Board members review more of county's needs for ARPA funds

Feb. 7—The Vermilion County Board Finance and Personnel Committee met Monday to discuss American Rescue Plan Act funding requests and review county building needs.

The county also has a Higginsville Road repair where emergency action was needed, costing $1.4 million in ARPA funding. The road has been declared unsafe by the county engineer. The county has taken emergency action pending agreement with the Army Crop of Engineers. The project, which includes emergency streambank stabilization, will be funded over four years. Temporary repairs are allowing safe passage of vehicles until a more permanent repair with the assistance of state and federal agencies. The total cost is estimated at about $4 million.

Additional county ARPA funding proposals:

* Courthouse, 7 N. Vermilion St., Danville. Replacement/update of the heating and cooling system including three boilers, 97 heat pumps and BACnext system (network system). Estimated cost: $2 million. Replacing or sealing windows at an estimated cost ranging from $500,000 to fully replace or $100,000 to repair/reseal. Entry doors (outside) and back-alley door. The front entry doors need new seals and the open/shut mechanisms have been worked on several times and are wore out. Daylight can be seen due to worn seals. The back-alley door needs completely replaced as the bottom second of this door is completely rusted out. It has been covered with metal previously and now is worn down. Estimated cost: $75,000. LED lighting. Johnson Controls provided the county with an upfront cost several years ago. Estimated cost: $45,000. Hot water heater estimated cost: $4,000. All new water lines throughout the building. Estimated cost: $1.5 million.

* Joseph G. Cannon Building, 201 N. Vermilion St., Danville. Replacing windows at an estimated cost of $750,000 to $1 million. According to the National Park Service, the description of the windows are: round-arched window openings with keystones, as well as segmental- and flat-arched openings with quoins at the corners. The General Services Administration previously made updates to the windows by installing storm windows as to not disturb the historic elements of the existing wooden frames. The previous quote in 2017 was $450,000 (which included customization of the wood frames as required by the NPS). Entry doors (north and south). The front entry doors have been worked on multiple times and are heavy duty and difficult for the public to pull open. It was reviewed to add a press door/auto opener; however, the doors also do not seal well. The cost of complete replacement, four-plus years ago, was around $40,000. Estimated cost: $55,000. Passenger Elevator. The current elevator system is 60-plus years old and current elevator supplier Kone had advised that parts for the system are nearly extinct. The current elevator also needs to be replaced due to its inadequate size for Americans with Disabilities Act compliance. The minimum width for an elevator is to be 68 inches. This elevator is 58 inches. The required depth (door to back wall) should be 54 inches. This elevator is 48 inches. Kone has provided some suggestions to accommodate a replacement. A complete inspection would be required for pricing. One of the suggestions is to cut out part of the floor at the door entry to the elevator system. However, it would need to be reviewed if this would be ADA compliant because instead of the required measurements of the cab of the elevator being 68 inches wide by 54 inches deep, it would be swapped to not intrude with the stairwell. So the elevator renovation would end up being 54 inches wide by 68 inches deep. This is only an option if ADA compliance would allow. A possible other option could be an exterior elevator such as at the Fischer Theatre. Roof: a recent quote from Sentry Roofing is $93,000. LED Lighting: building and grounds would update the system within the building. Estimated cost: $15,000.

* Vermilion County Health Department, 200 S. College St., Danville. Three air conditioning condensers. The air handler system already has been awarded through the request for proposal process and will be replaced in the next several weeks. The air handler update doesn't affect the air conditioning system. The update of the a/c condensers will allow for building and grounds to purchase freon at a much cheaper rate than the $5,000 per jug, as well as maintain a constant temperature throughout the health department instead of one area differential. Estimated cost: $150,000. Also, with the replacement of the heating and cooling system(s), the current system runs on one boiler in which there isn't a backup. If the system went out and the county is unable to acquire parts for repair, there'd be no heat. The desire would be for an additional boiler installation where they could cycle between the two boilers every other month. Estimated cost $3,500. Alarm System replacement. The current system is antiquated and is sporadic in adequacy. It often triggers even when properly disarmed. Estimated cost $4,000. LED lighting. Building and Grounds would update the system within the health department. Estimated cost: $7,000.

* Vermilion County Animal Regulations, 14775 Catlin-Tilton Road. Ventilation System. Allied Mechanical advised that the system is pulling in outside air after exhaustion and the air pulled in is not conditioned. Essentially a makeup unit would need to be installed to adjust the temperature of the outside air being brought in. It also was suggested that the heating/air conditioning systems be moved to a different area instead of within the kennel areas as the ammonia smell is filtered through these devices and pulled through the duct work and back into the entire building. This ammonia is also significantly rusting the duct work. Estimated cost: $400,000. Water system. The existing water system is provided through Aqua. However, the water pressure is significantly compromised with two garden-type hoses being run nearly the entire day. There has been a tank purchased to assist with this process. However, some of the existing water lines need replaced to increase water pressure for adequate cleaning. Estimated cost $3,500. Estimated cost for LED lighting: $9,000.

Vermilion County has already spent about $4 million of its $14.7 million ARPA funding internally on items through its departments including on juvenile detention center security cameras and locks, new election equipment, animal shelter officer truck and COVID-19 pay bonuses.

The county board has received more than 30 requests, totaling more than $6 million, for remaining ARPA funding from other Vermilion County organizations and governments.

It recently received an additional request from the Village of Muncie for $9,454 for its tornado siren project.

In other business, Committee Chairman Steve Miller last month addressed possible conflicts of interest he has as an attorney for municipalities in the county. Miller said he will not participate in any deliberations or discussions of ARPA funding awards regarding any entity he is financially associated. Other members of the committee also were reminded they should do the same if there is a conflict of interest.