Montco prison, sewer authority spar over expansion

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Montgomery County's plans for a $25 million, 512-bed jail expansion are on lockdown over a sewer authority's demands for millions in permit fees.

Even though authorities say the new wing for the Montgomery County Correctional Facility would not increase the number of inmates, the Lower Providence Township Sewer Authority is billing the county $4.6 million to sign off on construction.

The county, which cannot build without the authority's permission, has balked at the demand on the ground that toilets wouldn't be flushed more with the expansion. Negotiations are under way.

"We're going to have the same number of people whether we build or don't build," county solicitor Barry Miller said yesterday.

Asked about the matter, the sewer authority's superintendent, Thomas J. Cicippio Jr., said he was "not authorized to discuss it with anyone."

The jail has about 1,500 beds and about 1,900 inmates most weekends, warden Julio Algarin said. The expansion could be finished within a year, he said.

The new minimum-security wing in the Eagleville facility would provide more appropriate housing for inmates now sleeping in spare rooms, including a gym, County Commissioners Chairman James R. Matthews said.

"They're climbing over each other over there," he said. Despite the county's assertion that it shouldn't owe anything, it offered $2.1 million to the sewer authority to drop the issue. That offer was rebuffed, and Miller said it was no longer on the table.