Christian County commission renews generator maintenance contract to keep jail and court backup power operational

The Christian County Commission voted to renew a one-year preventive maintenance contract with Central Power Systems for the county’s two standby generators, effective June 8 through June 7 the following year. The service covers the generator that supports the jail and the generator that can power the Circuit Court building.

The maintenance package includes semiannual service visits to change oil, check batteries and controls, and run load-bank tests to verify the automatic transfer switch and overall function. "These load bank tests are important," said Mister Tukes, the county building maintenance supervisor, explaining that tests ensure the transfer switch will operate automatically; he noted the county previously had to replace a transfer switch after more than two decades in service and had been without automatic operation for several months during the repair. "As you're aware, we house people in the jail. We are required to have that generator available to run," Tukes added, describing why the equipment must be kept in working order.

Commissioners said the vendor is based in Springfield and that the proposed increase — described in the meeting as roughly 7 percent for parts and labor compared with the prior term — was acceptable given the vendor’s history of servicing the county’s units. The commission approved the contract by voice vote.

The renewal is explicitly intended to preserve automatic backup power for detention and court operations and to avoid the operational risks and manual workarounds that occurred during past transfer-switch repairs. The contract was not competitively bid under the county’s procurement thresholds cited by staff, who said the work falls under statutory purchasing limits for the $12,000 every-90-days rule.

The commission did not specify additional contingency funding or a separate capital replacement schedule for the generators during the meeting; commissioners and staff said the renewal covers preventive maintenance and load-bank testing only. Future replacement of major components such as transfer switches would be addressed if and when needed through separate procurement or budget items.