HOUSTON - The Board of Supervisors ran into an unexpected snafu as the new Regional Correctional facility nears completion. At the July 20 meeting, adequate water pressure within the new facility came into question with City Maintenance Director, Ricko Nichols, and County Engineer, Ed Springer, voicing uncertainties about whether or not the pressure would be able to serve over 200 potential inmates.

The trouble arose over the size of the water lines currently available in the Industrial Park. Springer told the board he didn't believe the four-inch lines would produce the pressure needed for the facility.

"It won't work as it is now," Springer said. "It won't work without adding another line."

The architectural and contracting firms have specified the need for 220 gallons per minute with 35 pounds of constant pressure available.

Nichols said he had been performing flow tests on the facility but once all the facilities were in use, he didn't feel the constant pressure would hold up.

"It's like we got everything ready and plugged it in and the Christmas lights didn't come on," Nichols said.

"We all know we have a problem and we're working toward a solution," said board member, Jerry Hall.

The board met with Architect Michael LeBlanc and several engineers and contractors at the site of the jail to discuss options.

One option was the installation of an 8,000-gallon reserve tank to keep the pressure constant while addressing the issue of replacing or adding to the current lines. The new facility is due to be completed structurally and turned over to the county Aug. 2.

The stop-gap reserve tank action was not moved forward by the board due to too many potential complications including approval by the health department.

Springer recommended laying two six-inch lines adjacent to the current lines to add to pressure and availability of water for the facility. Springer said by his calculations the line addition would put the facility at 220 gallons per minute with 36.9 pounds of pressure. Springer said he was currently working on a change order to reflect the additional lines and would have it ready for approval by Tuesday.

"We'll probably be ready to go to work before the end of the week," Springer said.

The punch list to approve the completion of the building will not be completed until the water pressure is up to specification.

In other matters, the board

- Heard a proposal from County Fire Coordinator, Jonathan Blankenship about the potential of using some inmate labor for routine maintenance of county fire trucks. Blankenship said he would like to put the 11 trucks on a monthly rotation to have one serviced each month. Service would include routine maintenance like oil changes, filter changes, brake maintenance and grease for the county-owned fire engines only. Any maintenance to tankers and rescue vehicles would be handled by the fire departments and the departments would provide supplies for the routine maintenance.

Purchase Clerk, Tommie Morgan oversees the inmate work program assignments and said she thought it was a workable idea. "It would be good on a rainy day when you can't get outside and work," Morgan said.

Blankenship said the most important part of the program is to keep the service regular and consistent and to keep up to date records of service.

The board agreed to the maintenance plan which will be run out of the county barns in Van Vleet and Woodland.