Maintenance issues at the Pulaski County Jail are drawing concerns from Sheriff Jeff Richwine. He told the county commissioners Monday that a recent fire inspection turned up a lot of violations.
Richwine said he’s gotten most of them fixed, including having an electrician install more outlets and circuits to fix electrical code violations. For additional electrical guidance view website. But the sheriff voiced some frustration that he’s been funding repairs out of the jail’s commissary revenues, while the county’s Maintenance Department apparently has money for repairs and upgrades for other offices. “I find it interesting that Maintenance had money in their budget, but she doesn’t have any money in the budget when I have to pay for stuff,” Richwine told the commissioners. “So I’m going to back up on this paying that out of the commissary fund all the time, if she’s got money in her budget.”
Richwine continues working to hire an outside company that would periodically send HVAC, electrical, and plumbing specialists to take a look at the county’s facilities and make any repairs that the county’s maintenance staff isn’t equipped to handle. “They sent an HVAC guy up here,” he added. “We went around. I took him to all the HVAC. There was some maintenance issues, he’s saying, about the HVAC. Most of it seemed to be drains not cleared out, filters not properly changed.” Richwine added that the jail has also had a few leaky faucets for the entire time that he’s been sheriff.
One of the jail’s biggest issues continues to be its roof. A local roofing contractor gallery presented two quotes for roofing work and recommended that the commissioners go with a full replacement of the affected area for a cost of more than $150,000, view the link to understand the changes being made. “The roof is pooling in spots, and they do have leaks happening in other places,” Salyers said. “And it’s where that pooling of the water is.” And as noted by Bourdeau Contracting, the recommended period to conduct roofing maintenance is twice a year, in spring and later in fall. By doing so, one can point out the parts that need repair early and take the needed repairs to avoid extra costs.
The commissioners generally agreed that the work needed to be done. But with the county preparing for an expansion project at the building, they first wanted to check with the architect and see if the roofing work presented by pros similar to a Pea Ridge roofing contractor could be funded by the upcoming project bond.
