The Butler County Prison Board got good news on Feb. 10 — that constuction of the new prison still is on track for a mid-April completion.

But county taxpayers' relief over the long-delayed project — and the disclosure that there remains $1.7 million for county government to tie up the loose ends — must be tempered by the realization of what remains undone.

And there remains the question of whether the county will be able to obtain a temporary parking waiver from the city — to allow occupancy of the prison if the county does not have the required number of parking spaces for the project to comply with the city's zoning ordinance.

It would seem such understanding on the city's part would be a given, but nothing is certain until formal action is taken by the city.

The city already has been generous to the county in connection with the new prison, trimming the initial number of parking spaces required.

Regarding the $1.7 million left for completion of the project, that amount might not really be as healthy as some people might envision. Some of the major remaining expenses include construction of a temporary sallyport, which is a secure entrance to the county government center for prisoners being transferred to and from court proceedings; demolition of the current prison; and possible land acquisition tied to the city parking requirement.

By now, the sallyport and the parking issue should be resolved. Actually, they should have been resolved by the previous board of commissioners before construction got under way.

The right way to manage a project is to have all plans in place from the start, not have major uncertainties lingering as the project winds down.

Unfortunately, the previous board failed in that regard.

In theory, prisoners should not be allowed to be housed in the new facility until the county meets all conditions for an occupancy permit. County leaders have discussed using at least some of the site of the current prison for parking, but that idea apparently has not been finalized.

If that does become part of the final parking plan, a zoning waiver will be necessary to accommodate that — and that would not be the end of the world.

Or, perhaps the county will be able to lease spaces temporarily to comply with the zoning ordinance until permanent spaces are found.

The bottom line is that the county isn't facing an impossible situation, but it's proper to acknowledge that the current commissioners should not be facing such decisions at all.

Those decisions should have been made a couple of years ago by their predecessors, including Commissioner James Kennedy, who is a holdover from the previous board.

The current commissioners have been dealing with the project's problems and issues laudably. There was a time when some people feared the project construction might drag on for five more years.

But the Feb. 10 report by Pat Stone of Massaro Corp., the Pittsburgh company serving as project construction manager, confirmed that there indeed is light at the end of the construction tunnel.

"The work is going along pretty smoothly," Stone said. "We're just wrapping up loose ends."

If there weren't loose ends beyond the actual construction, as well as the legitimate question whether remaining expenses will exceed the $1.7 million on hand, county taxpayers would have cause to feel more upbeat.

Unfortunately, at this point, unbridled optimism would be premature.