Feb 21, 2022 4 min read

Greene County commissioners have signed an Energy Savings Performance Contract to make building improvements that will reduce energy and water use, while increasing operational efficiency.

Commissioner Mike Belding said Thursday that the county will spend $2.7 million in Act 13 and American Rescue Plan (ARP) money for the projects, spread over the 2022 and 2023 budgets, with a guaranteed savings return of $2.9 million over 20 years.

“From a building maintenance and fiscal planning consideration, this is long overdue,” Belding said. “Until now, the county had no capital projects plan – everything was done by crisis management. Preventative maintenance and systematic, planned replacement of high-cost HVAC components allows us to even the costs out over a longer, more predictable time period.”

Commissioner Betsy McClure said several of the more expensive improvements concentrate on air movement, control and quality, which is important in reducing the spreading of viruses, particularly COVID-19.

“In addition to refurbishing or replacing several severely outdated air handling units, needlepoint bipolar ionization … technology will be installed in the county office building, the courthouse, Fort Jackson Building, Ben Franklin Building, Silveus Building and the county jail,” she said.

That technology creates and releases ions into the air using the existing HVAC system as the delivery method. When these ions disperse throughout a space, they seek out and form bonds with particles in the air through a process called agglomeration.

“This creates a snowball effect in which particles begin to cluster together,” Belding said. “The larger a cluster of particles becomes, the easier it is for your system to filter it out of the air.”

During their Thursday meeting, commissioners approved a resolution and agreements authorizing ABM Facility Support Services to make those improvements, pending solicitor approval.

Once approved, the repairs, replacement and rejuvenation of systems will begin and likely continue throughout early fall of 2022, Belding said.

The ABM contract was signed following 10 months of evaluations done at all county-owned facilities.

In other news, commissioners approved a proposal between AMO Environmental Decisions and the county for an environmental review report for the $2.5 million Appalachian Regional Commission broadband grant that the county previously received. Belding said the grant requires an environmental impact study of the proposed installation of 105 miles of fiber-optic cable.

“This contract fulfills that requirement,” Belding said. The proposal is for an amount not to exceed $54,400, and will be paid for with the county’s ARP funds.

In another matter, commissioners approved a $9,200 proposal between J&J Mechanical and the county for the replacement of a five-ton heating/ventilation/air conditioning unit at the county office building. Belding said the proposal will be paid for with ARP funding, and added that the replacement is necessary as age and condition of the current unit has been irreparable.

Commissioners also approved a proposal between Huckestein Mechanical and the county for the replacement of a boiler feed tank in the Fort Jackson Building. Belding said the proposal totals $12,131 and will also be paid for with county ARP funds. The equipment replacement is also necessary, he added, due to the current tank’s deteriorating age and condition.

In other business, commissioners approved the return of $793,155 from the 2018/2019 Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Fund grant that was initially designated for infrastructure for an 18-lot subdivision in Nineveh, Morris Township.

Belding said the funding was awarded in 2018 to develop a small housing project in Nineveh, but over time the property was deemed unfit for housing and the cost of getting utilities to the development were unreasonable.

“PHARE funds have a timeline in which they need to be used,” he explained. “Unable to use them for the intended purpose, we were asked by the state Housing Finance Agency to return the money to the state and initiate another project that we could use these same funds toward. Hopefully, the funds will come back to Greene County when we find a better project to develop.”

The grant was closed Jan. 26.