Some inmates in the Sunflower County Jail got a surprise last Tuesday night when the doors to their cells sprang open without warning.
A section of the jail also was plunged in darkness and some floors flooded as flashlight wielding deputies rushed in to check on their safety and investigate the cause.
The incident, which occurred on March 28, was no jailbreak or nefarious inmate prank. It was caused by a broken part on the jail’s heating system. The resulting leak affected electronic components to the jail’s central lockdown and lighting systems. Sunflower County supervisors learned of this problem during their Monday meeting and took emergency steps to make repairs.
The repairs to the leak and 14 affected locks will cost just over $12,191. The electrical control panel, which has been become unreliable, is more of the problem because it is obsolete and replacement parts are no longer available. The estimated cost would run around $30,000 but Haywood said there may be far less expensive options.
This was just one of several problems caused by equipment breakdowns or water leaks the supervisors faced on Monday. Besides the obvious safety concerns posed by the jail damage, the board found itself facing another critical problem caused by breakdowns of the county’s garbage trucks.
County Road Manager T.J. Fairley told the board that two of the county’s three garbage trucks are broken down. The one still in operation needs specialized alignment which is damaging expensive tires that will need to be replaced almost on a weekly basis until it can be repaired at a shop in Jackson.
Fairley assured the board that rural garbage service collection will continue using dumptrucks. Doing so, however, creates its own problems, because it will tie up the county’s only operational truck. The others are in the shop awaiting parts delivery, along with a road grader.
The supervisors, who do not want to be overwhelmed by citizen complaints of garbage piling up, instructed Fairley to run the garbage truck until he can get a firm appointment from the shop to repair it. Once the appointment is secured, a county employee will drive it to Jackson and wait for the repairs. They believe this will minimalize the time the truck is offline. In the meantime, the truck will continue on the job, even though doing so could cost the county as much as $700 a week to replace tires damaged by the misalignment.
This is just one of the many woes faced by the road department which is plagued by equipment in disrepair. The board on Monday took a step towards addressing the issue by loaning the County Road Department $150,000 from the general fund for equipment repairs. The loan will be reimbursed by future budgeted revenues earmarked specifically for the road fund.
Then came the roof leaks.
County Maintenance Director Daniel Kent told the board that recent inspections revealed an immediate need to replace the roofs on Health Services buildings in Indianola and Ruleville. He presented quotes totaling $50,000 for the work, which the board approved. Kent said that some of the problems revealed in the inspection were addressed by county labor. However, he was authorized to get quotes to remove a stand of dead pine trees at the Indianola building and to contact Entergy to repair street lights at its parking lot.
Supervisors also faced a problem with major roof repairs being made on a portion of the Sunflower County Business Complex, formerly known as Modern Line Products. The roof was seriously damaged in a windstorm late last year.
County Engineer Ron Cassada updated the supervisors on an issue that has delayed the $1.1 million roofing project. He said that when the workers cleared out the damage they learned that already purchased replacement materials approved in advance by the insurer would not fit properly due to non-standard construction of the building. Using the pre-ordered materials would require significant modifications not in the original contract. As a result, the project has been delayed pending adjustments in the original assessment by the insurer, which has already paid the county’s original claim in full.
Board Attorney Johnny McWilliams expressed confidence that the additional costs will be approved. He suggested that the county pay the approximately $118,000 cost associated with removing the damaged roof, which has been completed. The board approved the expenditure. It also authorized Cassada to inspect the project to determine what needs to be done to prevent rainwater from the damaged roof from flooding businesses in neighboring undamaged areas of the complex.
