TYLERTOWN — One test at the Walthall County Jail led to more tests and money spent to correct issues.
Purchasing clerk June Smith told supervisors last week that inspectors had come to check the backflow preventer and sprinkler system at the 4-year-old, $2.7 million jail, and informed officials that the smoke detector system needed to be certified.
In addition to alarms, the system is connected to skylights that are supposed to open when triggered. In the women’s section of the jail, the skylight opened, but would not latch closed. Elsewhere in the building, the skylights did not open at all.
Smith said the cabling from the control box to the skylights had to be repaired, costing $250 in addition to the $600 fee for inspection and certification.
She noted that the county has endured a number of building problems recently.
“In a couple of months, we could be in trouble” in the building and grounds budget, she said.
The board also accepted a bid for road signs from Custom Signs.
The only other bid, from a company in Foley, Ala., included required minimum purchases of 25 signs or 1,000 pounds, neither of which Smith said the county ever ordered at one time.
County economic developer Pam Keaton presented an agreement between the county and the state Department of Archives and History required to be approved before the county can use MDAH grant funds awarded for courthouse renovations.
Under the agreement, “for any work to be done on the courthouse, you will need a permit from Archives and History,” Keaton said.
The board approved the agreement as well as requests from Keaton to pay $3,088.60 dues to the Southwest Mississippi Partnership and $210 for signs promoting a recent job fair.
