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Iroquois County committee directs staff to seek bids for morgue generator
Summary
Committee members agreed to seek estimates and electrician input for a generator to support the county morgue after members said the existing unit is undersized and alternative options—hospital or funeral-home coolers—would be used in a pinch.
Committee members at the Iroquois County Management Services meeting on Monday directed staff to obtain cost estimates and technical assessments for a generator to serve the county morgue. The discussion followed committee comments that the small unit currently on site “is not big enough” to support the facility’s needs.
The generator topic came up after staff member Chris notified the committee he would not attend the meeting. Speaker 2 said he had reviewed the unit and determined “the capacity is just not enough for that building,” and recommended seeking bids for a larger system. Speaker 1 said he would follow up with Chris and asked staff to bring back formal estimates.
Committee members debated whether the county needed a full-building generator or a smaller system sufficient only to run the morgue coolers. Speaker 5 raised the scenario of extended outages after an ice storm and said the county should consider whether it could relocate decedents to nearby facilities in an emergency. Speaker 4 noted that county staff have in the past relied on refrigerated space at nearby hospitals and the local funeral home as contingency options.
Members discussed practical next steps: obtain an electrician’s assessment of the morgue’s minimum kilowatt requirements to run the refrigeration equipment, gather vendor bids for a generator sized to that load, and estimate installation and hookup costs. Speaker 1 concluded by saying, “if it’s okay with everyone, we will proceed with getting some estimates,” and the committee agreed to move forward.
The committee did not adopt a formal procurement contract at the meeting and did not set a budget amount; members said those details would return to the committee after staff collects cost and technical information.
Proposed near-term follow-ups include: (1) an electrician evaluation of the morgue refrigeration load, (2) written vendor bids for a generator sized to that load, and (3) cost estimates for installation and transfer switch/work required to connect the generator to the morgue systems. Members noted contingency arrangements with the local hospital and Bayer Funeral Home as temporary alternatives, but described onsite backup power as an insurance measure the county should evaluate.
