{"id":86,"date":"2014-03-18T18:02:48","date_gmt":"2014-03-18T23:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/thecapstone\/?p=86"},"modified":"2014-03-18T18:02:48","modified_gmt":"2014-03-18T23:02:48","slug":"no-geothermal-for-highway-shop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/thecapstone\/2014\/03\/18\/no-geothermal-for-highway-shop\/","title":{"rendered":"No geothermal for highway shop"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JAMES KATES<\/strong> \/ Capstone political editor<\/p>\n

Construction will start soon on Jefferson County\u2019s new highway shop, but it may take a while to determine just how \u201cgreen\u201d the new facility will be.<\/p>\n

The county\u2019s Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved the first contract for the new shop, a $1.2 million deal with Miron Construction for precast concrete.<\/p>\n

This amount was about $205,000 less than expected, which will free up money for other parts of the project, board Chairman John Molinaro said.<\/p>\n

The board will receive more details from construction manager Maas Bros. next month, with the total cost of the facility currently estimated at $13.8 million, Molinaro said. The shop, which would include offices, garages, repair bays and storage sheds, will be built at the site of the now-demolished old Countryside Home on County Highway W in Jefferson.<\/p>\n

Also on Tuesday, board members killed a resolution that would have instructed the county to investigate the possibility of using geothermal heating and cooling at the shop.<\/p>\n

The move came after preliminary estimates showed that a geothermal system would take 66 years to pay for itself. The cost of having a consultant gauge the technology\u2019s workability alone would be $30,000, Molinaro said.<\/p>\n

Geothermal systems use piping and ductwork to tap into underground temperatures, making buildings warmer in winter and cooler in summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do have to look at green energy. That being said, geothermal does not make sense,\u201d Supervisor Dick Schultz said.<\/p>\n

In place of the geothermal plan, the board OK\u2019d an amendment by Supervisor Jim Schroeder to have the Infrastructure Committee look further into energy-saving ideas for the shop.<\/p>\n

Schroeder said any fixes would involve \u201cretrofitting\u201d the shop at a future date and would not delay the start of construction this summer. For now, heating would rely on natural gas and cooling on electricity.<\/p>\n

County Administrator Ben Wehmeier told supervisors that contractors would deliver a \u201cpunch list\u201d of energy-saving features already included in the plans when more bids are delivered to the County Board in April.<\/p>\n

Even Supervisor Greg David, the board\u2019s most outspoken proponent of sustainability, agreed that geothermal energy was not workable for the highway shop. Still, \u201cto just slap some money down and take natural gas is a huge mistake,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

David asked the board to consider options such as generating gas from biomass, which could provide \u201clocal sovereignty\u201d and \u201ckeep those energy expenditures right here in Jefferson County\u201d by using crops such as switchgrass.<\/p>\n

Supervisor Dwayne Morris cautioned that the board had to keep \u201cboth science and taxpayer money in mind,\u201d instead of approving any new technology before its costs are known.<\/p>\n

Deputies\u2019 contract approved<\/strong><\/p>\n

In other action Tuesday, supervisors approved a new three-year contract with LAW Local 102, the union representing sheriff\u2019s deputies.<\/p>\n

The pact will boost wages by 2.5 percent retroactive from the end of 2013, by 2.5 percent at the end of 2014, and by 3 percent at the end of 2015.<\/p>\n

However, the contract will boost deputies\u2019 required contributions into the Wisconsin Retirement System beginning in mid-2014. By mid-2016, deputies will be paying the same share into retirement as other public employees in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement is exempt from Wisconsin Act 10, the controversial law that eliminated public union bargaining rights and required employees to contribute about half of their pension investments from their paychecks.<\/p>\n

Molinaro said the union had shown a \u201cpositive attitude\u201d by recognizing fiscal realities, which allowed the deputies and the county to reach an agreement without arbitration.<\/p>\n

Also on Tuesday:<\/p>\n

—\u00a0 The board approved the purchase of a property at 211 E. Washington St. for an estimated $112,000. A house on the lot will be demolished, and 12 new parking spaces will be created between two existing county lots.<\/p>\n

—\u00a0 County Clerk Barb Frank told supervisors that new voting machines known as ES&S Model DS200 would be deployed at polling places around the county in time for the April 1 election. The \u201cuser-friendly\u201d machines have voters fill in ovals on their ballots, Frank said.<\/p>\n

—\u00a0 County Treasurer John Jensen told the board that tax delinquencies are down slightly, \u201cwhich is a small sign that things are headed in the right direction\u201d for the local economy.<\/p>\n

—\u00a0 The board extended its thanks to three supervisors \u2013 Sarah Bregant, Greg Torres and Pam Rogers \u2013 who will not be seeking re-election on April 1.<\/p>\n

All 30 county supervisors will be on the ballot April 1. In addition to the three who are departing, six will face challengers. The board will meet at 5 p.m. on April 15, at which time new members will be sworn in and leadership elected.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By JAMES KATES \/ Capstone political editor Construction will start soon on Jefferson County\u2019s new highway shop, but it may take a while to determine just how \u201cgreen\u201d the new facility will be. The county\u2019s Board of Supervisors on Tuesday … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/thecapstone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/thecapstone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/thecapstone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/thecapstone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/152"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/thecapstone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/thecapstone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/thecapstone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86\/revisions\/87"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/thecapstone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/thecapstone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/thecapstone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}