The Starke County Building Corporation may have been able to save $29,000 had the water line extension from Henry Drive east to the new Starke County Sheriff’s Office and Detention Center been finished by its April 1 deadline.
The existing water lines to the building on State Road 8 at County Road 550 East are not wide enough to provide enough pressure should the building catch on fire. The county and city opted last fall to run new lines to the facility and contract the work out. The Knox City Council accepted a bid from Mark Milo Enterprises to do the work.
The project was to start in late November but was delayed due to the holidays and delivery of materials. Building Corporation Chair Kathy Norem says the county now has no choice but to add a fire pump to the building.
“We may not have needed to add that fire pump if the water line would have been and tested it, but they didn’t get it in. They didn’t test it, so we have to have it,” Norem said.
The budget for the jail project includes a $35,000 allowance for a fire pump. A representative from Skillman Corporation says most of the $29,000 cost is for electrical changes to accommodate it. He adds the county still needs the water line once the pump is installed.
Building corporation members authorized the contractor to proceed with the fire pump purchase and installation.
