SCOTTS BLUFF, NE - Construction on the new Scotts Bluff County Jail is well underway as footings have been poured for the juvenile section and the pad will be in place later this week.

Patricia Miller, the jail project coordinator, updated county commissioners during their Monday meeting. She said a six-foot chain link fence will soon be erected around the site on 7th Street in Gering. Because the fence will have only one entrance point, the general contractor will know which workmen are on the site at any given time.

"The general contractor has already met with the subcontractors to review all OSHA rules and safety requirements for the project," Miller told the board. "The subcontractors also learned the chain of command they'll need to go through when they file progress reports."

Miller added that final drawings for the project have been completed and the contractor plans to meet with the architect to see if ideas for more cost savings are possible.

Masonry work on the project is scheduled to begin the second week of July and the actual cell pods will be delivered in September. The projected completion date is in the fall of 2007. Miller also thanked the board for voting to purchase more land than what was needed for the jail site. She said the project needed the extra dirt during the beginning phases of construction.

Bruce Lefler of Ameritas Financial Corporation reported to the board on the recent bond sale to raise $6 million for construction needs. About $2 million of the bonds sold the first day to private investors. The second day, the sale was opened up to area banks, which purchased another $1,750,000. Another $1 million were sold to other Nebraska financial institutions.

The remaining $1.3-$1.4 million in bonds were purchased by Ameritas, Edward Jones, and A.G. Edwards, and added to their bond inventories to be sold at a later date. "The bond sale was very successful and went smoothly," Lefler told the board. "Usually there's a run on bonds with certain denominations and interest rates, but that didn't happen this time."

Lefler said that $5 million from the bond sale will be available in July for construction costs. The bonds will be retired over a 25 year period at an overall interest rate of 4.65 percent.

Another $6 million bond sale is planned for 2007 to raise the remainder of the $12 million needed to build the jail.