A torrential downpour on July 9 during the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Mercer County Jail should have been a sign of things to come for county officials.

The rest of July was a near complete washout for work on the project, but despite the weather -- the wettest July on record -- some progress has been made on what is expected to be an 18-month undertaking, according to Commissioner Chairman Cloyd E. "Gene" Brenneman.

Brenneman, the board liaison to the project, told Mercer County Prison Board members Monday the site for the 265-bed state-of-the-art facility in Findley Township has been cleared of all the trees and brush. In addition, the storm water retention pond is close to completion, he said, and there is a wetlands area that will be preserved.

"The DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) has made two inspections of the site and they are satisfied with the storm water retention pond and the wetlands," Brenneman said, adding he expects work for power, water and sewers to also begin soon.

But as important as the work under way on the site is, an equally important task according to Warden Jeffrey P. Gill needs a "groundbreaking" of its own in the near future. Gill asked the board to consider establishing a transition team as soon as possible to begin the administrative work necessary to get the staff ready for the opening of a new jail sometime in late 2004 or early 2005.

"The transition team will plan for the operation of the new facility and arrange for the training of the staff," Gill said. "They're going to develop all policies and procedures for the new facility. ... Basically every aspect of the prison has got to be developed by the transition team."

Gill said everything has to be re-written, including policies, procedures, security issues, standing orders and the handbook.

"It takes a year just to get all the paperwork organized," he said.

Gill said he and other officials recently traveled to county jails in Beaver and Armstrong counties to glean as much information as possible regarding the steps taken when they built new facilities in recent years.

"It's real evident that we need a transition team right now," Gill said. "Both of those facilities had a transition team in place from the day they broke ground. It's as critical to the success of the project as building the building is."

So with the groundbreaking nearly two months removed, Gill was hoping to impress on the board the necessity to get moving on putting a team in place. That team, he said, could be composed of a combination of correctional staff, or union members, and administrative staff. Beaver County, which has a jail similar to what is being constructed here, had a five-man team, while Armstrong County had a three-man team, Gill said.

"Tell us what you want to do to make this work and we'll figure out how we're going to pay for it," said board member and Mercer County District Attorney Jim Epstein. "... In the next week or so, tell us precisely who you want and then we'll figure out a way to get those people on board for you."

Gill said he's leaning toward a team that might include some existing staff members and some new ones. He said he'd like to present a proposal to the board prior to the next meeting.

"Whatever you need down the road, we're going to do," Epstein emphasized. "Just get us the details."