The Vermilion County Board is considering millions of dollars of improvements to some county-owned buildings. They include the Rita B. Garman Vermilion County Courthouse, Joseph G. Cannon Building and others.
Members of the County Board are considering ways to reduce energy usage in those buildings. The Board, this week, heard from Blaine Meadows of Centrica Business Solutions – Energy Services Company….
Audio Player{AUDIO: “Our skillset is being able to come in and work with counties to bundle projects together that are energy related, to create utility cost-savings, as well as deliver speed to construction to get work done in a timely manner. As well as deliver speed to actually realizing your utility cost-savings.’’}
(Vermilion County Health Department building.)
Meadows said that by bundling projects the county can save money on improvements at the courthouse, Cannon Building, County Health Department and other county-owned buildings.
Improvements being considered among the estimated $4.7 million dollars of work include new windows at both the courthouse and Cannon buildings, along with upgrades to heating, air-conditioning and ventilation systems. Also being proposed are solar panels at the Vermilion County Health Department, along with lighting upgrades at those three buildings and the Highway Department and Buildings and Grounds.
The County Board is considering using federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds for the work, and Meadows said other funding options are available. He said the solar panels at the Health Department would reduce energy costs for that building by an estimated 60-percent. In addition, once the panels are in place for a year Meadows added the county would qualify for federal incentive funds for installing them.
Meadows emphasized the information presented to the County Board is preliminary, but he added there is a potential for the county to save 40-percent on electricity and 24-percent on natural gas.
Meanwhile some other improvements are already underway at the Joseph G. Cannon Building (formerly known as the Vermilion County Administration Building). County Board Chairman Larry Baughn said work on a new roof is nearly complete and some new doors will be installed soon at the building’s entrances.
