Committee votes to separate electrical service for county health department and adjacent school

The General Operations Committee voted unanimously to separate the electrical service that had been feeding both the county health department and a nearby school, directing the school to fund repairs to its feed while the county will take responsibility for a separate meter for the health department. The committee said separating the meters should prevent project delays on both sites and clarify billing responsibility. "My motion is to separate the 2 entities for the power. Every we split that apart, and the school pays for their own fix to get this situation fixed on their end. And then the county does it then. That's my motion," the mover said during debate.

Committee members and staff discussed repair options after demolition work at the health department severed an underground electric line that had been feeding stadium lighting and other school facilities. Finance staff reported a contractor change-order estimate to restore service of about $10,090.01 if the county were to order the fix as a change order. "We did get a change order estimate from the contractor to do to fix the electricity issues, $10,090.01," the finance director said.

Why it matters: the electrical question was blocking use of the stadium and threatened the construction timeline for the health department project. Committee members emphasized speed: separating the services would allow the school to seek immediate temporary service and for the health department to get a permanent meter later without delaying either project's schedule.

Discussion and constraints: staff noted the county would need state approval for any change-order payments related to the health department building permit work. The committee discussed short-term temporary service as a stopgap and asked the school district to bear the immediate repair cost. The formal motion instructed staff to move forward with separating meters and clarified that the school should fund its own line repair while the county would establish the health department’s own meter and billing.

The committee recorded the motion, a second and a unanimous vote to approve the separation that evening. Committee members said they would return any paperwork needed to state authorities for approval of contractor work and change orders.