BOCC approves exhaust fan for SCSO

WALLACE — The saga of Wallace’s fifty-year-old public safety building, which houses the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO), Shoshone County Jail, and driver’s license office, continues. On Wednesday morning SCSO Sheriff Mike Gunderson spoke to the Shoshone Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) about needing a new exhaust fan.

“We are having a problem with the exhaust units,” explained Gunderson, “It sounds like it was jerry-rigged to fit the building when it was manufactured.”

Gunderson explained that mold and other ventilation issues would be the most significant problem with not having a working exhaust fan as the building has over twenty-five years of records downstairs, which could be damaged.

The most recent flash storm that went through the Silver Valley affected the safety building due to improper drainage, and it’s not uncommon for SCSO Jail staff to have to stack sandbags in the basement to protect the records and electronics.

“Eventually, those records must be scanned and in a computer system. But, like everything else, that takes time, money, and the right staff to do the job,” said Gunderson, “Everything is elevated right now to eliminate the water damage, but it’s still an issue.”

The building is also waiting to get a new heating and cooling system, as the current system struggles to keep up with the demand of the building and dumps hundreds of gallons of city water down the sewer every day, which is expensive and wasteful. The current controls of this system are over twenty years old.

In 2019, Gunderson proposed a $22,444,685 bond that would have paid for constructing a modern public safety building in Wallace. Unfortunately, taxpayers did not approve that bond; therefore, Gunderson and the BOCC has had to work to upgrade and maintain the aging facility.

The commissioners approved the $1,729 expense for the new exhaust fan at the end of the meeting.