The Nevada County Quorum Court on Tuesday evening spent the opening portion of its regular January meeting wrestling with a question that has followed the county since the new jail opened: when, if ever, the facility will truly be able to sustain itself financially without repeated infusions from the county’s general fund.

Due to a technical issue, only the audio of the meeting is available, but it can be heard by clicking on the YouTube video linked below the photos.

Justice of the Peace Patricia Grimes began the discussion, saying she had gone by the courthouse earlier in the week to review the county’s finances and was troubled by what she found.

“At one time, I realized that our general fund was really short, because it was like $232,000 or something like that, because we had to bail out the jail,” Grimes said. “I understand the jail is very essential to this whole community in this county, but I think when it happened, they never paid the $50,000 that they owe us from last year. Is that correct? They still owe us $50,000 from last year.”

County Treasurer Lorelai Hale affirmed this was so.

Grimes said she feared the county was setting itself up for a recurring problem.

“I just think that that’s still going to be happening all the time,” she said. “By the end of the year, we’ll have to pay them out again, and it might be even more, and I don’t like that.”

County Judge Mike Otwell responded that a series of mechanical problems--most notably with the jail’s air-conditioning system, which caused the jail not to be able to house inmates from other the parts of the state and generate funds from reimbursements last year--had sharply reduced the number of inmates the facility could house, cutting into expected revenue.

Otwell said repairs are now finished and additional HVAC units have been installed.

“According to what I’ve been invested on, they appear to be back full,” he said, referring to the current number of inmates in the jail. “Now, if they can maintain that fullness, then we shouldn’t be in the shape that we’re in now.”

Justices Dennis Pruitt and Willie Wilson reported they were told in the past the jail was expected to be fully self-sustaining, noting promises that were made to voters when earlier sales taxes were approved.

“When we decided to build that new jail, we asked the question, if there was not any inmates in there at all, would it be able to sustain itself on its own,” Pruitt said.  He reported the answer was that it would.

Wilson said the court was told at the time that the tax structure would cover operations.

“We were told flatly yes,” Wilson said. “That’s what we went out and told people.”

Otwell said rising costs and inflation had changed the picture.

“I don’t think that they anticipated the inflation, if you will, the increase in cost of running,” he said. “The jail was never built to be fully sustainable. It was to stop the bleeding [of county revenue].”

County Treasurer Lorelai Hale provided a detailed rundown of incoming funds she expects by later this month, totaling more than $65,000 from various sources, including housing inmates for other jurisdictions.

Still, Otwell cautioned against assuming the jail’s financial problems are solved.

“I can’t guarantee nothing,” he said. “If they don’t go spend happy, I’m thinking they might be able to make a little headway.”

Following the jail discussion, the court heard a presentation on what County Attorney James Stayton described as growing “visual blight” in Prescott and parts of Nevada County.

Stayton said first impressions matter, especially to visitors and potential investors.

“If you get off at exit 44 or you get off at exit 46 and you’re from out of town, you’re coming to check out Prescott,” he said. “That intersection [of highways 44 and 46] was described to me as the ‘corner of chaos and despair.’”

He cited burned-out buildings, trash-strewn properties and neglected yards.

“The first impression one gets from Prescott is that location,” Slayton said. “I don’t know how many people would want to come on into town after seeing that.”

Stayton said community leaders, service clubs and church groups have been discussing ways to address the problem, starting with basic cleanup efforts.

“We’re going to try to start out and try to make this area better,” he said. “Truly by first off starting the trash pickup. … Just because it’s hard or it’s complicated doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done.”

He encouraged residents to attend an upcoming Prescott City Council meeting on January 20th at 6:30 pm at the Prescott Senior Center to push for action, stressing that while the issue is not solely the quorum court’s responsibility, it affects the entire county.

“We have great people,” Stayton said. “But we’ve got to do better than this.”

JP Willie Wilson said in speaking with Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Director Mary Godwin, he had understood that legal issues prevented the removal of blighted buildings at the site.  Stayton replied that he understood that was the case but that more progress could be made resolving those issues. He said he had not heard any recent developments in that case.

Earlier in the meeting, Valarie Cobb updated the court on recent and upcoming activities of the Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce, of which she is Executive Director, saying the holiday season was both busy and successful.

“We had the Christmas Parade. It went really well,” Cobb said. “We actually anticipated a little more than we had last year, and we ran out of things. I hated we ran out, but it was a good thing.”

Cobb said the return of Christmas on the Square, held at the courthouse square after the parade drew strong crowds.

“That was a really big night,” she said. “It was a really fun night.”

Looking ahead, Cobb said the chamber is already planning for spring events.

“We hit the ground running,” she said. “We have a chamber board meeting tomorrow to start planning the chamber banquet in the spring and Easter events. So everything’s going to kick back up. No rest.”

Sheila Ballard, representing the Nevada County Extension Service, outlined a full slate of educational programs and community events.

“With the holidays, we do Christmas Cookies with Santa at the library,” Ballard said, noting participation from local third graders.

She said the Extension Service will restart its “Cooking for a Change” classes, focusing on recipes that help with diabetes and heart health, and will host a program on child human trafficking later this month.

“We have a program coming up on January 26th on child human trafficking,” Ballard said. “It’ll be at six o’clock at the extension office.”

Ballard also highlighted upcoming a regional 4-H career development event at Hope’s Hempstead Hall in February and said additional financial literacy classes are being planned.

County Judge Mike Otwell also told the court about a new piece of equipment scheduled to arrive at the county landfill next week, saying it could both reduce costs and eventually generate revenue. Otwell said the machine is designed to process bulky waste such as lumber, appliances and scrap metal. “This machine heats it up, separates lumber with nails in it, crushes the lumber up, and then you’ve got some free mulch. It separates the nails from the lumber.” 

Otwell said the county would be able to sell the recovered scrap metal and reduce the expense of digging new landfill pits. “The pits that we dig out there to bury trash cost a lot of money,” he said. “Between the cost of getting pits and then being able to haul the scrap iron and sell it, I just like this—this thing is going to pay for itself.” Otwell invited justices to come see a demonstration once the machine is set up. “He just needs to do it one day next week,” Otwell said, suggesting a 1:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon visit. “It’s amazing. I think it’s going to be a help, turning some money to help support the landfill.”

At the close of the meeting, Grimes addressed an issue she said continues to confuse residents who harvest timber in the county.

“I’m getting tired of meeting people at Rosston and that little café [coming to me to] tell me they can’t get permits,” Grimes said.

She reminded the public that logging permits are available at the courthouse during regular weekday hours.

“Logging permits are Monday through Thursday,” she said, adding that the information has been posted at the courthouse, on social media and now shared with the news media.

Grimes said she hopes the clarification will cut down on misunderstandings and make the process easier for landowners and loggers alike.

This article was written with the assistance of ChatGPT.