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R -20 -11 <br />A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE CLOSURE OF THE <br />CRAWFORD STREET JAIL ON OR BEFORE AUGUST 15, 2020. <br />WHEREAS, the jail located on Crawford Street was originally constructed in 1969 (the <br />"Crawford Jail "); and <br />WHEREAS, the condition of the Crawford Jail has significantly deteriorated over time; <br />and <br />WHEREAS, independent consultants have reviewed the condition of the Crawford Jail <br />and it has been estimated that the cost of maintaining the Jail as habitable in the near term will <br />likely exceed $31 million; and <br />WHEREAS, the City does not have the financial resources to both perform substantial <br />renovations to the Jail and provide the necessary funding for education and other services in <br />Portsmouth; and <br />WHEREAS, the Hampton Roads Regional Jail ( "HRRJ ") was constructed in Portsmouth <br />in 1996 and is in superior physical condition and better suited to provide the services necessary <br />for the housing and care of inmates; and <br />WHEREAS, under the Amended Service Agreement between the City of Portsmouth <br />and the members of the HRRJ, the City pays for 250 beds per year and has the right to an <br />additional 42 beds, for a total of 292; and <br />WHEREAS, the City is currently using only a small portion of the HRRJ beds for which <br />it is paying; and <br />WHEREAS, in Resolution R -12 -34 adopted on August 14, 2012, City Council stated <br />that "the Civic Center [of which the Crawford Jail is a part] is badly deteriorated, is at or past the <br />end of its usable life, and has no realistic potential for adaptive re -use on financially prudent <br />terms" and Resolved that "[it] hereby finds and determines that it is in the public interest to <br />demolish the Civic Center as soon as it is practicable to do so "; and <br />WHEREAS, the only fiscally responsible course for the City of Portsmouth is to vacate <br />and close the Crawford Jail as expeditiously as possible; <br />NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Portsmouth, <br />Virginia, that it hereby authorizes and directs the City Manager to close the Crawford Jail, with <br />the closure to be effective no later than August 15, 2020; and <br />BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that thereafter, in accordance with applicable law, the <br />City of Portsmouth shall use the Hampton Roads Regional Jail as the jail for the City of <br />Portsmouth; and <br />