The Vermilion County Board has voted to embark on $7.5 million dollars in improvements to some county-owned buildings.
Most of the work will be at the Rita B. Garman Vermilion County Courthouse where boilers will be replaced, along with new high-efficiency windows and LED lights. LED lighting fixtures will also be installed at the Joseph G. Cannon Building and the Vermilion County Health and Education Building. And new equipment will be retrofitted to the existing heating and air-conditioning systems to save energy when the buildings are not occupied.
Also, certain improvements will be made at the animal shelter and maintenance garage. But at the animal shelter and highway department the work only involves new lighting. And some citizens who addressed the board tonight (Tuesday, July 9th, 2024) argued that it’s time for a whole new animal shelter. Some pointed to the recent failure of air-conditioning at the shelter and quick action by citizens who rescued dogs and cats from the heat.
Overall, the agreement with Centrica Business Solutions to oversee the work amounts to $7-million, 508-thousand dollars. The county plans to use $4-million dollars in federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds to pay for part of it. The other $3.5 million dollars will be budgeted in the upcoming fiscal year budget. The work is expected to be substantially complete in July of next year.
There had also been discussion about possibly placing solar panels on the roof of the Health and Education building, but that idea has been scrapped.
There are still some big-ticket items that are not part of these improvements. “The jobs not done. We need windows and an elevator in this building,’’ said board member Jerry Hawker. He was referring to the Joseph G. Cannon Building where the board was meeting.
Plans to replace windows in the Cannon building have been delayed awaiting approval of the U.S. Park Service because the building is on the list of National Historic Places. “Working with any governmental agency it takes longer than you’d like, but it’s a process you have to go through’’ said Blaine Meadows of Centrica Solutions.
The vote to proceed with the work passed by a vote of 19 “yes”, 2 “no” and 6 board members were absent. The no votes were cast by Jim McMahon and Robert Boyd.
