The Eau Claire County jail expansion project is officially on hold.
By a unanimous vote Tuesday evening, the county board decided to pull its rezoning request before the city.

That request, if approved by the city council, would have paved the way for the project to proceed. But opponents of the project managed to convince several city council members not to support the zoning request.

Now the county will create a committee to re-evaluate potential sites for a new jail, including the current site downtown. The deadline for that committee is January 14, but it can ask for a later deadline if it needs more time.

The committee to study locations for a new jail will be made up of seven county board members, two city council members, and six people who live in the county.

Board Chair Gregg Moore said in the meeting that anyone living in the county can contact him about serving on that committee.

Sheriff Ron Cramer says organizers have searched and sorted through plans for a new jail and they thought they we're ready for the next step, construction.

"If you took the positives and negatives and weighed them out, right across the street is the most positive,” Cramer says.

"We're taking a step back, looking at different options, working with the public, working with the community,” says Project Coordinator Frank Draxler.

"I'm not your adversary. What I'm here is trying to look to the future. And I'm not going to be sheriff forever, but I want to make the right decision for the future,” says Cramer.

But delaying that future is costing millions. Draxler says it's costing the county about $250,000 each month the project is pushed back.

That's on top of the $3.9 million already spent planning and designing the project. But Draxler says the money won't go to waste if plans change.

"If it's an addition to the courthouse, maybe we can use just some of it. If it's a new building someplace, maybe we can use most of it,” he says.

Either way, Cramer says something has to be done.

"We may never get consensus on this project, but we've got to move forward,” he says.

If the project is postponed, Draxler says he hopes to have a new plan to present in January.