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Wilkes-Barre Area superintendent taking coffee chats on the road

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Police Blotter

<p>Pennsylvania-based McClure Company has substantially completed $3.95 million in Luzerne County government projects expected to save $5.32 million in electric, gas and other utility expenses over 20 years, according to its recent county council presentation.</p><p class="n_ 3855 v2">The work included switching to more cost-efficient LED lighting, building sealing, mechanical system insulation, plumbing upgrades and boiler improvements.</p><p class="n_ 3855 v2">Some of the projects highlighted by company representatives:</p><p>&#8226; Two new 2,170-pound boilers were set up in the courthouse subbasement to heat the building, ending reliance on steam delivered through an aging and deteriorating underground pipe linked to a boiler plant near the prison on Water Street.</p><p>&#8226; At the boiler plant, McClure removed two obsolete boilers that were in disrepair and installed a new one along with ancillary equipment to support it. A decade-old boiler also remains in use at the facility.</p><p>&#8226; With limited space in the Water Street prison, McClure built and transported a modular box outside the prison to house a new water heating system.</p><p>In addition to utility savings, the county will avoid $2.2 million in capital repairs and replacement costs over 20 years, bringing the total savings to $7.52 million, McClure representatives estimated.</p><p>The energy project is unusual because the county did not bid out the work. Instead, McClure&#8217;s completion of the work includes a financial guarantee the county will hit specified energy reduction targets, officials said. Such guaranteed energy savings agreements are authorized by state law.</p><p>A McClure representative has said the company must pay the difference or provide additional improvements at no cost to the county if it does not meet saving targets.</p><p>After finishing some punch-list items and final system testing in coming weeks, McClure will begin a one-year energy measurement and verification period. The county&#8217;s energy consumption will be compared to its average usage from 2014 through 2016, a company representative said.</p><p>McClure plans to present measurement results to the county in March 2020.</p><p>County Manager C. David Pedri told council he expects to incorporate energy savings in the 2020 budget.</p><p>The county borrowed $7.9 million to fund the project last year. The administration plans to bid out the remaining $4 million in work, which is primarily at the prison, expecting it will cost less, officials said.</p><p class="n_ 1134 v1">County Operational Services Division Head Edmund O&#8217;Neill said the county has completed and saved approximately $130,000 on one of the projects it bid out &#8212; air conditioning replacement at the prison.</p><p>The county engineer&#8217;s office is working on another project to replace the electric switchgear at the courthouse, which McClure had described as obsolete with a maxed-out capacity.</p><p>County engineers also recently designed new LED lighting for 1960s ceiling fixtures in the courthouse&#8217;s five main courtrooms, which was not included in the McClure contract, O&#8217;Neill said. The office brought the project cost down to $9,100 by purchasing and modifying the 43 fixtures and relying on an outside contractor for installation work only.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County Courthouse </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_luzcocourthouse01-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Luzerne County Courthouse </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Energy-savings firm completes $3.95M in Luzerne County government projects