Macomb County Commissioners worry about $2.2 million price tag to fix jail kitchen

Prisoners in Macomb County have been nibbling on bologna or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, since December when health officials shut down the county’s jail. Now, sheriff’s officials say to open the kitchen back up, it will costs taxpayers $2.2 million to renovate and upgrade the kitchen.

The Macomb Daily reports county commissioners are not happy with the price tag, and have put off deciding what to do about it.

The kitchen was shut down because of health concerns, the Daily reports.

Officials revealed Tuesday that the unhealthy conditions at the county jail’s kitchen were far more severe than initially reported and that rebuilding the tiny basement facility will cost $2.2 million and take a year to complete.

Dangerously high levels of E. coli bacteria were found in the plumbing. Black mold was growing in the walls, floors and ceilings and making its way into the food freezers and ventilation system. And the two dozen violations issued by health inspectors opened up the county to lawsuits and court motions by defense attorneys seeking to release their clients from the jail.

How bad was the contamination?

A consultant told the commissioners that the cramped kitchen is a “veritable sauna” that breeds bacteria and mold. While an E. coli level of 100 or 200 colonies is considered a concern for a food service operation, the levels recorded in the jail kitchen were more than 24,000.

Evidently the jail kitchen was originally designed to make food for 154 prisoners, but is now serving 1,200 prisoners. The concerns about the kitchen size date back to 2005, when jail administrator Michelle Sanborn warned about the overuse of the kitchen space.

Officials said they looked at getting insurance reimbursements or federal stimulus cash to deal with the kitchen, but those plans have fallen through. If commissioners approve the kitchen work, it will take up to a year to complete, with 10 months of that time in actual construction and the remainder of the time left to the bidding process.