ESCANABA — Members of the Delta County Board of Commissioners reviewed the history of efforts to establish a new Delta County Correctional Facility during a meeting held in the new facility’s rec room Tuesday.

Delta County Administrator Philip Strom shared a brief presentation about the facility.

“I did want to take a minute to walk through some of the key highlights of this jail project,” he said.

Strom said the completion of the new correctional facility was the result of more than three years of planning.

“It really goes beyond that — when you look at the work done by (former) Sheriff (Gary) Ballweg, previous administrations and previous boards, this has been a project in the works for a long time,” he said. According to Strom, some of the key people and organizations involved with the project throughout its history were subcontractors, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Miron Construction, and consulting firms Byce and Associates and Securitecture.

Along with current Delta County Board of Commissioners members Chair Patrick Johnson, Vice Chair Gerard Tatrow (who is serving on the county’s jail committee), Theresa Nelson, David Moyle and David Rivard, Strom highlighted former board members John Malnar (who once served on the jail committee) and Mary Harrington — as well as former Delta County Administrator Ryan Bergman — for their involvement with the jail project.

Strom shared a timeline of the correctional facility project as part of his presentation.

“We had an unsuccessful millage campaign in May of 2016 — 23 votes decided that one,” he said. A committee to assist with the passage of a correctional facility millage (led by Ballweg) was formed that summer, and a new millage request was approved by voters in November 2016. Byce and Associates joined the project in March 2017; in September 2017, a USDA loan was approved. A groundbreaking ceremony for the project was also held that September, and construction on the project continued from then through January 2019.

Strom’s presentation also included pictures of the correctional facility.

This part of the presentation started with photos from the facility’s groundbreaking ceremony and continued with images of the construction process for the facility, ending with photos of the facility in its current, essentially complete state.

Near the end of his presentation, Strom thanked those who were a part of the correctional facility project for their efforts.

“The most important factor of this project has been the people involved,” he said.

In other business, the board:

– presented certificates of appreciation to people and groups involved with the correctional facility project. These certificates were given to Bergman (who was unable to attend Tuesday’s meeting), Miron Construction, Byce and Associates, the Delta County Sheriff’s Office’s jail transition team (consisting of Jason Thibeault, Jeffrey Iverson and Jeffrey Vallier) and Tatrow.

– approved a contract for inspection services with Marquette County. Under this contract, Dan King (who was previously an independent contractor providing plumbing and mechanical inspection services to Delta County) or another Marquette County employee with similar credentials will spend one day each week in Delta County.

– okayed Delta County Airport Manager Jeffery Sierpien’s request to attend Delta Force.

– voted in favor of allowing Delta County District Court to use a Facebook page created for the court by Court Administrator Emily DeSalvo.