Department of Correction to request funding for upgrades at 3 facilities

Proposed upgrades to three of the state’s correctional facilities will be among the items considered during Wednesday’s meeting of the Indiana State Budget Committee.

On the agenda are projects submitted by the Indiana Department of Correction for the Putnamville facility in Greencastle, the Pendleton Correctional Facility in Pendleton and the Chain O’Lakes Correctional Facility in Albion.

 The requested repairs to the Putnamville facility and the associated costs are as follows:

$361,607 to update the alarm systems in nine occupied buildings;
$473,000 to replace the high-voltage distribution switch gear system;
$410,000 to make repairs to the masonry of the chapel to reduce further deterioration.

For Pendleton, the department is requesting approval of $526,500 to begin masonry repairs to the administration building and perimeter wall.

At the Chain O’Lakes facility, the department is asking for $283,791 to remediate the former waste water lagoons to meet the requirements of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. These lagoons were abandoned after the facility consolidated its sanitary sewer system with the DNR’s Chain O’Lakes State Park.

Other projects on the agenda include a request from the House of Representatives of $750,000 to complete several renovation, repair and rehabilitation projects in the House chambers and offices. These projects include painting and carpet replacement as well as repairing and replacing equipment and furniture.

The committee is schedule to meet at 2 p.m. in the Corporate College Culinary Center, Room 118, on the Meridian campus of Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis.