By PHIL MAJOR

publisher@wood.cm

Plans to remodel and expand the Wood County jail will get started a little earlier than planned.

Wood County commissioners authorized up to $150,000 in a special meeting Tuesday, Nov. 21 to pay for a mobile kitchen and related expenses while repairs are made to the jail’s plumbing.

Drains lines were being cleaned out when it was discovered that some had collapsed.

Since plans are already in the works to expand the kitchen as part of the overall jail expansion, commissioners dipped into those funds to start the project, which is being paid for out of the county’s share of COVID-19 federal relief dollars.

The mobile kitchen will cost about $32,500 per month and is expected to be in use about two months.

The new grease trap will be set and the drain lines run to it.

”The blue prints are underway,” Prec. 4 Commissioner Russell Acker said. “We just didn’t make it.”

Acker’s responsibilities include county facilities.

The funds will come out of the jail remodeling budget, which can be supplemented later if needed. It will likely be into the next budget (fiscal 2025) before the project is completed.

Jail Administrator Louis Dahlman said the kitchen is working now, but he does not know whether it will pass the annual health inspection.

He said the county has been in touch with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards about the issues.