Commission authorizes chair to schedule closure for emergency generator transfer switch work at administrative building

Ellis County commissioners on May 6 authorized the commission chair and county administrator to set a date to close the administrative building so contractors can complete transfer switch and generator connection work for a newly delivered emergency generator.

County Administrator Darren Myers told the commission the generator and associated transfer-switch equipment—ordered separately—have now all arrived. The generator was specified to carry the entire facility load for continuity of operations, and final connection requires coordination among contractor RDH, Midwest Energy, Foley equipment representatives and local staff. Myers said the connection will require a planned power shutdown to complete wiring and testing.

Myers said the county used American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to purchase the generator. He told commissioners that a UPS can hold servers for about two hours; if the outage will exceed that period, staff will perform an orderly server shutdown and later bring systems back online once power and the generator transfer are complete. He said services such as the county website, hosted at the administrative building, could be unavailable during the work and that the county would try to pick a weekday (Tuesday–Thursday) with an alternate weather-dependent date. Myers added redundancy exists for public-safety dispatch servers at the Emergency Services Building and that the 9-1-1 center should not be disrupted.

Commissioners voted 3-0 to authorize the chair to approve the closure date once it is coordinated with contractors and county staff; Myers said the county will notify departments and coordinate HR/admin pay for staff who cannot work remotely during the shutdown.