Recent power outages have revealed problems with the Pulaski County Justice Center’s battery backup system.
Maintenance Supervisor Jeff Johnston told the county commissioners Monday that the system, which is located in the Justice Center’s boiler room, is supposed to keep critical equipment up and running. “The problem is this battery backup is significantly overloaded, and it’s been significantly overloaded for a long time,” he explained. “So what happens is the power goes out, the generator kicks on, the system is overloaded so it can’t handle it, so it just shuts off. We lose 911. We lose all control of the doors. We lose telephones. Everything.” To get everything back, the maintenance staff has to go and reset the system.
Johnston said he’d previously brought up the issue to former IT Director RB Walters, but he said replacing the system would be extremely expensive. Sheriff Jeff Richwine said he’s been doing his own research this week. “We kind of looked on the internet today, and it’s all to what size you go with,” he said. “The most expensive one we’ve seen on there was about $20,000 or $30,000, but nobody knows how big it needs to be.”
The commissioners suggested that Johnston and IT Director Matt Voltz meet with an electrical contractor to determine what the Justice Center’s needs are. “Bigger ain’t going to hurt anything,” said Commissioner Kenny Becker. “Maybe get something half again as big or a third again as big for future stuff down the road. I mean, especially if we happen to do something over there at the jail, we might want to just go ahead and do this, if we’re going to do it, and make it bigger.”
Richwine stressed that even when the county’s dispatch center is down, 911 service is still available, with calls forwarded to Starke or other neighboring counties.
