Lee County Board OKs using ARPA funds for HVAC upgrade

DIXON — A multi-million dollar upgrade to the Lee County Courts Building’s HVAC system is underway.

“All the units are outdated and half are inoperable,” Lee County Board Chairman Bob Olson said in a Jan. 19 interview. “We’ve been working on this for over a year. … It’s pretty extensive; we’re redoing all the offices and revamping everything we can over there.”

Lee County Board members in November 2023 OK’d spending up to $4.25 million on a “guaranteed energy savings” contract for the project. About $2.9 million of the cost is coming from the county’s American Rescue Plan Act funds.

ARPA funds must be spent by 2026.

On Jan. 18, Lee County Board members unanimously voted to use ARPA funds to pay a $381,186.74 invoice from the project’s general contractor, Allied Facility Partners.

County Board members in November 2023 signed a “guaranteed energy savings” contract with Allied Facility Partners. The organization was granted the guaranteed energy savings contract in May 2023, board minutes show.

The May 15, 2023, Facilities and Maintenance Committee meeting minutes show former County Administrator Wendy Ryerson explained what a “guaranteed energy savings” contract is.

“The process provides an alternative method to the typical competitive bid process, specifically relevant to projects with energy savings potential,” the minutes read. “Qualified providers are selected though an RFP process. Providers then work with the County to identify specific energy saving projects, engineer the project, calculate project costs, and calculate energy savings. The qualified provider develops a guaranteed energy savings contract in which the energy savings are guaranteed by the provider. The goal is to offset the cost of the project (at least in part) with the energy savings over the life of the contract.”

The HVAC project currently is expected to be finished by June 1, said Tom Wilson, Facilities and Maintenance Committee chairman. Originally, the needed parts weren’t supposed to arrive until October, he said.

“When we get done, the whole building should be up to date and actually working,” Olson said.