FAYETTEVILLE – Hold off on solar panels for the county jail, a Washington County official told finance committee members Tuesday.
County Administrator John Gibson asked committee members to delay appropriating $50,000 meant to pay for the installation of 15 solar panels on the Washington County Detention Center. The panels heat water used in the jail's laundry, kitchen and administration and potentially save the county money by lowering the need for natural gas.
County Judge Jerry Hunton is open to alternative energy technology but wants county staff to evaluate what's best for the county in terms of lowering energy consumption and using alternative energy sources, Gibson said.
Hunton said a cost analysis needs to be done before he will commit the county to the purchase of solar technology.
The energy committee recommended in April solar panels be installed based on a report submitted by Sun City Solar Energy of the Ozarks, a company in the business of installing solar panels, and a second opinion is needed, said Gibson.
Committee members opted Tuesday to let county employees gather more information about solar panels and present data to the energy committee at its next meeting.
Energy committee members should have gathered information and presented it to the county judge and asked he consider using it, rather than trying to appropriate $50,000 to seek bids for the installation before seeking the county judge's input, Hunton said.
"We need to let them go through the normal routine," Hunton said, explaining that putting out bids for county services and equipment should come through his office.
Steve Zega, energy committee chairman, said he didn't think his committee overstepped its bounds by requesting $50,000 be set aside. The decision the committee made falls within their appointed task to use the county's energy resources wisely and try to lower consumption, he said.
Gibson told the committee that county employees are already trying to lower fuel consumption and lessen the costs of energy. Road department supervisors have been told by the county judge's office that they should plan their daily inspections of work crews in the county to be as fuel efficient as possible.
Ron Wood, the county's building and grounds supervisor, has taken several steps over the years to make the county more efficient in its energy usage, such as installing more energy efficient bulbs and regulating building temperature to be more consistent, Gibson said.
"I think the result of this public discussion has been that we want to bring into the light a little more of the things that we are doing to conserve energy," he said.
