Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RICHARD JENKINS
Hurley — Iron County will continue to use the Duluth-based Jamar Company for heating and cooling work at the county courthouse after the Iron County Board of Supervisors’ finance committee approved a 5-year contract extension Thursday.
The agreement will have the county pay $59,800 in 2022, according to Iron County Clerk Mike Saari, with roughly half of the cost going to replacing aging equipment at the courthouse.
Saari said most of the heat pumps at the courthouse have been there for 20 years or more. The contract calls for replacing three each year over the life of the contract at a cost of $10,000 per heat pump.
With four of the courthouse’s 19 heat pumps already replaced, the courthouse will have all new heat pumps by the time the contract comes to an end.
Although the cost to replace the equipment is expensive, Saari said each new heat pump saves roughly $800 in utility bills.
“For every three you change out, you’re going to have around $2,400 in savings per year,” Saari said. “And every year it will just keep growing as you change them out.”
He said the county has already seen several thousands of dollars in savings each year due to the various improvements that have been made to make the building more energy efficient.
The remainder of next year’s payment will be for the company’s annual maintenance work on the system.
This price will increase by 2% each year over the life of the contract, according to information presented at the meeting.
