Lucas County commissioners are again searching for a location to build a new $145 million jail after they backed off plans to put the facility on Angola Road.

The original plan called for construction of a 650-bed jail — and a state-funded 150-bed community-based correctional facility — on 30 acres just west of South Byrne Road. Commissioners decided to abandon that proposal this week, citing community opposition as a significant reason for their reversal.

“We listened to community input,” Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak said. “We listened and we’re making adjustments.”

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Now officials have roughly four months to find a new location for the project, if they want the state to fund the proposed community-based correctional facility. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction will contribute $15.2 million for the facility, but the money comes with a deadline.

“The state of Ohio will withdraw those funds if we don’t have a firm commitment on a location by early December,” Commissioner Carol Contrada said.

A new search is under way, with officials considering locations both inside and outside of Toledo, according to statement released Wednesday. The county had previously limited its search to within the city limits.

Mrs. Contrada said two new sites have surfaced since the July announcement for the Angola property, one inside Toledo and one outside.

“Neither site is ideal, but they each have different strengths which outweigh the Angola site,” she said.

Commission members declined to disclose specifics about locations now being considered, citing the need to prevent speculation that may increase property prices.

Commissioners last month took steps to place a 1.9-mill property tax levy on the Nov. 7 ballot to fund construction of the proposed $145 million jail, and raise $7.7 million annually to pay for jail operations. They announced two days later a $357,025 purchase agreement for three parcels on Angola Road.

The new jail would replace the county’s aging nine-story jail at Spielbusch Avenue in downtown Toledo.

Lucas County Sheriff John Tharp previously described the old jail as a “cesspool,” plagued by a leaking roof, broken pipes, and faulty elevators. Officials have said the current jail is unsustainable financially.

“There’s a major cost savings to taxpayers when this jail is actually built,” Megan Vahey Casiere, the county’s deputy administrator, said. “We’re projecting a 15 to 20 percent cost savings, so fiscally, we have to do it.”

The decision to remove the Angola property from consideration came after discussions in executive session on Tuesday, and continuing general discussion on Wednesday as the county considered public input and gathered information about the two new potential properties, Mrs. Contrada said.

In walking away from the purchase agreement for the Angola property, the county will lose $13,750 provided by the Lucas County Economic Development Corp. The funding was used as earnest money.

Residents of South Toledo who organized protests against the Angola site proposal greeted the county’s decision to scrap that location with happiness.

Bobbi Blunk helped organize a Facebook group called “Lucas County Citizens Against The Neighborhood Jail Proposal,” which boasted more than 1,100 members as of Wednesday.

She posted a live video to Facebook after hearing Wednesday’s news.

“We did it!” she yelled into the camera, thanking the nearly 2,000 people who signed a petition against putting the jail in her neighborhood.

“We proved that we, as citizens, we matter. Our voices matter. And it's 110 percent true that you put your minds to something and you can beat it,” she said.

Mrs. Blunk added the group's fight is not done.

“This is not over, because we have to make sure that we stick by what we said: ‘Not in anybody's neighborhood,’ ” she said.

Commission President Pete Gerken on Wednesday said: “Any community initially is going to say a jail is not what they long for in their neighborhood,” but there are benefits.

“People in the Angola Road area didn’t see the value or importance of 300 people working there [and] added police presence,” he said. “Those things that we thought might be attractive to that community [are] not and we respect that, but it may be attractive somewhere else.”

Some sites suggested by the public such as Raceway Park, Southwyck, and several locations along Greenbelt Parkway have already been considered and ruled out for a variety of reasons.

Mrs. Contrada said commissioners plan to do a better job of communicating the various challenges of locating the jail and why certain sites aren’t a viable option.

“We need to help the public understand why the criteria we look at are so important for building a jail,” she said. “There aren’t that many choices that really are appropriate.”

Staff writers Zack Lemon and Sarah Elms contributed to this report.

Contact Alexandra Mester amester@theblade.com, 419-724-6066 or on Twitter @AlexMesterBlade.

First Published August 16, 2017, 11:19 p.m.