GORDON WOODS

gwoods@theclintonjournal.com

CLINTON — The county is studying a plan to put management of some of its mechanical systems under the control of a private firm.  County board members heard a presentation Thursday covering the plan.

Orry Cummings, of Smart Watt, talked to the board about services his company provided that could save the county thousands of dollars in maintenance costs over the course of a contract.

Board member Terry Ferguson, whose property committee first heard the presentation, brought the issue to the board for discussion.  He said the agreement would cover “basically, anything that uses energy.”

Ferguson said, in light of ongoing repairs with some of the county building’s aging mechanical systems, the plan could be a good idea.

Although the county would solicit proposals from other companies that provide the same service, Smart Watt could eventually win the contract, if approved by the board.

Cummings said if the county made the recommended changes to various mechanical and electrical systems, primarily in the county building, his company would guarantee the county would save money.  Cummings and engineers from Smart Watt already have conducted a feasibility study of the county building.

“We looked at all the mechanical systems, took a really close look at those,” Cummings said.

Many of those components are some 20-plus years old.

They also surveyed utility bills for the county building as part of the study.

“And, the purpose of that is basically to see if there’s a viable project or projects in the county buildings here,” Cummings said.

In other words, Cumming said, to determine if the county would save significant money through use of an energy performance contract.

“If the energy savings we find through this will fund these projects,” he told county board members.

Cummings said the project would be “budget neutral” throughout the process and would not add to the county’s budget.  Work would be funded through the savings realized by lower utility costs resulting from system improvements.

He said he estimated the county would save about $1.2 million in energy costs over 20 years.  Cummings also said his firm uses local contractors to perform work.

The property committee plans to study the proposal more and return it to the board for further discussion at its May meeting.