MONROE - Discussion of the need for updated heating and cooling elements throughout municipal buildings was met with mixed opinions during a Monroe Common Council meeting last week.
Automation and energy company Schneider Electric was hired by the city to modernize temperature controls and infrastructure in City Hall, Behring Senior Center, the downtown fire department and police department.
Council members talked Tuesday about the merit of applying funds to rehabilitate City Hall specifically. Alderman Tom Miller questioned whether plans considered in the past for a new building could be considered once more.
"We don't need to put a new engine and transmission in a rusty, old car," Miller said.
City Administrator Phil Rath recommended the council take on a $1.4 million energy saving project, which would include automated temperature controls and new mechanics, though he hesitated on the need for solar panels on the roof or solar lights to be installed.
A tour was conducted by Schneider Senior Project Director Ty Miller on Aug. 14 at the vacant City Hall building to show the need for new controls and sustainable installation. The tour included council members Rob Schilt, Jeff Newcomer, Charles Koch and Chris Beer.
"Right now we need to deal with the heating, the ventilation, the cooling," Beer said. "I was on that tour; I wouldn't want it in my house. That part we need to update now."
Rath emphasized that a decision had been made to keep the building for the next four or five decades, and that if council had thought differently, the city "would have gone down a different path."
Ty Miller said funding for the project could be established through a state statute which allows capital investment rather than the act of bonding, or borrowing, for the work. Rath added that local banks would be interested in providing a loan to the city at an interest rate of roughly 2 percent.
No decision has been made on the project. Council members will discuss it again on Oct. 3.
Automation and energy company Schneider Electric was hired by the city to modernize temperature controls and infrastructure in City Hall, Behring Senior Center, the downtown fire department and police department.
Council members talked Tuesday about the merit of applying funds to rehabilitate City Hall specifically. Alderman Tom Miller questioned whether plans considered in the past for a new building could be considered once more.
"We don't need to put a new engine and transmission in a rusty, old car," Miller said.
City Administrator Phil Rath recommended the council take on a $1.4 million energy saving project, which would include automated temperature controls and new mechanics, though he hesitated on the need for solar panels on the roof or solar lights to be installed.
A tour was conducted by Schneider Senior Project Director Ty Miller on Aug. 14 at the vacant City Hall building to show the need for new controls and sustainable installation. The tour included council members Rob Schilt, Jeff Newcomer, Charles Koch and Chris Beer.
"Right now we need to deal with the heating, the ventilation, the cooling," Beer said. "I was on that tour; I wouldn't want it in my house. That part we need to update now."
Rath emphasized that a decision had been made to keep the building for the next four or five decades, and that if council had thought differently, the city "would have gone down a different path."
Ty Miller said funding for the project could be established through a state statute which allows capital investment rather than the act of bonding, or borrowing, for the work. Rath added that local banks would be interested in providing a loan to the city at an interest rate of roughly 2 percent.
No decision has been made on the project. Council members will discuss it again on Oct. 3.