The Woodbury County Board of Supervisors, along with the LEC Authority, may accept a settlement offer for the construction of the Law Enforcement Center in its meeting Tuesday.
A settlement offer of Woodbury County with Goldberg Group Architects and Introba Inc. is concerning the ongoing litigation over the county jail that opened after many delays.
Mark Nelson, chairman of the board of supervisors, told Siouxland Public Media on Monday, “It is a very good offer.”
According to the agenda, the LEC Authority and County will hold a joint meeting and may accept over $3 million from the two architect firms. The memo says the authority must accept the project as final, and both the authority and county have to vote on and approve the settlement.
It also says GGA and Introba will pay a total of $3.9 million to the mediator to disburse over $900,000 to Hausmann Construction and the remaining amount to the Authority and county.
The authority will use the funds to pay for any remaining work on the project and related legal expenses, and remainder to the county.
Due to ongoing mechanical and construction delays, opening the new county jail was delayed by seven months to August 2024. The original estimated cost of the building was $54 million, and it ended up costing $69 million.
The new county jail was constructed after determining that fixing the former jail would cost more. In March the demolition of the former county jail was completed.
