Cape County Commission approves $3.5 million jail improvements project

Cape Girardeau County government will spend about $3.5 million to renovate and replace the plumbing and electrical systems, and install a new heating and cooling system in the county jail.

Commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to proceed with the project.

“We have a 20-year-old and a 40-year-old jail,” said Second District Associate Commissioner Charles Herbst.

The jail in Jackson involves two attached buildings, he said Friday.

The original structure was built in 1979. The second building was added in 2000, Herbst said.

“In the 40-year-old building, everything is obsolete,” he said.

CTS Group, a St. Louis-based company specializing in energy efficiency projects, will do the work, Herbst said.

Commissioners asked CTS to assess the situation. The company recently came back with its recommendations, which the commission accepted.

The county government has an ongoing agreement with CTS to address energy efficiency issues in its buildings, Herbst said.

Within the past three years, CTS upgraded the county administration building, installing a new heating and cooling system at a cost of $1.3 million.

Herbst said one of the jail’s four compressors failed.

Rather than simply replace it and limp along with an obsolete system, commissioners decided to go ahead with complete upgrades to the whole system.

The project will include replacing galvanized water pipes. Herbst said the aging pipes leak in places and need to be replaced with PVC pipe.

The work is expected to begin immediately with a goal to have all the improvements completed by May, he said.

Commissioners plan to pay for the improvements by extending bonds, which were issued 20 years ago for the jail-expansion project.

Herbst said the county government will realize some energy savings when the upgrades are completed.

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