As a former member of the Webster County Board of Supervisors, I spent 16 years working diligently to always do what was best for all the citizens of Webster County. Most of the time, our board would agree on the tough decisions revolving around budget concerns yet still provide the services that our citizens expect.

With the upcoming Nov. 7 vote on the new Webster County Jail and Sheriff’s Office, I truly believe that we, the citizens of Webster County, need to vote yes for this investment in our community.

Based on the current cost of housing our inmates in other counties ($1.4 million in the past five years), increasing transportation cost and the safety concerns of transporting inmates, Webster County cannot put this off any longer.

Approximately, 12 years ago, this same concern was brought to the Board of Supervisors attention, and it was determined then to remodel the current building in hopes of buying time until the new building labor and material cost went down. As we all know, these costs have increased exponentially with no end in sight.

Now we are faced with the same issues and these costs will continue to rise until the decision is made to invest in this public safety issue.

Over the past three years Webster County has been able to offset the inmate housing costs with American Rescue Plan funding. That funding is no longer available to aid with the costly burden at $300,000 this year alone. These expenses are not sustainable for Webster County and will force our current Board of Supervisors to make tough decisions when trying to balance our future budgets. I fear that other county services will begin to suffer as this “rent money” continues to hemorrhage from our funds.

Safety and sanitation have also been a long standing concern of the current Law Enforcement Center.If you haven’t taken a tour of the jail, I highly recommend it. You will see for yourself that the poor design creates officer safety and escape risks, which we’ve had several over the years. The outdated facility continues to have plumbing , electrical, HVAC and generator issues. Several times throughout the year sewer lines become blocked and back sewage into the basement of the LEC where our Fort Dodge officers and Webster County deputies get dressed to go on duty. It is a common occurrence for officers to need boots replaced from raw sewage floods due to drainage issues.

Upon speaking with our current supervisors, I was informed that over the last three years our LEC has generated over $300,000 in Insurance claims. These stem from inmate damage to the padded cell, roof leakage into the jail kitchen damaging food, HVAC system failures, water line breaks and sewer issues to list a few.

We must stop putting Band-Aids on this building hoping that one will stick.

Please join me in voting yes to the new Webster County Jail and Sheriff’s Office referendum on Nov. 7. We must invest in the safety of our community and our law enforcement partners. This is a public safety issue that has waited long enough to be addressed.

Keith Dencklau, of Fort Dodge, is a former Webster County supervisor.