County purchasing 21st century technology
Earlier this month, the Washington County Commissioners voted to replace 40 flip-phones assigned to employees in the Adult Probation Department with iPhones.
This week they are poised to replace analog security cameras at the jail that are obsolete because they are not compatible with modern digital technology.
The iPhones, made available at no charge but carrying a $45 fee for each case plus an identical monthly fee, were an upgrade requested by Washington County court administration.
Warden Edward Strawn asked for jail security system upgrades that will cost an estimated $348,640 to be paid from Act 13 funds from unconventional natural gas wells.
The proposal also includes cable, installation of equipment, network switches, project management, and system engineering, programming and training, plus on-site startup by COM-TEC Security System under the current maintenance and upgrade agreement entered into in 2014.
Washington County Prison Board, also meeting Wednesday, unanimously concurred with the project. The cameras have been in use since what is called “the new jail” opened in 1996, replacing a 125-bed lockup built in 1899 as part of the courthouse complex.
The prison board also OK’d the award of a $209,160 contract with Cornerstone Detention Products Inc. of Greenville, Wis., to replace cameras and a digital video recorder system, also using Act 13 funds.
Preparations are also being made for the jail to get a new roof, replacing the original.
McMillen Engineering of Uniontown, Fayette County, will be developing bid specifications to be advertised in July and oversee the project.
“This is not your average roof,” Chief of Staff John Haynes reported to the prison board.
The roof is flat, and the warden said many leaks have been occurring because of cuts made in the membrane because of repairs to the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system and elevators.
At an agenda-setting session prior to its meeting today, the commissioners also discussed upgrades to the 120-year-old courthouse.
Randy Vankirk, Washington County purchasing director, said after the meeting that the installation of terra-cotta roof tiles is being completed at the courthouse on schedule.
“The dome has already been addressed,” Vankirk said, and repairs will be made to plaster, some of which is both decorative and ornate.
“We’re not anticipating a tower of scaffolding like we had had prior when we were working on the interior of the dome” several years ago.
“You wouldn’t want to do anything inside until you finished the roof,” he continued.