The $29,000 to add a fire pump to the Starke County Sheriff’s Office and Detention Center was money well spent by the Starke County Building Corporation. The project to extend city water lines to the site east of Knox is finished, but the water pressure is still short of what is needed to suppress a fire at the facility. Building corporation members approved that expenditure last month in order to keep the project on track with the additional wiring that would be necessary for the installation. Completion of the new building is still scheduled next spring.
Meanwhile, the committee appointed last month to discuss future uses for the current jail facility is in the very early stages of exploring options. The building will have to be used for something within the scope of corrections since it was used as collateral for the bond to build the new structure. Building corporation members did approve a contract with the accounting firm Umbaugh and Associates to provide the necessary reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission as long as the bond is outstanding at a cost not to exceed $2,800 per year. Funds are available within the budget for the jail to cover the cost. County attorney Marty Lucas recommended the county outsource the reports given the technical nature of SEC filings.
