Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette The Houghton County Board discusses the county Jail Task Force during its meeting Tuesday.

HOUGHTON — Houghton County’s Jail Task Force will meet again on Sept. 4.

The county board set the date at its regular August meeting Tuesday. The meeting will be held 6 p.m. at the Houghton County Circuit Court.

The board decided not to follow a request from one of the jail task force members to standardize the number of beds in each proposal. At its most recent meeting, the task force split into subcommittees studying four options: a jail addition behind the courthouse similar to one proposed last year: a new facility on county-owned property across Dodge Street that would house the jail and sheriff’s department; an all-new complex somewhere within the Houghton city limits, and a jail at the site of Camp Kitwen, the former minimum-security state prison near Painesdale.

“I know the argument that somebody gives the (courthouse) parking lot one, is that it is not enough beds and not enough room for expansion,” said Administrator Eric Forsberg. “Do you really want to bring it down to that level?”

Commissioner Roy Britz supported bringing the work camp to the jail facility. An expanded or new jail should also account for a growing number of female inmates, Britz said.

“I think a design right now is putting the cart before the horse,” he said. “We’ve got to come to an agreement with the public on where we’re going to go and what we’re going to do.”

Chairman Al Koskela reiterated his belief that taxpayers would not support a facility such as the 110-bed proposal, which he said would cost too much. The number had been based on consultants’ projections of future needs in the county, Forsberg said.

Operational costs under each proposal should also be identified, said Commissioner Glenn Anderson.

Responding to a letter from the League of Women Voters of the Copper Country, Anderson proposed posting notice of the task force subcommittee meetings. Board members agreed with the idea.

The subcommittee meetings, which do not have commissioners present, are not subject to the Open Meetings Act. The notices will be posted 18 hours ahead of time at the courthouse and online at the jail task force section of the county’s website.