Grand Forks council to discuss energy audits of 10 city buldings

As part of an effort to improve energy efficiency, Grand Forks city staff is seeking City Council permission to spend $43,100 on energy audits for city buildings.

The audits would allow the city to enter into a contract where it would be guaranteed to save at least as much money on energy as the cost of any efficiency upgrades, meaning there’s no risk to the city.

Estimated savings from upgrades to 10 city buildings are about $200,000. The buildings range from the small 7,200-square-foot south end fire station to the very large 166,500-square-foot public works building, from the old, such as City Hall, to the newest, such as the fire and police training center in the Industrial Park.

The city-owned Alerus Center is working separately on similar guaranteed energy efficiency upgrades.

Members of the council’s service committee will take up the matter when they meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Also on the committee’s agenda:

- A proposed purchase of five vans for the Dial-A-Ride/Senior Rider subsidized transportation program, three of which would be replacements and two would allow for additional service. Staff is also asking to buy two replacement buses. Federal funds would pay about 80 percent, leaving the city paying $32,900 for the vans and $40,100 for the buses.

- Grand Forks police is asking permission to get protective equipment to investigate clandestine drug labs. Staff reports that it has a $33,300 federal stimulus grant available.

The finance committee meets at 5:30 p.m. today. On the agenda:

- A contract to repair the air handling system at the city-owned Corporate Center. City staff had estimated the project would cost $198,500, but Climate Control of Fargo was able to bring that down to $132,500.

- A proposed $222,000 upgrade of the city’s financial management system. The system in use now dates to 1990. It’s incapable of working directly with modern software applications, such as Excel spreadsheet, meaning it can’t read data from other applications; the data has to be retyped. It also can’t draw graphs or charts. Staff noted that the system is so old that new features aren’t being added, and technical support may go away as more and more users upgrade to newer systems.

Tags: gf and egf, grand forks city council, energy audits, city buildings, dial-ride senior rider, protective equipment, clandestine drug labs, corporate center, air handling system, financial manaagement system, news, staff