New approach?

Following a presentation Wednesday, Jay County Commissioners are considering the possibility of hiring someone to oversee maintenance at Jay County Jail.

Commissioners Chad Aker and Chuck Huffman, absent Mike Leonhard, heard from Core Facilities Inc. president Matthew Stechly about the potential for an “in-house” position during a special meeting Wednesday.

Currently, the jail maintenance service comes from Havel, a maintenance and repair business branching from the Fortune 500 company EMCOR.

Stechly — who has worked in the business for 20 years — explained the jail operates on a reactive model for maintenance operations, meaning jail staff has no control in that area. If the county hired a maintenance worker, that model would switch to a proactive model, he said. The new employee would regularly maintain utilities and other machines, as opposed to an outside company visiting and billing invoices. 

“Everything’s a well-oiled machine,” Stechly said, referring to the proactive model. “Stuff is still breakin’, but you’re driving the bus now instead of contractors driving the bus.”

Jay County could also save money hiring a maintenance worker for the jail. Stechly suggested base pay start at $40,000. That amount is more than $20,000 less than the county paid Havel for mechanical operations last year, which is not including other additional costs for the jail such as plumbing and electrical fees.

Hiring a new maintenance worker would also follow the preventative maintenance standard plan required for sheriffs in the Indiana Jail Standards Handbook issued by the Indiana Department of Correction.

The county’s current contract with Havel runs through the end of the year. If the county hired a maintenance employee now, that individual could shadow contractors and learn what needs to be done, Stechly said. Havel’s building automation system — which monitors different utilities and machines at the jail — would continue running, and the new employee would learn how to manage it. 

In order to be terminate the 2021 contract, commissioners would need county attorney Bill Hinkle to send a cancellation letter before Dec. 1. Otherwise, the contract will automatically renew, Stechly explained.

Sheriff Dwane Ford advocated for the new position.

“It would just make it so much easier if we had a go-to (maintenance worker),” he said. “I think that would be a pretty positive force.”

Aker mentioned he and Ford have discussed in the past the need for a full-time maintenance employee at the jail, and both Aker and Huffman expressed interest in creating the position.

County auditor Anna Culy reminded commissioners the 2021 budget is currently being finalized, so the timeline is tight for creating a new position for next year. She noted the county has two similar, but not identical, maintenance positions at the courthouse and the retirement center.

Stechly said he met with commissioners to inform them how to become proactive. In the future, his firm can offer the county maintenance programs and a capital plan for budgeting. Commissioners asked him to draft a job description for the maintenance position.

In other business, commissioners approved a COVID-19 reimbursement application for $249,000 and a grant application up to $25,000 for a radar speed and message sign to the sheriff’s office.