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Last-minute tours help push for new Clinton County Jail

Clinton County voters will decide Tuesday on plans to build a new $22- million  jail and law center. Polls will be open in Clinton County from 7 a.m. until 8 p....

Clinton County voters will decide Tuesday on plans to build a new $22- million  jail and law center.

Polls will be open in Clinton County from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

On Monday, there's an open house for a complex that Clinton wants to close.

"The safety issue is the biggest part right now," said 9-1-1 Dispatcher Marcia DeBoer.

Just hours before voting begins, dozens of visitors were deciding during a last-minute tour.

"I think we can make a better decision to vote on it," said voter Ronni Sue Schoenle.

Don and Ronni Sue Schoenle looked at the cramped spaces and made up  their minds.

"Before I came, I was kind of against the idea," Don said.  "But I'm convinced that something needs to be done."

That something will cost the Schoenles and everybody else in Clinton County about $35 each year.

After nearly a decade in the works, the time seems right for the major project.

"I've had a lot of comments like, 'I just never realized it was this bad,'" said Lt. Craig Eberhart, jail administrator.

So bad that supporters warn that problems will just get more expensive if the referendum doesn't pass.

Each year of delays will add about a million dollars to the bill.

"The longer you wait, the more expensive it's going to get," Don said.

If the vote gets at least 60 percent in favor of the new project, it could be ready by late 2018.

"Whenever you say $22-million, it's a hard sell," Ronni Sue said.  "You need to think carefully about it."

They'll think carefully about closing this jail to open a new one in Clinton.

 

 

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