Jail Repairs to Cost $2 Million

A deficient interior sewer line and outdated equipment in the County Jail kitchen could be replaced as soon as the spring, after the Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 this week to award construction of the project to Vernon Edwards Constructors, Inc. A 2008 county analysis of the jail’s sewer system found issues with the interior and exterior lines; the exterior line was fixed in 2009. This round of improvements will cost approximately $2 million, paid for out of three pockets: $1.1 million in monies shifted in 2011 from the canceled Sheriff’s Tech Services Building; $600,000 from Aramark, the jail’s food-service provider; and $300,000 from the Sheriff’s Proposition 172 pot.