The first draft of a comprehensive look at the future of publicly owned county facilities hit Warren County supervisors’ desks Thursday, the first step in an $85,000 study started last August that will determine the fate of vital county infrastructure.

William Peacock of Central Mississippi Planning and Development presented the report, described as preliminary, to the board in an informal session Thursday.

Using information gathered from interviews with county employees and in some cases elected officials, the draft analyzed current use and any space problems in six buildings housing county government and law enforcement entities and the six fire protection districts.

Commanding the most attention from supervisors was the jail and E-911 operations.

Space problems inside the jail listed in the report included a lack of adequate space for storage, waiting room space for visitors and small kitchen facilities. The number of beds will have to increase from its current 142 to 350 based on anticipated needs in the next 20 years, the report also stated, adding that the number of beds for female prisoners must also increase from 16 to 50.

That expected jump in the prison population, coupled with numerous grand jury recommendations toward a new jail based on factors such as its overall layout, have been the key reasons for building a new jail.

Supervisors and those who keep watch of the county coffers have only agreed that the county will have come up with a sizable amount of money to finance a new jail.

&#8220We just don’t know exactly where the money will come from,” county administrator John Smith said.

As for E-911, the initial report did not take into account the recent purchase of the former Southern Printing and city maintenance building by the county from the city of Vicksburg.

Once the electrical system of the site can be properly outfitted to accommodate new dispatching and mapping equipment, one new radio tower and a backup generator, the centralized dispatch center will move there.

However, recommendations in the report suggesting that kitchen space, bunk beds and showers for the 17 dispatchers and four supervisory staff were &#8220badly needed” were quickly torpedoed at Thursday’s meeting.

&#8220We’re not going to provide a hotel for their family,” District 5 Supervisor Richard George said.

Other early-stage recommendations included building an annex over the current courthouse parking lot with parking underneath. It also proposes new annexes for criminal court and civil court.

Options for enhancing space at Warren County Justice Court included expanding to the lot immediately north of its location at 921 Farmer St.

The former Justice Court site, at Grove and Adams streets, will be reviewed next month by the permitting committee of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History as a possible Mississippi Landmark, further complicating that building’s future use by the county.

The report gave generally favorable reviews of available space at the Board of Supervisors offices on Jackson Street, the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library, the fire protection district and the road department offices off U.S. 61 North.

Absent from this first draft was the county-owned U.S. 80 bridge across the Mississippi River. In December, the Vicksburg Bridge Commission approved applying for a $50 million federal grant, funneled through the Mississippi Department of Transportation, that would fund a pedestrian park atop the 76-year old structure, and a feasibility study of the idea to be done by ABMB Engineers Inc. The bridge has been closed to vehicular traffic since 1998.

CMPDD officials said in August the full report would take 18 to 24 months to prepare, with the next step being a first draft of a land- and road-use plan, expected to be done by midsummer.

In other business, supervisors agreed to call off talks scheduled for today with city officials over ambulance service to areas outside city limits.

At issue is the amount the county owes the city for providing life support and rescue services to county residents. Under an interlocal agreement, the county agreed to pay $350,000 for such services, but have not made any payments this fiscal year.

County officials have argued that no invoices have been received from the city during that time.