County okays $41k for energy audit

Whitman County commissioners Monday authorized a $40,935 engineering study to find efficiency opportunities in courthouse campus buildings.

Though the county cut the spending plans of individual departments by 2.61 percent this year, Commissioner Pat O’Neill justified the study expense by saying it will prevent the need for further cuts in future years.

“Once we fix these things, we’re going to free up a lot of money in savings that are going to make future cuts that less drastic,” said O’Neill.

The year-long study by Seattle-based McKinstry, an energy and facility management consultant firm,...