Carbon County is going back to the drawing board on its prison food service contract.

On Wednesday, the county prison board voted to recommend to the board of commissioners that they reject the two bids for a three-year food service contract at the correctional facility in Nesquehoning.

Trinity Services Group Inc. of Oldsmar, the current contract holder, will continue providing meals on a month-to-month basis at the current contracted rate of $1.369 per meal until the contract is rebid. Trinity’s contract expires at the end of July.

Warden Timothy Fritz said that the reason for rejecting the two bids was because after reviewing the bids, both had some alternative pricing in them that should not have been included.

The commissioners are expected to also reject the bids at today’s board meeting.

The bids for the food contract were opened at the June 27 meeting with Trinity submitting the lowest apparent bid, totaling an estimated $876,348.90. The bid is based on serving meals to 233 inmates three times a day.

Broken down it was $1.12 per meal for the first year, $1.148 per meal for the second year and $1.177 per meal for the third year.

A second bid was received from Summit Food Services LLC of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.