As sewer cleaning fees continuing to mount, work began last week on a pretreatment project to prevent debris from leaving the Warren County Jail and entering the city of Warrenton's sewer system. A bar screen system will be installed in the sewer to catch items leaving the courthouse facility so they can be removed by county maintenance employees. The project has been designed to allow a grinder - the city's preferred pretreatment system - to be installed in the future if needed. The city of Warrenton insisted on the installation of the equipment to prevent garbage, clothes and other items from being stuffed down toilets by inmates at the jail and then entering the city's sewer main. In February, city workers discovered that a jail jumpsuit and other garbage had clogged the city's sewer main. County commissioners said they were glad to see work begin. "Once the project is done, I think everyone involved will be glad this is over," Southern District Commissioner Hubie Kluesner said. In the meantime, the county will continue to be billed for daily sewer cleanouts performed by the city. Between Oct. 13 and Jan. 17, the county has paid $20,045.48 in cleaning charges assessed by the city, according to county records. Each weekday a cleanout is performed, the city charges the county $100 for the use of its vacuum truck. The city also bills the county for the time spent by one or two city employees on the cleanout detail. Bids for the installation of the screen system were opened Nov. 21 but awarding a contract was delayed as engineers for both the city and county reviewed an alternate design that was eventually rejected. On Dec. 7, commissioners accepted the lowest bid from Warrenton-based Heggemann Inc. for $55,353 to complete the pretreatment improvements. The overall project will cost about $8,000 more than the bid, commissioners said, since a precast concrete structure had to be moved and placed deeper into the ground due to the presence of an underground electrical line. Commissioners said they thought the project would have started much quicker and were not sure what led to further delays. Commissioners believe the project should be completed in a couple of weeks. "It will probably depend on the weather," Presiding Commissioner Arden Engelage said. Inclement weather this week hampered the project's progress he added. The city requested the sewer pretreatment improvements since every manhole overflow must be reported as a violation to DNR. City officials are worried that similar blockages could cause damage to its sewer system. Under city codes, it's unlawful for any type of garbage to be discharged into the city's sewer main. Items that have been removed by city crews include clothes, food wrappers and toothbrushes. The city plans on making visual inspections for 60 days after the sewer pretreatment project is complete to ensure that the pretreatment system is functioning properly.