Scott County studies bids to fix jail problems

BENTON, Mo. -- Scott County Commissioners will consider options and wait for a written recommendation before officially awarding the bid to address sewage problems at the new county jail. Bids on the project were opened Tuesday during the regular county commission meeting. Overseeing the bids for the modification is the project's architect, Dale A. Rogers of Robert Stearnes and Associates. The first half of the project will include building walls and putting doors in the jail's basement for an exhaust fan enclosure to keep sewage smells out of the jail. This project includes electrical work as well.

The second half will install in a Muffin Monster grinder and associated plumbing and electrical connections to protect the city's sewer lines from items flushed down toilets by inmates.

The project also includes removing part of the jail's cyclone fencing and replacing it with a gate.

Associated Sheet Metal of Jackson submitted the low bids across the board, bidding $22,288 for the first half of the project, $30,200 for the second half, and $49,488 to do the whole job.

Associated Sheet Metal bid the option for audio-visual alarms for the control room at $3,985 and the automatic shutoff valve option at $2,376. "That's where we ran into problems originally - not having an alarm up there," noted Sheriff Bill Ferrell.

The only other bidder, Senciboy Construction of Oran, big $32,500 for the first half, $42,200 for the second half, and $63,600 for the entire project. The alarm option and automatic value options were bid at $6,000 each.

In other Scott County news:

* County Economic Developer Jim Schwaninger said he is waiting to hear if David A. Dolan, circuit judge for the 33rd Judicial Court, has determined it to be viable to extend the video arraignment system to include Mississippi County.

After being in service for nearly a month, Scott County's video arraignment is receiving positive reviews from officials.

Capt. Jerry Bledsoe of the Scott County Sheriff's Department said instead of putting leg shackles on the prisoners and assigning guards to walk them to the courthouse, they simply line prisoners up in the jail's corridor outside the medical room where the video arraignment system is set up.

Prisoners then spend "five to 10 seconds with the judge," and then return to their cells, Bledsoe said. "You cut out all the transport time."

Schwaninger said officials are looking into duplicating Scott County's system for Mississippi County then connecting it up with both the Southeast Correctional Center and Scott County. The cost to link the systems up with a router would be about $3,000. Another option, a T-1 line, is not feasible as it would cost around $400 per month, Schwaninger said.

* The bid for an asphalt overlay on the one mile of paved roadway on Highway 266 was awarded to Apex Paving Company, which bid the 1,100 tons of asphalt at $37.45 per ton for a total of $41,195.

Also bidding was Asa Asphalt Inc. which bid at $38 per ton for a total of $41,800.

County Road and Bridge Department crews are completing the preparation and ditch work. They will also be paving the gravel stretches of Highway 266 with blade mix asphalt.

"They're doing a good job, really good," reported project engineer Norman Lambert of Lambert Engineering.

* The county will request bids for asbestos removal after tests determined insulation on the courthouse's radiator heating system pipes contains asbestos.

* Six members of the Scott County Sheriff's Department have volunteered to participate in a mock hijacking at the Cape County Airport.

Emergency personnel will gather from 6-8 p.m. on April 23. The emergency simulation will begin at 8 a.m. April 24.

The exercise will simulate a hijacked airplane and associated casualties.