Vigo County approves three maintenance contracts for jail, courthouse generator and community corrections

The Vigo County Commissioners approved three maintenance contracts covering electrical transfer-switch service at the county jail, remote monitoring of the courthouse generator and a controls renewal for community corrections' HVAC systems.

Ricky Hammond, the county maintenance supervisor, described the first contract as “a preventative maintenance contract for Russ Electric, for the automatic transfer switch at the Vigo County Jail,” adding the work helps ensure automatic transfer of power from the generator to the building during outages. Hammond said the county had “a couple issues with [the automatic transfer switch] last year,” and that the contractor determined a full shutdown could not be performed without affecting some jail power, so a different service option was included in the contract.

Hammond said the second contract is for Evapar, a remote monitoring service for the new courthouse generator that sends alerts if the generator fails to start or misses its weekly test. When asked, a commissioner confirmed the monitoring subscription costs $350 a year; Hammond confirmed, “A year. Yes.”

The third contract is a renewal with Carrier for controls work on community corrections' HVAC systems; Hammond said Carrier has covered controls at that facility for several years. Commissioners approved all three contracts by voice vote.

During discussion, Hammond noted one contract item the vendor would not change: a limit-of-liability clause remained as written. A commissioner asked that maintenance contracts be gathered ahead of the county's budget presentation to the city council so the county can request necessary funding increases during budget season.