COXSACKIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The Greene County Sheriff says he hopes crews will begin construction in the next couple of weeks on a new $47 million jail facility off Route 9W in Coxsackie. 

The county has been sending inmates to other nearby jails since the sheriff closed the Greene County Jail last year citing structural and safety concerns. The county has spent $240,000 in 2019 boarding out inmates to other counties. 

Last year, the jail averaged between 40 and 45 inmates a day at the old jail. Planners were originally going to build an 80-bed jail, but that’s since been reduced to 72, and may still decrease to 64 beds. 

Opponents of increasing taxes for the new jail suggested having a shared facility with nearby Columbia County. Sheriff Gregory Seeley says that’s out of the question because the commission on corrections said shared contracts between two counties is against the law. 

Crews are waiting for final approval from the DEC to begin construction.