The Jack Harwell Detention Center on State Highway 6 officially will be turned over to McLennan County this week after the jail’s builder satisfies a few final conditions.

The 816-bed jail originally was to be turned over to the county the first week of January. The builder, Hale-Mills Construction Ltd., completed construction on the facility nearly two months ahead of schedule.

But the company encountered some last-minute problems as it put some final details on the facility.

Last month, for example, hairline cracks began appearing in the concrete cinder blocks making up the jail’s interior walls.

“Basically, we started with a wet concrete wall, and now the building is starting to dry out and causing these stress cracks,” said Gary Adams of DRG Architects PLLC, the consultant for the project.

Cracks would likely appear throughout the building in the first year, especially in the summer months when it gets warmer.

Commissioners had concern that the cracks indicated major structural problems with the new building that would have long-lasting effects.

“Is this going to affect our move-in date (to begin housing inmates)?” said Commissioner Ray Meadows, who also wanted to know how widespread the cracks were.

Jordan Cooper, Hale-Mills’ project manager for the jail, said the cracks are likely minor and are covered by the building’s one-year warranty.

The warranty on the jail went into effect in January after the facility received its certificate of occupancy.

“We’ve taken pictures of the cracks during our walk-through this morning, and I will send them to the structural engineer for his recommendation,” Cooper said. “It is our opinion that these are minor stress cracks that paint and caulking will fix.”

Cooper said 30 warranty-covered issues have been raised, with five still to be addressed.

Warranty issues must be addressed within one week of being reported, though problems related to life-and-safety protection must be resolved within 24 hours, Cooper said.

An electric meter for the kitchen and laundry facility was being installed Tuesday morning.

The meter will be shared with the adjacent McLennan County jail.

The McLennan County Public Facility Corp. — a seven-member board consisting of the county commissioners court, county auditor and county treasurer — voted to release final payment to Hale-Mills pending a report from the structural engineer evaluating the stress cracks and recommending a solution.

The payment release also is contingent on the successful installation of the electric meter and approval by the county engineer, maintenance director and auditor that building plans accurately depict electric meters and panels.

Adams estimated those conditions would be completed by Friday.

County Judge Jim Lewis will sign off on the release of the funds after verifying that the requirements were met.

The Jack Harwell Detention Center will be run by private New Jersey-based detention company Community Education Centers.

CEC Warden Mike Wilson said the company has been unable to hire jailers and support staff for the new jail because the county had not taken possession of the facility.

Wilson said once jailers are hired within the coming weeks, CEC will likely begin taking inmates in April.

CEC is responsible for paying back the $49 million in revenue bonds issued by the public facility corporation to finance the jail’s construction using revenue from housing local, state and federal inmates.

Herbert Bristow, an attorney for the county, said a reserve fund of about $4 million was included in the bond package to be used for repayment of the bonds.

“It would be able to cover the bond repayments for up to two years, but it wouldn’t need to because CEC will begin housing inmates this year to generate that revenue,” Bristow said.

rdennis@wacotrib.com

757-5755

RELATED SEARCHES

• Jail bonds could cost taxpayers if county forced to repay $49 million