While it probably doesn't happen often, this was one time when Mercer County taxpayers might have benefited from a sluggish economy.

At least that's what Mercer County commissioners said Thursday, minutes after they were finished awarding five contracts totaling about $17.9 million for the 265-bed Mercer County Jail that will be built in Findley Township.

"The economy definitely supported our needs here," said Commissioner Chairman Cloyd E. "Gene" Brenneman. "We never expected it to come in at the price it did."

Brenneman said at one point an architectural engineering firm predicted the project could cost as much as $23 million. Commissioners, he added, were hoping it would come in at $19 million.

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