Effingham County reconsiders scope of energy-saving project

Jan. 19—The Effingham County Board is once again taking steps toward a project aimed at reducing the county's energy costs.

Plans for the project include the instillation of a solar energy system on the roof of the Effingham County Office Building and the replacement of some or all of the building's windows.

During their meeting Tuesday, board members approved plans to have the windows in the Effingham County Office Building inspected to give them a better idea of how to best move forward with the energy-saving project.

"We've designed the project," Blaine Meadows of Centrica Business Solutions told members of the board.

The board also voted to join The Interlocal Purchasing System (TIPS), a cooperative purchasing organization, which Meadows said will help expedite not just the procurement process for the project, but the application process for the incentives the county plans to use to offset a significant portion of the project cost as well. These incentives include the Illinois Solar for All program.

"TIPS is a national purchasing system that works with local governments to help them streamline their procurement process because they have already run their own competitively bid and competitively qualified selection process for companies to provide products and services like we provide," Meadows said.

"It could help us down the road with other projects as well," County Board Member Jeremy Deters said.

According to Meadows, Tick Tock Energy, Inc. would be responsible for the instillation of the rooftop solar system if the county chooses to proceed with the project.

The Vice President of Tick Tock Energy, Craig Pals, attended the meeting Tuesday and responded to questions from board members regarding the solar system and Effingham County Board Chairman Josh Douthit's concern that the system could become a "lemon" for the county financially due to "unknown costs."

Pals said that the solar system would be protected by a 25 year warranty, and he said the process of repairing systems like it is usually "pretty efficient."

"It's really all very reliable, long-lasting infrastructure," Pals said.

The estimated cost of the project if all windows in the building are replaced is about $700,000, but Meadows noted that this cost would be cut roughly in half if the county decides to forgo the window replacement.

The board already plans to move forward with the project, but it first has to decide exactly what it would like the scope of the project to look like.

"You can adjust how many windows based on what your feedback is and what your recommendation is," Meadows said. "That's not a problem."

The Effingham County Building and Grounds Committee will revisit the matter and work to put together a final recommendation for the county regarding the project's scope, so the county can begin contract negotiations with Centrica.

"We're just going to keep the wheels turning while we assess that window issue," Douthit said.

Also during the meeting, Effingham County Board member Norbert Soltwedel expressed his concern regarding recent cases of vandalism in the county.

"Both the health department and the county highway department have incurred situations of vandalism," Soltwedel said. "I believe that we need to take disciplinary action in these situations. Something needs to be done."

He also told his fellow board members that he would like to see the parents of juveniles who commit acts of vandalism face consequences of their own.

"I regard the parents as being the ones that are responsible, and what I would like to see is that if we identify adolescents, their parents be called and told that their children are doing things that they should not being doing," Soltwedel said. "And we expect them to take action rather than the public taking that action. But if the parents don't take action, then I think we should publicize the names of those parents so that it becomes embarrassing."

In other matters, the board voted to modify the county's agreement with the Effingham County Child Care Research Committee for the Gap Scholarship program to change the frequency of audits for childcare providers and parents receiving funds through the program from once a month to once a year.

The program provides assistance for residents who are unable to find affordable child care for their children but are ineligible for the Illinois Child Care Assistance Program due to their income level. Families in the Gap Scholarship program receive $200 a month to help cover child care related costs.

"We get a monthly statement from the child care provider and from the parent verifying that the situation is still the same," Soltwedel said.

Receipts of income or pay stubs from the previous two pay periods will be used in these annual audits.

Meanwhile, as county officials provided their monthly reports, Melissa Ferris, who filled in for Effingham County Clerk Michelle Kollmann Tuesday, announced that early voting for the 2024 general primary election will begin on the first floor of the Effingham County Office Building on Feb. 8.

Additionally, Effingham County Coroner Kim Rhodes provided board members with her office's annual report.

"We had a good year as far as the coroner's office," Rhodes said. "I appreciate everybody's support and all the first responders and everybody involved in the T-Town incident last year."

In other matters, the board:

—Approved a report from the Jackson Township Decennial Committee.

—Approved a report from the Quad-Multi-Township Assessing District Decennial Committee.

—Approved a report from the Banner Township Decennial Committee.

—Approved a resolution increasing the daily compensation for county election judges from $195 to $215.

—Approved the 2024 mileage rate for the county.

—Approved $10,363 from the county's Opioid Settlement Fund for the Central East Alcoholism and Drug Council/Hour House.

—Approved the county's annual agreement to contribute to University of Illinois Extension.

—Amended verbiage in the lease agreement for the Department of Veteran Affairs to correct an error made by the state regarding the payment of the lease.

Nick Taylor can be reached at nick.taylor@effinghamdailynews.com or by phone at 618-510-9226 or 217-347-7151 ext. 300132.