BENTONVILLE, Ark. — During a finance committee meeting last Tuesday, May 9, some Benton County Justices of the Peace heard a presentation and discussed the HVAC system for the jail.
Beau Reynolds with Trane Technology, a heating and air manufacturer, gave the presentation.
"This started out with more of an indoor air quality assessment related to COVID-19," said Reynolds.
His team looked into the ventilation at the jail, which he says is 25 years old and isn't being well maintained.
He recommended the jail upgrade its electrical system, replace its exhaust fans and some boiler systems as soon as possible.
"Most everything there was past its usable life," Reynolds said.
"Why are we just finding this stuff out now?" asked a JP during the meeting.
"I'll take some responsibility for that. We did point out and did address some of these [issues]," Reynolds said.
Major Robert Bersi with the jail says it has already replaced equipment to help with hot water which cost $15,000 and only lasted about a year.
"We call it 'exigent circumstances,' but why do we need to move on this now instead of waiting until budget time to procreate this?" asked Benton Co. Justice of the Peace Dustin Todd.
"I mean, I don't have necessarily the best answer for that," Reynolds answered. "I think with relation to the jail expansion that got shut down and the fact that your capacity, the jail wasn't properly ventilated before."
Sherriff Shawn Holloway says if the county doesn't act now, the county could have to pay more later.
By the end of the year, repair costs can increase roughly 5-10%, according to Sheriff Holloway.
So, the next question was, how is the county going to pay for this?
A JP answered, "$525,000 would be coming out of the ARPA monies, and then the $360,000 for the boilers would go against capital projects."
The committee decided in favor of the recommendation in a unanimous vote.
The full quorum court is scheduled to vote on the recommendation on Tuesday.