(BEDFORD) – The Lawrence County Commissioners announced Tuesday morning, T&G Construction Inc. of Bedford had the lowest bid to install sewer grinders at the jail.
Inmates have been flushing wrappers from items purchased from commissary, clothing and other things down the toilets at the jail thus clogging the city’s sewer lines.
The county is taking steps to stop the lines from being clogged by installing grinders in the sewer systems.
Sheriff Mike Branham says the blockage has occurred several times this year. Many times blockage has been found blocks away from the jail, causing lines to back up in area businesses and homes.
T&G Construction submitted the lowest bid at $102,989.
RQAW Corporation is overseeing the project. Sheriff Branham says the project should take about six months to complete once construction begins.
In other business:
The Commissioners opened bids for a new boom mower. The old one caught fire last year and was destroyed. They also opened bids for Bridge 160.
The bridge on Oolitic Road is over the abandoned railroad tracks near Knucklehead Bend.
The plan is to take down the bridge, fill it in and construct a road.
The bids were taken under advisement and will be awarded at the next meeting.
Trash Along Roadways
Commissioner Rodney Fish is asking motorists not to litter.
The commissioners are working with Community Corrections and area churches to clean up the county’s roadways.
“I am asking the cooperation of citizens to reduce the amount of trash along county roads,” Fish added. “If the rest of us reduce the amount of trash that goes out our windows and the back of pickup trucks it will help.”
CASA
Rich Kosmala, of Court Appointed Special Advocate Association or CASA, asked permission to use the courthouse lawn on Friday, June 28 and Saturday, June 29, during the Limestone Festival for a bouncy house for children.
Highway Department
Lawrence County Highway Superintendent David Holmes is asking residents not to blow their grass clipping onto roadways.
“We have gotten some complaints,” he added. “We need to be courteous of fellow residents.”
The clippings make area roads slick and clog stormwater drains.
Holmes says crews are preparing for the paving season which will be in full swing beginning after the July 4th holiday. Crews will be hot patching several roads before that time.
Crews are busy laying culverts and edging roads and grading gravel roads.
Bridge Crews
Bridge crews have been busying washing and clearing out brush and debris from county bridges.
INDOT bridge inspections will begin on June 10.
Sheriff’s Report
Lawrence County Chief Deputy Aaron Shoults reported there were 170 inmates in the jail this morning, of those 129 were males, 41 females, six Level 6 offenders and three Department of Correction hold and no parole holds.
Intern Recognized
Lawrence County Surveyor Corey Allen recognized Mitchell High School Senior Tyson James.
James has helping archive and scan documents for the department. Some of those documents are more than 100 years old.
“He is a grounded, hardworking young man and we appreciate all the work he has done,” Allen says. “He never complains and has been a wonderful benefit to the county.”
Appointments
The commissioners appointed Terri Kimbley to the Bedford Public Library Board.
Emergency Management
Lawrence County Emergency Management Director Valerie Luchauer says the chemical transport incident exercise at the Bedford GM Plant on May 10th went well. Commissioner Rodney Fish attended. The GM plant was chosen because of the kind of chemicals they use at the plant.
“There was a lot of good discussions, and we learned what equipment would be needed if an incident would happen at the plant,” Luchauer says.
Luchauer is asking residents to put reflective numbers on their mailboxes and homes to help emergency crews locate them in the case of an emergency.
“Especially if there are multiple mailboxes in one location,” she added. “We want to be able to get help to those in need as fast as possible and not have emergency crews wasting time searching for the location.”
Resident Complains
Tim Ray addressed the commissioners about an incident that happened while he was staying in Florida over the winter months.
Ray says his daughter’s boyfriend stole his truck and damaged it and stole items from his home.
He asked the prosecutor’s office about the incident and wanted to know why the male was not arrested.
“I was told by the prosecutor’s office it was not a crime and I was not a victim,” Ray told the commissioners.
He also says after his truck was stolen it was used in the theft of items from a local thrift store.
Prosecutor Sam Arp who was in attendance agreed to meet with Ray. They left during the meeting to address Ray’s concerns.
