Lowndes Co. Supervisors award over $500,000 to replace county jail plumbing
LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Any homeowner will tell you, plumbing repairs can get expensive.
When you’re dealing with an aging plumbing system that serves a couple of hundred people daily, that cost goes up considerably.
The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors awarded a contract for just over $500,000 today to replace plumbing in the County Jail.
The current system is as old as the jail itself, and replacement parts to make repairs are hard to find.
The county stocked up on parts over the years, but has exhausted that supply.
For security and safety purposes, jails require specialized plumbing fixtures.
Supervisors determined that replacement was more cost-effective than continued repairs.
“That sounds like a lot of money, and it is, but with the intricate level of parts, and what needs to be done there, it is a good use of sources of funds, so that jail now, and the problems that we’ve had with the plumbing can be finally fixed. And it’s not something they’re having to maintain every day. Of course, that will wear out over time, but we think we’ve bought 30 years with this new plumbing, and that’s a small price to pay when you look at it on an annual basis,” said Lowndes Co. Supervisors President Trip Hairston.
The price tag won’t put a drain on the county’s budget. The state legislature appropriated the money for the jail upgrades.
