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Commissioners briefed on costly future jail roof work and options to curb plumbing failures
Summary
County staff described long-running hail-related roof damage at the county jail that could require an estimated $451,000 replacement in 2027 and outlined continuing copper-piping failures; staff proposed phased plumbing replacements, possible PEX conversion and testing a modern electronic cell-water system to cut water use.
Commission facilities staff told the Neosho County Board of Commissioners on May 20 that the county jail’s flat roof has ongoing damage from a prior hailstorm and that a full replacement proposed for 2027 could carry an estimated price tag of about $451,000.
A county facilities presenter said the contractor who inspected the roof traced many current leaks to damage from a prior storm and noted repeated temporary repairs since an early 2010s repair that was expected to last roughly 20 years. “They said a lot of this damage is just ongoing from that old hail damage that was never fixed,” the presenter said.
Commissioners discussed options and told staff they would likely want a formal bid process before committing budget funds for a major roof project. Commissioners also raised related infrastructure needs at the jail, pointing to long-standing plumbing problems and the prospect of replacing sections of copper piping in stages.
County maintenance staff described recurring pinhole leaks in copper water lines, which they attribute to electrolysis, hard water (lime) and stress at fittings and transitions. The county’s present system uses pneumatic valves (an Acorn system) for cell fixtures. Maintenance staff said replacement parts for the existing pneumatic fixtures are expensive and often quickly deteriorate due to water quality.
Maintenance staff presented an alternative system called Icon (a direct electronic replacement for the pneumatic controls). The vendor offered to retrofit one jail cell at no charge to allow field testing. County maintenance presented a vendor estimate that a full retrofit — including toilets, showers and controls — would cost in the low tens of thousands per cell and that the vendor’s conservation analysis estimated roughly $8,000 per year in water-and-sewer savings for the facility, with an estimated payback in about six years.
Maintenance recommended a phased approach because the jail cannot be shut down and work would require short outages and multiple crews. “It’s not something that’s going to be done in sections,” a maintenance speaker said; “we're going to have to use somebody that has multiple hands because we're only going to be able to shut down for a little bit.”
Commissioners asked staff to explore procurement options and cost estimates, and to provide a budget recommendation ahead of upcoming budget talks. No formal capital appropriation or procurement award for roof replacement or for the Icon system was approved at the meeting.
Maintenance also told commissioners the county has an unspent jail-surplus account with about $41,000 remaining that could be a partial source of local capital for projects; county finance staff said other surpluses may be available for capital reserves and that staff would provide a report on unencumbered cash and possible transfers.
