BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – The construction of the new Whatcom County Jail has some updates to its planning timeline.

Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu announced the updates during the county council meeting on Tuesday night.

Sidhu sent a memo to the council detailing the plans for timeline in developing a new jail earlier this week. He says that the effort to develop a scope budget and financing for the jail will be kicked into high gear this spring.

Discussions will start off with a meeting between bond consultants, the county council and the Finance Advisory Board in mid-February.

Sidhu adds in the memo that budget for the jail’s construction will be a council decision and correlates to jail capacity.

The Executive’s Office’s priorities will lie with providing information to council regarding budget while County Facilities and the Sheriff’s Office will focus on design and construction.