Neighbors tell county to hold down racket

Mill Street residents wrote to the Whitman County commissioners this week, asking them to quiet the neighborhood around the jail.

Ann Marra and Tim Ely said the rattle and hum from the jail’s air conditioning unit is putting out a “constant roar” that has made living in the neighborhood “intolerable” and e-mailed commissioners to fix the problem.

Marra and Ely said Bob Reynolds, county facilities manager, quieted the system last winter when a roar from the heater filled the north Mill Street air.

Commissioner Pat O’Neill said Reynolds has done about all he can to patch up the current system. The current system is so old, he said, that the county can not find a contractor to service it.

“You can only put on so many band-aids,” said O’Neill.

O’Neill said the county is currently considering its options to put a new heating and air conditioning unit atop the county bastille.

He said the county is looking to install a “smart chiller” that will better regulate temperature while using less electricity. He added the system operates much quieter than the current system.

“You can almost stand right next to it and carry on a conversation,” said O’Neill.

O’Neill said the new heating system will cost about $785,000.

Cost of the new system would be paid through a low-interest loan program the county has through the state. O’Neill said the repayment schedule would be structured to match the savings in electricity costs derived from a more efficient system.

Earlier this year the county signed a $40,935 contract with Seattle energy firm McKinstry to audit the energy use by the courthouse, jail and other county buildings.

The firm is also looking into the costs of putting a new cooling system in the information technology building.

The county in 2002 issued $2.7 million in bonds to fund energy improvements to the courthouse. A little more than $500,000 remains from that bond fund. That money can only be used on the courthouse, not other buildings.

Plans presently call for use of the remainder of the bond fund to remodel the courthouse and make it more easily accessible to the handicapped.

Final redemption payment on bonds will be in 2015.