Plumbing problems persist at Josephine County Jail in GP
From our weekly issue dated March 24, 2010
JCSO Sheriff Gil Gilbertson (IVN file photo)
Although the Josephine County Jail in Grants Pass was built only 10 years ago, some problems already are emerging with the facility.
According to a Wednesday, March 10 press release from Josephine County Sheriff“s Office (JCSO), the jail“s water heater “gave out“ on Monday, March 8. The 10-year-old unit started having problems the previous weekend, JCSO said.
An emergency crew from the county“s building and maintenance department responded, JCSO said, and ultimately had to dismantle the heater due to its size. A new temporary heater was installed on Tuesday, March 9, and JCSO said that the replacement of a new, larger capacity heater “is being expedited.“
Sheriff Gil Gilbertson said that elements inside the heater were burning out. The jail had “intermittent“ hot water the weekend before the heater unit was replaced, Gilbertson said, and temporary units were installed.
“The rule is, inmates have to take a shower or a bath every three days,“ Gilbertson said. “We were well within those parameters.“
There also have been issues with the plumbing system at the jail, which was built in 2000.
“Plumbing has always been a problem,“ Gilbertson said. “They saved $1 million when they built the jail, but we“re starting to see what those cuts really gave us. There have been problems since the jail was constructed with one thing or another.“
Part of the problem, Gilbertson said, can be traced to the inmates themselves.
“The inmates are constantly sticking things in the toilets and jamming them up just to be a nuisance,“ he said. “They devise ways to make things a little more difficult for us by putting things down into the toilet to jam up the lines. It“s an expense we incur because they think they have to be destructive.“
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