Pinckneyville to update city-owned lighting
The Pinckneyville City Council unanimously approved a resolution approving a contract to allow A&D Electric Supply to update the lighting in city-owned buildings. Total cost for the program is $62,850. The city will have to pay the full cost up front, but will receive a rebate of $26,783 through the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and Ameren Energy Now.
The update must be complete by Feb. 14 in order to receive the full rebate. If the contractor cannot complete all of the work by Valentine's Day, a smaller project with a cost of $40,590 and a rebate of $19,177 will be done instead.
Commissioner David Stone said the city will recoup the $36,073 spent on the lighting update with significant energy savings over the following two years. If it is necessary to scale back the work to the $40,590 project, the $21,413 spent will be recouped within 1.7 years.
A&D Electric Supply will handle the grant applications necessary for the work. A local sub-contractor will be used to do the work.
At the previous meeting, the council debated whether or not it would be better off applying for the grant on their own and keeping the administrative fees. Stone said he did not know exactly how much A&D will make administering the grant, but that it is typically four to five percent of the total grant.
In other business, the board:
• authorized the purchase of a $2,040 upgrade to Fudnware version 7.6 for the city's financial software and approved a reseller agreement with WTI Systems to provide services, upgrades and updates from May 31, 2013 to April 30, 2014 at a cost of $2,346.
• approved an agreement with the Rural Fire Protection District to forgive $4,892 of the $10,519 owed to the city for the Fire Chief's salary which has historically been split equally between the city and rural fire protection districts. The remaining $5,626 will be paid in two installments. The PRFD got behind in salary payments after fighting a costly fire at an airport hangar. The owner of the hangar did not have insurance.
• agreed to allow the Rend Lake Lunker Buster Bass Club to hold a fish-off on May 25 at City Lake. It is a catch and release tournament. The council noted that there is a 10 hp limit on the lake, but agreed to allow larger motors on the lake at idle speed, provided the Conservation Department has no objection. Commissioner Stone will check on the horsepower limit, as well as a slot limit on the lake about which he has some questions.
• approved an ordinance certifying an agreement between Egyptian Electric Cooperation Association and the city. Only a very small portion of Egyptian's customers are within the city limits. The 10-year agreement will grant the city a rebate on lighting placed in Egyptian's service area.
• heard from Bill Flowers of New Wave Communications about the nearly finished upgrades and new services soon to be offered. Flowers said New Wave doubled the fiber backbone and created a redundant fiber path to prevent future outages. The company also launched eight new analog channels, 28 digital channels and 51 HD channels. There is now an all-digital platform available. New wave plans to rollout a whole house DVR service in the next few weeks and is planning a home security service. A launch party is planned for 4 to 6 p.m. Feb. 6 in Pinckneyville.