Cincinnati officials are calling for a truce in the feud over building a juvenile jail in Bond Hill.

        Council members Alicia Reece and Pat DeWine wrote to Hamilton County commissioners Friday asking that the county end its lawsuit against the city over the 60-bed facility the county wants to open at the former Millcreek Psychiatric Hospital for Children.

        The county filed its lawsuit two years ago, after the city refused to change zoning in the neighborhood to allow the jail to open at Paddock Road and East 66th Street.

        “It's time for the elected political leadership of our two bodies to step up and end this silliness,” the letter reads. “In short, if we continue the way we are going, nobody will win but the lawyers.”

        County officials want the facility to open in Bond Hill because they were able to buy the building from the state for a mere $1.5 million. After the purchase, the city tightened its zoning regulations to keep the juvenile facility out.

        Commissioner John Dowlin, the biggest proponent of the facility, said he's willing to talk. But he said he still thinks the jail is needed and that Bond Hill is the right spot.

        “We're not just going to say we give up,” Mr. Dowlin said. “If we build it somewhere else, the best guess is that it will be an addition al $10 million. So maybe that's part of the deal we talk about.”

        The city is willing to talk about compensating the county.

        “We will do everything in our power to engage the city administration to work out a solution that compensates the county for the expense that it incurred in acquiring the property and to look for other solutions to the county's long-term criminal justice needs,” the letter reads.

        In May of 1999, County Judge Robert Kraft dismissed the county's lawsuit, ruling that the city had a right to stop the facility from opening. An appellate court overturned the dismissal six months later, saying the lower court must decide the issue and consider the “greater public good” in doing so.

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