OPSO discusses funding needs for jail repairs with city council

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — During the special council meeting, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson insisted that the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office is in need of about $1 million to address plumbing concerns in the jail, including $300,000 to $400,000 for emergency repairs to fix immediate leaks behind the walls.

According to a plumbing contractor brought in by Hutson, the leaks were slow at first, but a pressure change caused the pipes to burst.

“Some sort of a pressure increase or whatever blew out the o-ring out in this, and then it just started leaking through the chase and then throughout the entire building,” OPSO plumbing contractor Ernie Anderson said.

The city council was hesitant to agree to hand over the money, questioning if the OPSO already has enough funds to cover this problem.

At the meeting, Louisiana Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack said that, after taking a look, Hutson has about $5 million of emergency funds before the city would need to step in.

“Yeah I think they would have plenty of dollars to do any major renovation,” Waguespack said.

Councilman JP Morrell questioned the urgency for city money, saying he never received any notice of severe plumbing-related issues before now.

“I still don’t have any estimates regarding plumbing issues. I understand emergent plumbing issues, but your words, what you’ve been saying is these are long standing plumbing issues the council has been aware of,” Morrell said.

Hutson ultimately argued against his point, saying she has notified the council every step of the way about plumbing issues since the jail has been open.

“We have notified you every budget cycle, every chance we get up here that we have infrastructure issues and the plumbing been part of them. We didn’t have this major leak until recently,” Hutson said.

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