By Mannix Porterfield
Register-Herald Reporter
BECKLEY —
An Ohio firm is paying the Raleigh County Commission a visit next week to see if it can find ways of making the eight county-owned structures more energy efficient.
If that can be done, it could translate into some more borrowing power for the commission, with special regard to installing new courthouse windows.
“We’re going to look at all the buildings the county has and do an energy assessment on those buildings,” commission president John Humphrey said after Tuesday’s meetings.
A recent law enacted by the Legislature opens the door for counties to borrow money, based on how efficient its sources of energy function, he explained.
Humphrey said the county possibly could borrow funds to help finance the installation of 240 new windows at the courthouse, based on what commissioners learn from its meeting with Johnson Controls of Cincinnati.
On its website, the firm bills itself as a global diversified technology and industrial leader, serving customers in 150 countries, with 130,000 employees. The company says its work dates back to its 1885 startup with the invention of the thermostat.
The county has received $256,000 in federal stimulus money toward the purchase of new windows, but one obstacle remains to be cleared — finding common ground with authorities who want the historical flavor of the structure preserved.
Humphrey said the county already has learned it can replace windows for about the half the cost of repairing them so that heat doesn’t escape and air conditioning units aren’t compromised.
“I’m not saying the county is going to borrow any money, but this does allow us to do that,” he said of the energy efficient status that qualifies a county to take out such loans.
In other matters, the commissioners:
-- Approved a $25,000 grant to replace the skylights at the Beckley-Raleigh County YMCA.
-- Signed off on an $82,800 grant for the Pine Haven shelter.
-- Accepted a REAP grant of $760.95, with the understanding that the balance of its original application for $3,000 would be made up in materials.
-- Approved a $170,804 drawdown for Raleigh County Memorial Airport.
-- Approved drawdowns of $36,178 and $7,138.70, respectively, for the Summers County OEM and the Beckley Fire Department.
-- Reappointed Margot Bower to the Planning and Zoning Commission, along with a new appointee, Jim Wood, and named Judy Hackney to the Board of Zoning Appeals.
— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com
