A new container to collect unwanted, expired and unused prescription medications will be installed at the Pulaski County Justice Center.
Sheriff Jeff Richwine recently applied for a $600 grant through CVS and the company approved grant recipients this week. Sheriff Richwine’s request was approved.
The new heating and cooling units for the Pulaski County Justice Center are being installed this week.
Maintenance Director Jeff Johnston told the commissioners Monday night that McGrath Refrigeration started installing the HVAC units on Monday. The weather has cooperated and the process should be complete by the end of the week.
During this process, the inmates need to be moved to different cells in order for crews to work in the different pods. Johnston said his staff can perform routine maintenance at the same time while the pods are empty. He said they are able to work on any water issues or other problems while the area is open.
The Pulaski County Justice Center and the Courthouse will be getting an upgrade in bandwidth.
Willie DeGroot from DeGroot Technologies explained that the Indiana Office of Technology is requiring a higher speed connection. DSL modems are in the offices, and the county is paying $700 a month for those. DeGroot proposed bringing in a direct fiber optic connection to be installed by Lightstream and a network switch would be installed to branch out to the routers. He said it would provide a much faster connection. It would save money in the process, he reported.
The lobby at the Pulaski County Justice Center can be offered as a safe location to make online transactions.
Craigslist and Facebook exchanges can be done inside the building to lift a concern of a possible tense situation. While the staff at the justice center will not a part of the transaction, the lobby of the justice center is monitored by both corrections and communications officers as well as a recorded DVR system.
The long-awaited repairs at the Pulaski County Justice Center are nearly complete.
Maintenance Director Jeff Johnston told the commissioners this week that the water softeners and the water heaters are installed, and all of the old units have been hauled away. Johnston said the HVAC systems should arrive this week or next week. He will coordinate with offices in the justice center for that equipment to be properly installed. The new control system will be added after that, but Johnston said that could be a while yet.
The water heater installation at the Pulaski County Justice Center has been delayed, according to Maintenance Director Jeff Johnston.
“One of the delays was with a vendor where they ordered parts for their machinery. That kind of set us back a little bit. They now have the parts that they need. They have most of the water lines in place. This week they’re going to start up the one unit and take the old one off line. We’re going to run it for a while to make sure that we have confidence that it’s going to do the job. Then they’ll remove the old one altogether and start installing the second one,” said Johnston.
The employees in the government offices in Pulaski County are collecting food for the Pulaski County Human Services Food Pantry.
Auditor Shelia Garling asked the commissioners for permission to place boxes in the courthouse to collect food for those who are less fortunate this holiday season. A box is located in the courthouse and in the Pulaski County Justice Center.
If you have a donation you’d like to drop off, get those in today by the end of the day to help someone in need at either location. Non-perishable food items are welcome, as well as soaps, deodorant, shampoos, and diapers.
Pulaski County Matron Carrie Aaron brought several transfers for the county council members to consider to help with paying the part-time officers to help with the shortage at the sheriff’s department.
At last week’s commissioner’s meeting, Aaron and Detective/Sergeant Jason Woodruff requested a one-time adjustment to the handbook policy to pay those officers with holiday pay with the exception of 24 hours for each employee, which was approved. All PTO will be paid down to 50 hours. Two officers from White County and an officer from the Logansport Police Department will be working as part-time officers. An additional officer will be hired on a part-time basis. They are being trained.
Pulaski County Maintenance Director Jeff Johnston brought the county council up to speed on the justice center equipment repairs and replacement.
He explained that the water heater replacement is already underway due to a directive from the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.
“Right now they’ve got one water heater doing the work of two and it’s on its last leg,” said Johnston. “They’re halfway through the installation process for the new system. The total cost for the water heaters is $65,790. That includes the system and all new piping. As we were taking the insulation off the large copper pipes up there, there were leaks and cracks throughout.”
The installation of equipment at the Pulaski County Jail is underway. Maintenance Director Jeff Johnston have the commissioners an update on the progress during last night’s meeting.
The metal work on the roof at the justice center is complete and a final walk through was conducted.
“The new water heaters are over halfway through the installation process,” said Johnston. “One of the water heater units is in place, but they haven’t fired it up yet. They won’t take the other one offline until they’re positive that it’s working correctly. On Nov. 10, I’m set to meet with the council to go over the sealed bids that you guys opened and made decisions on and get all of that worked out as far as the CAGIT goes.”
The staff at the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department had so much fun with last week’s trick-or-treat event at the justice center last week that they’re going to do it again tonight!
Sheriff Michael Gayer said the event last week was held in conjunction with the Halloween event at the Tippecanoe River State Park north of Winamac. He said that there are treats left to give to the kids of Pulaski County. Stop by the justice center tonight from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET.
The Pulaski County Commissioners approved funds for a continuous water heating system at the Pulaski County Justice Center.
Maintenance Director Jeff Johnston explained that he attempted to get quotes for an Emergency Water Heater Repair or replacement and for a continuous water heating system. Johnson said he got quotes for the equipment that is just like what the justice center has now, but found that the continuous water heating system is less expensive, more efficient and will better fit the needs at the jail.
Pulaski County Maintenance Director Jeff Johnston told the commissioners this week that repairs to the roof on the justice center will begin this weekend.
Commission President Larry Brady told WKVI News that the long-awaited repairs will begin this weekend and will be done by Monday. The slate tiles on top of the courthouse that were damaged in last year’s hail storm will be replaced next weekend so the courthouse will be cordoned off for those repairs to be done.
Pulaski County Maintenance Director Jeff Johnston presented the county council members Monday night with several issues with the Justice Center.
Johnston explained the issues.
“The air units on the rooftop of the Justice Center are 17 years old and they have 15 year life spans. Four of them have already failed and the fifth one is failing now. We’re replaced four this year. We still have seven that are about to give it up. We’ve got three water heaters in the upstairs room, one of which failed its inspection from the state. We’ve replaced it but another one started leaking out of the bottom. Those machines are also past their life span by about seven years. We have two water softeners in that same room that are also leaking out of the top and they’re getting ready to go as well,” said Johnston.
The Pulaski County Commissioners gave the maintenance director permission to seek an additional appropriation from the county council to replace the aging equipment at the Pulaski County Justice Center.
Some of the equipment is already starting to fail, according to Jeff Johnston. He said he’d like to take care of the equipment while there is money yet in this year’s budget.
The Pulaski County Council discussed several additional appropriation and transfer requests on Monday night. A couple of requests from the Pulaski County Justice Center were discussed at length.
Sheriff Michael Gayer spoke at the Eastern Pulaski School Board meeting so Matron Carrie Aaron and Sergeant Fred Rogers represented the sheriff’s department where they explained an $80,000 additional appropriation. Sergeant Rogers said the money is needed to pay past bills that have been due – some for many years. For example, according to Sergeant Rogers, the fuel bill hadn’t been paid since September of 2013 while other vendors for a variety services have been waiting since 2011 for payment.
None of the Pulaski County government buildings have fire alarm systems tied in to the 911 system to immediately notify the fire department in the event of an emergency, and the courthouse does not have any sort of sprinkler system in place. Those issues were raised during Monday’s county commissioners meeting when Teri Hansen from the health department asked why the fire alarm system at the annex building on Riverside Drive does not go anywhere. Maintenance supervisor Jeff Johnston says he will look into the cost of doing hard-wiring it to the dispatch center. He says the annex building at least has a zoned sprinkler system in place. “If there’s a fire on the third floor, only the third floor suppression goes off,” Johnston said.
That’s more than the courthouse has in place, according to Johnston. “Over here, there’s nothing. If there’s a fire downstairs in the hallway, this is going to be a nightmare. This is something we’ve looked at. We’ve got battery- powered smoke detectors stuck on like you’ve got in your house.” Continue reading
A memorial service is planned today at the Pulaski County Justice Center for the Pulaski County officers who died in the line of duty.
Pulaski County Sheriff Michael Gayer and the entire staff will be in front of the Justice Center where the three officers will be memorialized. Sheriff Charles Henry Oglesby was shot and killed on Oct. 5, 1907; Sheriff Milo “Mike” Lewis was shot and killed on Oct. 11, 1967 and Deputy Sheriff Shadron Kiley “Shad” Bassett was killed in an automobile crash while responding to a call on Oct. 7, 2005.
Everyone is invited to the service which is scheduled at noon ET. A dinner for the families of the honored officers will be provided.
Pulaski County Maintenance Director Morry Demarco told the commissioners this week that he is in the process of clearing out the basement of the justice center. He says he’s moving the dryers from upstairs to the basement, and had to cut a 10-inch hole in the floor for the ductwork.
Demarco says he’s moving the dryers because a fire had developed from the equipment not too long ago, and to prevent that from happening again, he has installed dryer boxes and filters. He says this is a lot more efficient with less headaches, and the way it was set up previously was “doomed to fail.”
