CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – A vote has been tabled until further notice, but several people asked City Council to not approve spending for proposed changes at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail.

According to a statement from Afton Schneider, the city’s communications director, Superintendent Col. Martin Kumer requested more time to review proposed bids to set construction costs. The statement goes on to says that City Manager Sam Sanders is working with ACRJ officials to set up a new date for a vote.

Everyone who spoke about the jail during public comment asked Council to vote no, including Rosia Parker, activist and member of the People’s Project.

“We need to invest in the village and not the jails,” she said. “Some of our citizens commit crimes just to have somewhere to stay, sleep and eat,” she said. “There should be more services in place to help the community instead of the jail expansion funding. Our youth need more diverse service such as proper probation, better intake services, counselors, more services to the youth in the school system. Money should be put into programs that may be cut due to federal changes in the near future.”

Richard Allen isn’t against improvements in general but thinks the money could be better spent.

“I have been at the regional jail, and I appreciate its services, and I know that we need a jail just like we need police,” he said. “We need to have these structures and consequences around us. But at the same time, $49 million . . . still seems to me like a very, very large amount to spend on the things that I hear the money is detailed for.”

Improvements include ADA compliance and inadequacies in the facility’s HVAC system. The upgrades do not include room for more inmates.

The costs will be borne by Charlottesville, Albemarle County and Nelson County. Albemarle Supervisors are scheduled to vote on Wednesday. Nelson County’s next meeting is on Tuesday, June 10, but the agenda has not yet been posted.