Houghton County Board Chairman Tom Tikkanen said based on the number of contractors and developers who have been present at recent jail construction-related meetings, he is optimistic of a high attendance at the upcoming Industry Day meeting. (Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — An upcoming Industry Day public meeting was a main topic of discussion during the Houghton County Board of Commissioners work session Monday morning. The Industry Day was approved by the county board last week after it was presented by the Houghton County Jail Committee.

The meeting, which is open to everyone, is hosted by the jail committee. Its purpose is to provide interested contractors and the public an opportunity to offer input to the committee and county board members on the need for a new county jail. The meeting will serve as an initiative to gather ROM cost estimates from local construction and design-build firms and interested local contractors and architectural firms to collaborate on a proposed county jail facility.

Jail committee member and spokesperson Faith Morrison said the committee hopes contractors can produce an ROM (Rough Order of Magnitude Cost) for constructing a facility on the Sharon Avenue property which will accommodate from 60-70 inmates and also contain sufficient spaces for serving that number of inmates, as well as a Sheriff’s office, and support offices.

Participating contractors and firms are requested to review background material posted on the county website and bring their expertise to discussions on how to build a new jail at a cost the public can support.

“The next sort of urgent thing is to get people to come,” Morrison told the board.

Board of Commissioners Chairman Tom Tikkanen said the board is happy with the interest already expressed by local firms.

“We’ve had contractors involved in this overall process, as far as meeting attendance” he said, “and we’ve had inquiries and direct responses from Moyle Development. We’ve had inquiries from Gundlach Champion, and we’ve had other contractors attending meetings. So, I think it’s a pretty well-rounded approach this far.”

In view of that, he said, there is every reason to be optimistic about a good turnout for the two-hour meeting.

“The message to remember is this is not exclusive,” said Tikkanen. “This is open to all interested parties – contractors (and) developers. We obviously love our people here in Houghton County, but we don’t want to be accused overly much of nepotism, if that’s the correct term.”

Morrison suggested the members of the board be present at the meeting, but not as a functioning body.

Trustee Gretchen Janssen said while board members will be present, no decisions will be made during the meeting. Any decisions made at the meeting would only be recommendations from the committee to the board.