Committee members discussed recent bids for work on the animal-control building and morgue that were recorded as ARPA expenditures and are therefore overseen through the finance committee.

A staff member reported bids submitted to finance include electrical services for about $20,000, plumbing services for roughly $8,500 and HVAC services for about $17,000; those items were coded to ARPA and fall under the grants fund. The committee was told the county has allocated ARPA funds and that no ARPA balance remains for additional items such as a permanent standby generator for the facility.

Members discussed alternatives for powering critical functions in outages, including portable generators with transfer switches and possible placement of generator expenses into a maintenance budget or capital improvements if costs warrant. A staff member suggested a load test or consultation with jail and facilities staff before selecting equipment, and noted that some buildings (for example, the maintenance shed) currently lack generator coverage.

The committee did not approve additional funding during the meeting and directed staff to verify current standby capacity and provide cost estimates if a permanent generator is desired.