Marshall County Fiscal Court is considering ways to save on energy costs in county-owned facilities.
The court in its June 20 meeting voted to issue a request for proposals on infrastructure improvements to save energy and thus potential costs in its buildings, to include the courthouse, detention center, sheriff’s department, judicial facility, road department, maintenance garage, E911 center and Mike Miller Park. Two companies submitted proposals outlining details of such improvements and potential cost savings to the county in short and long term projections. Those companies – Energy Systems Group, based in Newburgh, Ind., and Perfection Group, based in Lexington – presented proposals Tuesday during a regularly-scheduled fiscal court meeting in Benton.
Both companies outlined plans to update various components to increase energy efficiency, including replacement of lighting, restroom fixtures such as toilets and urinals, windows and retrofitting HVAC systems and controls. Proposals included engineering, constuction and maintenance plans, in addition to details on previously contracted projects of a similar nature.
ESG estimated annual energy savings at about $107,361; Perfection Group annual energy savings to the county equaled about $93,000, according to calculations from individual facilities breakdown reports. ESG estimated full project cost, including enginering, construction and maintenance at about $1.7 million. Perfection Group submitted performance based pricing, which outlines that the firm and court will first determine the full scope of project work (based on if the court determined to take the project on in full or in part) and will assess its fee based on actual energy savings, according to proposal documentation.
View the full ESG proposal here. View the full Perfection Group proposal here.
The court determined to take time to review both proposals and hold a special-called meeting at 1 p.m. Friday to discuss further and award the bid.
The court also on Tuesday approved a contract with Capstone HR to craft job descriptions for county employees to establish consistency in county government and remain in compliance with federal regulations. Randy Fox, founder of Capstone, addressed the court on his qualifications, the process and to answer commissioners’ questions. The court had initially brought the matter up for vote in July, but commissioners tabled the issue to allow time to speak with other municipalities and agencies that had previously used the firm’s services.
“This is really to reduce risk,” Fox said. “The long-term risk of the employee side of any organization. To me, if you want to attract and retain a qualified workforce, but you have to do that sustainable to where you minimize the chance you may get sued. … You have systems in place if there is any kind of employee issues, that there are systems in place to address those before somebody gets disgruntled and leaves. … You can do it on your own, and there are many HR managers – larger organizations that can justify having an HR manager, that’s what I did for many years at the alucobond plant – but many organizations can’t afford to dedicate a person to that. So, you’re allowing that level of expertise to come in without having a long-term HR salary on your books.”
The contract, which comes with a $4,200 price tag to retain services and an additional $250 each for the 17 job descriptions, outlines a two-phase effort. Capstone would meet with department heads to draft job descriptions and templates for said descriptions compliant with federal and state regulations during the first phase of the process; the firm will review wage and compensation plans and make recommendations to the county in the second phase. The contract calls for half of the $4,200 consultation fee to be paid prior to phase two, with the remaining half to be invoiced upon completion of services.
Additional expenses incurred after job completion would be billable to the county at rate of $78 per hour. Out-of-pocket costs incurred at the request of the county, such as lodging, meals and supplies, would also be assessed a fee.
The court also heard the introduction of property tax rates for the year. County treasurer Emily Martin recommended the court consider adopting the compensating rate for the upcoming year, which will generate about the same revenues as tax assessments from the previous year, though the actual rates will decrease somewhat. Martin recommended the county assess 9.6 cents per $100 of assessed value on both real and personal property taxes, down from the 9.7 cents assessed on real and 9.8 cents on personal property last year. Rates for 2017, if adopted, will generate about $1.8 million in county revenues on real property and $307,645 on personal property, an overall increase of $10,684 in anticipated revenues from last year.
Motor vehicle and watercraft tax rates would remain unchanged at 11.2 cents per $100 of assessed value.
According to the tax rate calculation report, total assessed value of property in the county subject to full local tax rates comes to about $2.2 billion.
In other business, the court:
- approved two new hires for the Marshall County Detention Center at rates of $14 and $10 per hour;
- approved two new hires for the Marshall County Animal Shelter at a rate of $10.21 per hour in laborer positions;
- approved a new assistant director hire for the Marshall County Animal Shelter at a rate of $14 per hour;
- moved an employee from the animal shelter to the sanitation department after a medical condition emerged preventing the employee from performing duties at the shelter;
- awarded Bacon, Farmer and Workman engineering the contract – not to exceed $25,000 – to develop a comprehensive plan for Mike Miller Park development;
- awarded bids to Parkway Chrysler in Benton for the purchase of three sheriff’s department vehicles at a cumulative cost of about $81,337, contingent on ABC tax collections; and
- rescheduled the Sept. 19 meeting to 9:30 a.m. Sept. 20 in the Marshall County Fiscal Courtroom.
See the full video of Tuesday’s meeting here.