PORTAGE TOWNSHIP — The Portage Township Board weighed in Monday on an initial draft of a proposed agreement with the City of Houghton on the potential Houghton County jail site on Sharon Avenue.

The Public Act 425 agreement will transfer the 6.2-acre property to the city for up to nine years to give the county time to start construction of the new complex, which would include a jail, sheriff’s department and district court. The nine-year period had been moved up from seven, said township Trustee Bill Fink, who drafted the agreement.

The Houghton City Council last week passed a resolution backing the deal in principle. Portage Township will submit the draft agreement to the township and city attorneys early this week and provide a copy to the county for review.

State law requires the sheriff’s office to be within the county seat. Functionally, the jail should also be adjacent to the sheriff’s department, Fink said during Monday’s meeting.

The county is purchasing the site from the First Apostolic Lutheran Church, which is building a bigger church nearby.

The agreement would take effect Jan. 1. If the county does not begin construction of a new jail within nine years, the property would revert to Portage Township. If the county does build a jail that meets professional and national standards, Houghton will permanently annex the site.

“Realistically, if we don’t have a new jail on that site within nine years, the federal government will likely have ordered us to construct one and the state will likely have closed the Houghton County Jail and we’ll have to transport inmates back and forth between Marquette, Baraga and Ontonagon,” Fink said. “It’s going to be a mess.”

The property would also fall back under Portage Township if the county sells any part of it before the jail construction.

Future boards and councils would be able to revise the agreement if necessary, Fink said.

The county board is expected to propose a millage to fund construction of the new complex. Fink urged board members to mount a “vigorous campaign” to make sure the millage passes.

Fink said unlike a 2018 proposal to build a jail expansion behind the courthouse, this was “the right place, the right time.”

“This is ideal,” he said. “This is a location that is removed from residential areas. It’s enough acreage in one ownership to make things happen.”

Supervisor Bruce Petersen said the last campaign had not done enough to spell out the internal costs and what taxpayers would get for their money.

“This is an excellent location … all three units of government seem to think this is the right place,” he said. “So hopefully it will fly this time.”