City, county spar over jail expansion

The Will County Jail expansion project is not being held hostage by Joliet planners, City Manager John Mezera said during a budget session Wednesday.

But Mezera also insisted that approval of the expansion project was part of a package deal cut months ago with county officials. That deal included the sale of the state's attorney's office building at 121 N. Chicago St. to the city.

It also included the sale of county-owned land next to the downtown courthouse to extend Chicago Street between Washington and Jefferson streets.

In addition, the county would sell the city a parking lot at the First Midwest Bank building at Jefferson and Ottawa streets. The county currently is negotiating to buy the building from the bank. The city would purchase the lot from the county to expand its police department parking.

In exchange for the land, Joliet officials agreed to move the county's $55 million jail expansion through the city's planning process, Mezera said. The jail project already has sailed through the plan commission but has yet to be placed on the city council's agenda for final approval.

"The county agreed to this process months and months ago," Mezera said. "We agreed it would all be in one package."

But county board Chairman Jim Moustis complained publicly last week that the city was holding the jail project captive. Moustis told The Herald News he didn't like the jail expansion being tied to these other property sales.

Joliet Mayor Art Schultz has brokered a meeting between city and county officials in an effort to break the stalemate. The meeting is scheduled for next week. If it yields a compromise, the earliest the jail expansion could be placed on a city council agenda would be in January.

The city has included $1.6 million in its proposed 2006 budget to buy the county properties and construct the Chicago Street connection. Mezera, however, told councilmen during Wednesday's budget session that the terms of the sale are subject to negotiation.

Mezera said developers have expressed interest in constructing a 200-room hotel with interior parking and a "Bennigan's-type restaurant" on the state's attorney's property. The hotel could connect to The Rialto Square Theatre across the street, he said. Hotel plans were announced publicly 18 months ago, but the city's inability to acquire the property has held up the project.

In other budget news, Mezera and Councilwoman Jan Quillman sparred over police department hiring. Quillman does not want the department to follow through with a reduction in the number of officers assigned to Joliet's grade schools.

Police Chief David Gerdes plans to reassign five of the 15 school officers to street patrols on the near West Side. The remaining officers would be assigned to groups of schools.

Quillman, however, wants to keep all the cops in the schools. She suggested the city hold off on $500,000 in upgrades and repairs to the downtown library to hire five new officers for the city's streets.

Mezera, however, noted that the proposed budget already calls for adding four police sergeant positions and five officer positions. And he insisted that the police chief should have the discretion to redeploy officers where they are needed.

"We are more than adequately staffing the police department for growth," Mezera said.

The proposed budget also calls for the monthly garbage fees to rise by $3 to $10.75. The fee hike is the last in a series of increases the council approved as part of a five-year package back in 2001. The monthly fee has been rising by $2 each year since 2002.

Finally, impact fees on newly constructed houses will increase by an average of $400 to cover the cost of building new fire stations. The average fee on a new house will jump to $1,500 on Jan. 1 if the budget is approved. The fee will increase to $2,600 in 2008 under the city's plan.

The council will further review the $240 million budget at a meeting that has yet to be scheduled.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.