The Traill County Commission will not bring a county office/jail complex building project to voters -- at least not this year.
The commission had until early September to approve a ballot measure for the Nov. 11 election.
No vote on the issue took place at the County Board meeting Tuesday.
"The voters made the call earlier, and we respected it," Commissioner Ron Peterson said Wednesday.
In April, voters rejected a $7 million project to build a county office building and jail complex. The final vote was 778 against, 690 in favor. The 47 percent approval fell 13 percentage points below the required margin to pass.
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The county had proposed building an addition to the present courthouse in Hillsboro, N.D., that would house the county social services offices and a law enforcement center with a jail. It also would have included a County Commission chamber, a large meeting room for county and public use and offices for the state's attorney and county water resource district.
The county social services offices and the county jail currently are located in a two-story structure that was built in 1955.
While the jail recently passed a state inspection late last year, the inspection report pointed to deteriorating physical conditions, as well as a lack of security and accessibility.
The social services agency lacks space. It also shares common space with the jail entrance, which officials say is a security hazard.
Commission members spent the last two meetings debating whether to bring the same plan to a vote again or to reduce the project scope and estimated cost.
In the end, they agreed not to pursue the issue any further this year.
"We brought in a building we thought would fit our needs for quite a few years," Peterson said. "We'll fine tune it and probably bring it back next year."
Reach Bonham at (701) 780-1110; (800) 477-6572, ext. 110; or send e-mail to kbonham@gfherald.com .
