SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- Minnehaha County has passed a major milestone on the long road to expanding the overcrowded County Jail.
The County Commission has unanimously approved a $46 million bond sale to fund construction.
"It's a very exciting day for everyone who has worked very hard on this project," Commission Chair Cindy Heiberger tells Kelo.com News that she expects the bonds to be sold in December.
There will be an impact on taxpayers, eventually.
"I don't think it's going to be astronomical to anyone's property tax, but, yes, there will be an additional something on your tax when we get to that point."
The plan is to make rooms for hundreds of additional prisoners at the downtown jail, now bursting at the seams. Construction will nearly double the capacity.
County Sheriff Mike Milstead says it's a big step in a process going back at least five years.
"If all the stars align, about August of next year, you'll see shovels in the ground, you'll probably see the cranes moving in..." And then Sheriff Milstead estimates it will take another three years to complete the project.
Eventually, the old Elks Club property on Russell Street will be sold off to off set some of the cost of the jail expansion. It ought to fetch a good price as it is next to a golf course and across the street from the Sanford Premier Center.