One of the region's most prolific architectural firms has been retained by Butler County to handle the new county jail.

L. Robert Kimball Associates, of Ebensburg, will be paid $1.6 million to design the 512-bed lockup.

The firm won the recommendation of a six-member committee that reviewed four architectural services proposals. The committee was made up of the three county commissioners, county Planning Director David Johnston, county Prison Warden Rich Gigliotti and prison planning consultant Bill Garnos.

Kimball was evaluated on cost, experience and ability to finish the job in a timely fashion. It received the highest rating from the committee and also had offered to do the work at the lowest cost.

The county had issued a request for proposals Feb. 13 and had four offers by March 11.

Kimball has promised to have the new jail open in 30 to 33 months of the date the county acquires title to the land for the facility.

Meanwhile, county commissioners agreed last week to request proposals for a construction management firm for the project, a move suggested by Kimball. The idea is to have an independent firm supervise the day-to-day operations of all contractors, keeping the work on schedule and holding change orders to a minimum.

The county used a construction manager when it built its government center. County Solicitor Julie Graham said she hopes to have someone on board within six weeks.

Also related to the jail project, county commissioners agreed to a request by the Butler parking authority to cover the costs of hiring a traffic consultant to certify that the authority won't be negatively afffected by selling a parking lot to the county for $485,000. The new jail would be built on the lot at West Cunningham and Washington streets.

The building would extend from the county's existing prison annex at Vogely Way and Washington Street to the old Job Services building, now a city district justice office, along West Cunningham. Church Street, an alley that runs parallel to Washington Street through the parking lot, would be closed.

The county already agreed to pay $5,000 for a legal opinion the parking authority must obtain as to whether the authority can sell the lot despite the fact that the bond issue that helped build it isn't yet paid off.

Graham said the cost of the traffic consultant should not exceed $1,000.

Though the county has an option to buy the parking lot, commissioners have not yet formally voted to locate the new jail there. Environmental tests must be done, and the county must get approval from the city for its plans. Two potential problems are a possible shortage of on-site parking and the prospective strain on the city sewer system.

Meanwhile, Kimball will begin working with prison consultant Garnos to do a comparison of costs associated with building on the Downtown site versus at Sunnyview Nursing Home. The county owns the Sunnyview site, which was preferred by a site selection committee. Commissioners Chairman Scott Lowe has said he favors that site, but commissioners Glenn Anderson and James Kennedy have said they're against it.

At no cost to the county, Kimball analyzed the two options, saying the costs would be about equal. Graham said Kimball and Garnos now will look at the costs in a more detailed way, paying attention to the costs of extending utility services to the new jail, wherever it is built.

There's no firm timetable for completing that analysis.