Like a past due bill that won’t go away until it’s paid, the issue of courthouse heating, ventilation and cooling came up again at the Greene County supervisors meeting June 17.
County engineer Wade Weiss told the supervisors he had been contacted by Holly Elbert, the partner at BBS Architects and Engineers who has worked with the county regarding the HVAC system at the courthouse. She asked Weiss about the status of the project, which had been put ‘on hold’ after a referendum last March failed, leaving the county without a sure way to pay for it. Elbert alerted Weiss the design cost of the project may increase as time goes on.
Last fall the project was estimated at $3.2 million. It would include a new boiler in the basement and a chiller on the roof, and replacing the current radiators with wall units that would distribute both heating and cooling (similar to hotel wall units). That estimated cost included design work.
The county has available $1.8 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. Another $400,000 was to come from a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reimbursement for work the county did on the Raccoon River Valley Trail.
Rural voters were asked last March to approve a change in the purpose statement for the local option sales and service tax (LOSST) to allow that revenue to be used to pay the remaining cost of the project. The plan was to sell general obligation revenue bonds against future LOSST revenue and do the project. Work on the heating system would have been in progress now, while heat isn’t needed.
The supervisors paused the project when the referendum failed.
County auditor Billie Hoskins said the question could be placed on the Nov. 5 general election. “You’re going to have to sell it,” Hoskins told the supervisors.
Supervisor Pete Bardole suggested they do more “brainstorming” of other options for funding the project.
Weiss said he’d speak with Elbert about staging the project so that lines would be run for the heating and cooling but the chillers wouldn’t be installed at this time. “We could have options to the bid, with that being one of them, to give us more breathing room,” he said.
“We have to move forward, but we need to be able to pay for it,” board chair John Muir said.
The supervisors agreed to place the HVAC project on the June 24 agenda for discussion.
Luke Filmeier of Alliant Energy and county drainage clerk Michelle Fields talked with the supervisors about a project Alliant is doing to bring more electricity to a Landus Cooperative facility just outside of Boxholm. Easements have been obtained and construction has started.
However, terminology in the easement agreement to bore under county roads was confusing, referring to road rights-of-way. Weiss explained that roads are not done by a platted survey, but are actually right-of-way easements. He said the terminology in the agreement needs to be “massaged.”
The project crosses three drainage districts, all of them shared with either Boone or Webster County. It will cross drainage tiles four times outside the right-of-way.
Filmeier said there needs to be an agreement in place between Alliant Energy and the board of supervisors, acting as trustees for the drainage districts, before any boring is done that crosses the drainage districts. Crews and equipment are already on site, he said.
County attorney Thomas Laehn said he would draft a new agreement ASAP, using an agreement with MidAmerican for the Beaver Creek wind turbine project as a starting place. The supervisors will go into a drainage meeting at the June 24 meeting to approve it.
Weiss reported bid letting for the Grimmell Rd bridge project is scheduled for July. He also said his department will finish maintenance on gravel roads this week.
Laehn reported he is revising policies for the county parks to be sure they’re up-do-date and meet recently updated state policies.
The board approved the renewal of a service agreement to participate in the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC) HIPPA program, and a master service agreement with IP Pathways. The board also approved a cigarette/tobacco/nicotine/vapor permit for Paton Pitstop.
