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Fremont County staff seek DOE funding for window and lighting upgrades, racing to gather quotes
Summary
County staff said Department of Energy funding is allocated for energy-savings work on county “corner” buildings and staff must submit vendor quotes within about three days; staff also planned to circulate a fire-restriction RFP and revisit a warming-trailer policy at the next meeting.
Fremont County staff said they are pursuing Department of Energy funding to upgrade windows and interior lighting at county “corner” buildings and must deliver contractor quotes within about three days to meet an application deadline.
County staff described two target areas for the DOE-funded work: replacing windows in the newer corner buildings and changing interior lighting. Staff noted the county upgraded many fixtures to higher-output fluorescent lights about four to five years ago and said switching to LED fixtures could produce additional savings, though staff raised concerns about LED lifespan and related replacement costs.
A county staff member said the money for the project is already allocated and that a colleague named Jim “is on the list” for the funding; another staff member said Mike is working to obtain the required quotes. The staff member said obtaining quotes quickly is urgent because of the short submission window.
Staff also discussed how lighting upgrades could be included in planned construction work for those buildings if the board approves the project. Separately, a staff member said they would send a fire-restriction request for proposals to Ron Winpen and Jack in Du Bois and that the board would review a warming-trailer policy and discuss “green trailers” at the next meeting.
No formal vote or ordinance was recorded on the energy upgrades during the portion of the meeting in the transcript. Staff described the next steps as gathering quotes, coordinating with named colleagues, and returning an itemized list to the board at a future meeting for further direction.
The discussion mixed technical and procurement details: staff emphasized the immediate need for vendor quotes and flagged uncertainty about the net lifecycle savings of LED retrofits given replacement costs for exterior poles and fixtures. Staff did not provide specific dollar figures for the project or a final vendor selection during the discussion.
