County supervisors aren’t pleased with jail kitchen

MARENGO — The jail kitchen project has disappointed the Iowa County supervisors again.

“It’s a mess,” said Supervisor Alan Schumacher last week. The work is shoddy, he said.

Dylan Healey, Iowa County building maintenance director, has contacted John Bushong of Bushong Construction in Montezuma, the general contractor on the project, who has, in turn, talked with Kade Yanda of Rapids food service contract and design, project manager for Iowa County’s jail kitchen, said Schumacher.

Bushong is “beside himself,” Schumacher said. “It’s terrible craftsmanship.”

One problem is the caulk around the sinks which, according to Healey, isn’t actually caulk and will remain sticky rather than drying. He argued with Yanda about it, Healey told supervisors when they checked the work following Friday morning’s meeting.

Supervisors are perplexed by the problems the project has presented — the kitchen floor was resurfaced four times before supervisors approved it.

Bushong has worked with the subcontractors before and hasn’t had this much trouble, according to the supervisors, though Supervisor Abby Maas said Garling Construction, which is working on the jail kitchen project and is constructing the new engineering office, also built the law enforcement center, which has not been without problems.

Rapids is one of two premiere kitchen equipment companies in Iowa, Schumacher said.

The company doing the plumbing is good as well, Schumacher said, but the drain under the sinks in the jail kitchen splashes water onto the floor. The company is going to put a dome under the floor rather than a grate level with the floor to keep the water from splashing out of the drain, said Healey.

Maybe the county is rolling the dice and getting shoddy work, said Schumacher. “The taxpayers deserve better than this.”

The new kitchen is costing more than $1 million, according to Maas.

The floor in the walk-in cooler was supposed to have been quarter tile, Healey told supervisors, but now the county is getting Protect-all rubber flooring. He called it food grade horse mats.

Healey also pointed out the difference in height between the cooler floor and kitchen floor and wondered if the food carts will face an incline and a bump at the threshold.

The supervisors shouldn’t have to deal with this, said Maas. “Bushong should be dealing with this.”

The building currently being remodeled as a jail kitchen used to be the county engineer’s office, said Maas. County Engineer Nick Amelon is temporarily working out of the building maintenance office until a new engineer’s office is completed across the street from the new jail kitchen.

The current jail kitchen has been in the old jail by the courthouse since 2012 when the inmates were moved to the new jail in the law enforcement center behind the courthouse.