Shawano County Administrative Coordinator Jim Davel warned the Shawano County Public Safety Committee of “project creep” at its May 1 meeting when discussing the costs associated with remodeling the showers at the county jail.
The committee was asked to approve the highest of three bids and then add several thousand dollars for new shower fixtures and other incidentals. The bid was about $93,000, and the total with the fixtures and more is just under $100,000.
“The project funding of $200,000 was secured through the inmate welfare fund, and funding was approved through the 2024 budget process,” Jail Administrator Troy Beyer said.
He recommended the high bid from Prime Coat Coating Systems.
“They’re known across the United States for doing this type of work in correction facilities,” Beyer said. “In 2014, they did the pod showers at the jail. We had eight showers done, and we don’t have any issues.”
Keith Herm of the county’s maintenance department also discussed an alternate bid that was included in the total cost.
“When we did these bids, the shower flooring was what was recommended to do because a lot of the tile is coming out,” he said. “I did an alternate bid in the shower areas.”
He requested treatment to the shower walls to prevent the buildup of mildew.
“The mildew is just horrid, so that’s where that alternate $24,000 is,” Herm said. “That was just to do the shower insides. I recommend doing that, because there are five showers, and if we don’t recaulk along the edges in there, the water leaks down into here (the training room at the sheriff’s department).”
Herm said he was not part of the original decision to just remodel the flooring but was asked to review the situation later. That’s when he suggested the fixtures be replaced as well, as many are leaking.
“I agree with what you’re saying,” Davel said. “Here’s the problem we get into. What the supervisors approved was this, and then all of a sudden we want to add this. So what I would recommend is … this needs to go back to CIP (Capital Improvement Projects) Committee … because this is not what they had recommended to the full county board for approval.
“This is what we call ‘project creep.’ All of a sudden, we get, ‘Hey, we should also do this,’ but we didn’t have our ducks in a row. I think it should be done, too. Don’t get me wrong, but this is where it gets frustrating for supervisors, because that’s not what they voted on.”
Beyer pointed out the money will come from the Inmate Welfare Fund, not tax dollars. However, the CIP Committee will still be informed of the change.
The Inmate Welfare Fund is money raised through paid telephones, canteen sales to inmates, etc. The sheriff’s department collects a portion of this revenue and uses the money for improvements and inmate programs.
Herm said Prime Coats can complete the job in a week.
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
