Overton County has received bids to replace another section of the roof on top of the county jail.
Overton County Sheriff John Garrett said the county has had to replace the roof in phases due to budgetary constraints. Garrett said the section that will be replaced is the portion that covers the booking area, kitchen, and sallyport. Garrett said that section has gotten worse.
“We had patched to the point that we are out of options for patching now,” Garrett said. “So if the jail is going to continue to operate, this is just a portion of that maintenance that has to happen.”
Garrett said this should complete the replacement. Garett said the two bids received are so competitive that a committee will review them before making a recommendation to the commission.
“We have not received those from the county executive’s office yet,” Garrett said. “We hope to get those tomorrow and to be able to sit down and go through it and see which bid would best suit our needs here.”
What sparked the roof replacement was discovering several leaks. Garrett said the county has also had to take the phased route because insurance would not cover the replacement.
“There was nothing there to file an insurance claim on,” Garrett said. “There was nothing that actually damaged it. It was just deterioration due to age, and my understanding is the insurance company would not cover that.”
Garrett said he hopes the bids will likely come before the county commission in January.
