropriate supervision. An added benefit is that the Indoor/Outdoor
Exercise area and other program spaces required by code and jail standards can be
located above the vehicular sally port and between the new and existing housing
units, thereby minimizing the movement of inmates while accommodating excellent
sight and sound separation between male and female inmates.
Third, if 8th Street were opened to facilitate through traffic, both the vehicular
sally port as weIl as the connecting bridge at second floor(s) 'would need to be
eliminated from the project because the depth of the structure supporting the
bridge would be approximately 3' 0" thereby limiting the clear height below such a
structure to something in the area of 9'0" +/-, clearly not enough for'many
vehicles. Including the on-grade vehicular sally port into the design provides the
opportunity to rely on exterior walls and columns for bearing thereby reducing the
dimension the structure has to span which results in a shallower structure.
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Donna L. Smith, Chairperson
Dubuque County Board of Supervisors
June 29,1999
99237.00
Page 3
Fourth, providing a below grade connection between the existing facility and the
addition to facilitate the movement of staff, inmates, services, etc. doesn't work
for several reasons:
1. Underground utilities consisting of a 5' diameter reinforced concrete storm
sewer, telephone conduit, and 8"diameter H.P. water main run below 8th
Street precluding any connection without substantial rework to these utilities.
2. There would be a tremendous inefficiency in staff if the "rover" in the existing
building were to provide supervision in the addition as well. That person would
have to move down two flights of stairs or use the elevator to access the
connector under the street, move under 8th Street, and then go up two flights
of stairs to access second floor housing. Iowa Jail Standards dated May 1997
require that the ~rover" or other appropriate staff conduct personal observation
of individual inmates at least hourly and others considered to be higher risk at
least every half hour (Chapter 201-50.13(2)a,(3). During the time this person
is moving between buildings he/she would be unable to respond quickly to any
emergency that may occur.
3. The problems involving the movement of services, ie., food and laundry, are
just as significant. Trustees (inmates) are generally assigned the responsibility
for moving food and laundry. Under the proposed design, this type of
movement is always capable of being supervised by staff without
accompanying the trustee. If food and laundry were to move via an
underground connection it would require staff assistance or would be
accomplished entirely by staff. This would/could result in increased staff and
payroll.
4. One primary goal in a correctional facility ~s to maintain a safe environment for
both staff and inmates by minimizing inmate movement. A below grade
connection would do just the opposite,
In summary, Durrant was asked to develop a concept that kept any remodeling in
the existing building to a minimum, allowed the combined facility to function
efficiently and safely, and accommodated expansion. We believe that the concept
as presented does just that.
· It minimizes the number of additional correctional staff to operate the combined
facility. The present staff to inmate ratio - based on the rated number of beds
during the most staff intensive shift - is 1:11.5; as proposed the staff to
inmate ratio wou',d b.-: !:23.5. If additiona! beds were added interna!l¥ in the
future, it could be accompiished without any increase in correctionai staff
thereby improving the staff to inmate ratio even further.
· Changes to the existing facility are primarily associated with name changes as
opposed to any reconstruction.
Donna L. Smith, Chairperson
Dubuque County Board of Supervisors
June 29,1999
99237.00
Page 4
Operationally, the combined intake and detention portion of the facility will
continue to function much as it does now. Any improvements or changes will
occur as a result of either code and/or standards requirements.
If you or anyone copied has any questions or comments to the above please direct
them to my attention.
incerely,
rney A Bishop, AIA
~'ice President
CC:
Alan R. Manternach, County Supervisor
Jim Waller, County Supervisor
Mike Van Miiligen, City Manager
iVlike Ruden
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