Thursday meeting to plan the new jail

Oconee Sheriff Mike Crenshaw has set Thursday as the date for a meeting of parties to be involved in the new jail project—to the cemetery side of the law enforcement center. And it’s shaping up as an all-day session with lots of details to be provided the architects so that they can design what’s to be a 192-prisoner jail. The first-year sheriff is confident there’s enough money set aside to build the jail. “They’re waiting on us. They’re ready to go, so once we approve the plan for them to design, they can go forward with the construction,” Crenshaw said. The county has won approval of the necessary Walhalla zoning change for the work. The sheriff said he thinks, at some point, he’ll bring in Oconee County Council for a review of what’s ahead. Crenshaw says he’s hopeful of a 2014 spring time start of actual construction and eventual completion some time in the middle or latter part of 2015.