Rusty jail cells creating headaches for county officials

Modular jail cells built by a defunct Grand Island company and installed in the new Red Willow County jail 10 years ago have begun to rust, despite supposedly being built of stainless steel.

Red Willow County Sheriff's Office

McCOOK, Neb. — After years of hauling prisoners to out-of-town jails because the Red Willow County Jail was closed, the county opened a new jail in 2014.

Ten years later, the county may be hauling prisoners out of town again, at least temporarily.

That’s because rust has broken out in the shower area of many of the 16 modular cells, supposedly built with stainless steel, giving the 10-year-old facility the look of one 30 years old, according to the original architect.

Red Willow County commissioners declared the rust an emergency item and gave Sheriff Kevin Darling permission to find a solution to the problem.

He told the Gazette he was having the city water tested to see if it might be a factor.

McCook water has had the reputation of causing corrosion and failure in copper pipes.

There’s no warranty on the jail cell units, which were built by a Grand Island company that has gone out of business.

One possible solution is to have the affected areas sand-blasted and repainted with epoxy paint, but Commissioner Charles Fritsche expressed doubts about the effectiveness of that idea.

The rust was noted by state jail standards officials, who delivered the ruling that closed down the old county jail decades ago.

The next jail standards inspection is March 5, six days before the commissioners’ next regular meeting, so Darling hoped to have a plan in place before that takes place.

Officials speculated that a lack of adequate ventilation made the problem worse, and will also be a factor when sandblasting, painting, or whatever rust mitigation efforts are taking place.

Jail Administrator Dee Schilz also expressed concerns about jail staffing and food service that would or would not be required during the process.

Meantime, prisoners might have to be housed in Hitchcock County at $45 a day, or Frontier County at $55, plus transportation costs.

There’s no firm estimate of the cost for the process, but money will probably come from about $900,000 in pandemic-related ARPA funding still available to the county. Commissioners have tentatively planned to use that money for crack-sealing roads, tables for the fairground, a backhoe and perhaps a new road maintainer.

That backhoe will be bought from Nebraska Machinery of North Platte, provided it passes inspection. The used 2017 Caterpillar backhoe will be purchased using $90,000 in ARPA funding, and include a one-year warranty.

During the first of three hearings regarding feedlots, Myrna Haag expressed concerns about a conditional use permit for a Haag Land and Cattle feedlot expansion, saying she was concerned about odor, flies, increased traffic and effects on the value of her nearby property.

Commissioner Randy Dean said he shared her concern, but in the end, made the motion, approved unanimously, to grant the permit. He cited Red Willow County’s status as a Livestock Friendly County and the request meeting current zoning regulations and being approved by the county zoning commission as reasons to approve the request.

“If they have met county zoning regulations … it’s pretty tough to deny,” he said.

Increased heavy traffic on the Bartley road leading to the feedlot was also cited as a concern, and commissioners admitted that road would probably continue to be a concern, as funding to improve it is hard to find.

Two less controversial conditional use permits for LFO — Large Feedlot Operations — were approved with less discussion. Both involved waste storage.

One was a waste storage expansion for Uhrich & Brown Ltd. which would involve applying dairy runoff to farmland via a center-pivot system and another waste water expansion for Ruggles Farms Inc. That one would expand the permitted capacity for 2,500 cattle, up from 999, but would cover the same “footprint” as the smaller permit.

The next regular commissioners meeting will be March 11.