Sheriff Hunt discusses jail maintenance issues with County Commissioners

In an afternoon session with the Adams County Commissioners Sheriff John Hunt met to discuss several items.

Hunt began the session by presenting the commissioners with the possibility of the National Institute of Corrections sending a consultant out to help with assessment of the jail and to provide training to prepare for a new jail.

The commissioners decided to conduct additional research into the program before contacting NIC.

Hunt also requested the commissioners look into a convex mirror for the third floor elevator landing in the courthouse so deputies can see if anyone is around the corner from the superior court.

Hunt then reported there were numerous issues with water pipes leaking in the jail. He explained he was having problems getting a response to his requests for someone to come repair the leaks.

Commissioner Roger Hartwig said he would contact Public Works Director Todd O’Brien to get someone out to the jail to repair the leaks.

Hunt moved the conversation into a report of an estimate of $527,000 to build a new radio tower in Othello.

After much discussion, Hunt and the commissioners agreed money could be saved from the engineer’s estimate by completing the project in phases.

The commissioners directed Hunt to compile a series of specifications for each phase of the construction.

By breaking the job into phases, Hunt and the commissioners hope to save the county a significant amount of money from the original estimate.

The new tower will also provide a source of revenue for the county by leasing tower space out to other companies.

It will also allow the county to control who is allowed on the tower to prevent interference with the Sheriff’s Office communications.

He then mentioned to the commissioners issues with pay he felt needed to be addressed. He wanted the Jail Commander’s salary to be increased so it was more competitive with other jail commander salaries.

He also wanted to move two more positions up in the pay scale in order to provide incentive for individuals to stay in those positions.

The commissioners then directed Hunt to draft a proposal with research on what a competitive wage was for each of the positions with an explanation of why he felt these positions should have a pay raise.

At the conclusion of the meeting Sheriff Hunt showed Commissioner John Marshall exactly where in the courthouse the convex mirror should be located and the meeting ended at 2:30 p.m.