(PHOTO BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
CELL BLOCK … Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio’s Executive Director, Dennis Sullivan, points on a blueprint that shows the upcoming changes to Cell Block C. This project is currently expected to begin in March.
By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jacob@thevillagereporter.com
Board members for the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio met this past week on Wednesday, October 23rd. The meeting began at 9:33 a.m. with the board first moving to approve minutes from the previous meeting.
Fiscal reports for the months of August and September were then approved, along with line-item transfers, before moving on to discuss the U.S. Marshal Per Diem.
It was stated that negotiations had taken place with the Marshal’s Service for a per inmate amount. These negotiations are able to take place every three years. Negotiations concluded with CCNO making $117 per inmate per day.
This is an increase of $7 per day. An increase was also negotiated for CCNO employees for when an inmate is transported to the airport or hospital. This amount will increase from $35/hr to $45/hr.
These changes will take effect on November 1st of this year. It was stated that, when averaging 200 federal inmates a day, this could bring in an additional $84,000 this year alone.
The board then moved on to discuss the 2025 budget. It was announced that $1.7 Million will be carried over from the 2024 budget to the 2025 budget. $1.3 Million of that will be used to support the overall budget, $400,000 will be allocated to the CCNO Healthcare Fund, and any remaining dollars will be invested for the future.
By rolling $1.3 Million into the overall budget, it will equate to a consistent low per diem rate of $73.33 for CCNO members.
This figure closely aligns with per diem numbers from 2017-2019. Additional discussions then took place regarding the Supervision fund, Inmate Trust fund and Capital fund before moving on to capital expenditures.
During this topic, board members discussed the purchase of a new dishwasher.
This will switch out the current dishwasher that is in need of replacement. A quote has been received from a company in Perrysburg in the amount of $74,000. This amount is under the set threshold and will be purchased with capital funds.
Next on the agenda was a request to purchase exercise equipment. These 7 exercise bikes, 7 ellipticals, and rowing machine will be placed in the minimum-security dormitory area, which has the ability to be closed off.
This area also has a ping pong table that was recently added to it. The equipment will be correctional grade, will not be paid for with tax dollars, and will come in at a cost of $43,053.87.
An update for C Unit came next. This Unit will be undergoing major changes following future construction efforts. The unit will be upgraded to medium-security and will hold 64 beds. This increase will be made possible due to the adding of toilets and sinks in the cells along with locks on the doors.
Due to this taking place, the upstairs restroom and shower will be turned into a staff restroom and storage closet area with inmate showers being located on the ground floor.
Each room, except for four, will feature double bunks. Two of the other four rooms will be ADA compliant and the remaining two rooms will only have one bed.
The project is expected to be put out for bid on January 14th, with construction beginning around March 25th, 2025, and ending around January 30th, 2026.
Due to the possible need of beds during that time, the idea of a temporary wall to separate the cell block was mentioned.
Conversation then shifted to operations updates. The current inmate count on that date was 556, with 332 of those being from member counties. Maumee Valley Guidance Center has recently provided some training for staff members and Harbor US will be remaining at CCNO for an additional year. This organization helps provide inmates with jobs and has received over 1000 applications while helping 416 clients.
It was then stated that Securitas had recently started upgrading and replacing computers and panels in the units.
This however has now been put on hold, with the old equipment being put back in due to complications. CCNO has also recently passed its jail inspection and has received a letter officially showing this.
The letter states, “The Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio is in compliance with 179 standards, 53 “essential”, and 126 “important”.” Some of the items looked at during the inspection include “reception and release, classification, security, housing, sanitation and environmental conditions, communication, visitation, medical and mental health services, food service, recreation and programming, inmate discipline, administrative segregation, grievance, staffing, and staff training.”
The board then discussed this month’s employees of the month before moving on to enter into executive session at 9:57 a.m. Following their return at 10:06 a.m. and with no action taken, board members moved to adjourn the meeting at 10:07 a.m.