Scioto County’s ongoing budget troubles have claimed another victim: a badly needed roof repair at the county jail.
Commissioners rejected a $526,000 bid for the project Thursday after determining that the cost exceeded the grant money available to pay for the work.
Instead of moving forward with the entire project, officials are now looking at repairing a smaller section of the roof and putting off the rest until funding can be worked out.
Commissioner Scottie Powell said the county received just one bid for the original project.
The price came in at $526,000, more than the available grant funds would cover.
With county officials already struggling to balance the budget, commissioners decided not to commit to the larger expense.
A Smaller Fix Instead
Powell said the county is now exploring whether it can divide the roof work into smaller projects.
That would allow officials to address the most pressing problems without taking on the entire cost at once.
Commissioner Merit Smith said the idea came out of a meeting with the sheriff’s office the previous week.
“They were concerned about how they were going to do it,” Smith said.
But after discussing the options, officials began considering a more limited approach.
“Maybe we don’t have to do the whole thing. Maybe we can do part of it,” Smith said, describing the discussion.
Commissioners unanimously voted to reject the original bid and approved issuing a new bid notice for work on a specific portion of the roof.
Another Sign of the County’s Money Problems
The decision is another example of how the county’s financial situation is affecting everyday operations.
Commissioners have spent much of the year discussing budget constraints and the need to control spending.
Those problems become particularly difficult when the county faces major maintenance expenses at facilities it must continue operating.
A jail roof can’t simply be ignored indefinitely, but replacing the entire roof at once may not be financially possible.
The smaller project could allow the county to make some repairs now while postponing the remainder.
Commissioners did not announce how much the revised project might cost, which section of the roof would be repaired first or when the work would begin.
Those details will become clearer after the county receives bids for the reduced project.
For now, the county jail will have to wait for a complete roof repair.