Jeff Phelps, the county’s building maintenance lead, told the Board of County Commissioners that major heating and cooling equipment in the county courthouse is approaching the end of its service life and will need replacement.

Phelps said the boilers are about 36 years old and “getting thin.” He reported vendor estimates in the meeting ranging “about $210,000 to $225,000” and later clarified that the figure presented covered the packaged installation under discussion. He recommended replacing the system with three direct‑drive boilers to maintain redundancy and reliability.

Phelps also described multiple long-standing issues with the courthouse air‑handling units: one roof air handler appears to be leaking, coils for several units are no longer manufactured, and at least one air handler is undersized relative to the building prints. He said the newer replacement units would be more energy efficient and that the vendor’s preliminary figures indicated roughly a 15% reduction in fuel cost, with a payback period the vendor estimated at about 15 years.

Why it matters: The equipment serves the courthouse and related county facilities. Failures would affect heating and cooling across multiple offices and courtrooms, and a full replacement would be a multi‑hundred‑thousand‑dollar capital project.

Discussion and next steps: Commissioners asked whether grant funding might help; staff said they were pursuing grant avenues. Commissioners discussed budgeting the replacements for 2027 if outside funds are not secured. Phelps said vendors are preparing formal bids and efficiency calculations; he will provide those estimates to county administration when available.

Direct quotes from the meeting include Phelps saying, “They’re getting thin,” when describing the boilers’ condition, and noting, “they’re gonna save roughly 15%,” when summarizing expected fuel savings from new equipment.

Ending: County staff will collect formal bids and efficiency workups from vendors, pursue grant opportunities, and present options to the board for budgeting decisions, including possible placement in the 2027 budget cycle.