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County to Install Photovoltaic Systems at County Buildings and Solar Lighting in Parking Lot with Federal Energy Funds
Commissioners approved the first of two phases of work, including the installation of new photovoltaic systems and solar-powered parking lot lights, to be completed with $1.8 million of Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grant Funds.
 The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program, funded for the first time by the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Recovery Act, is an effort to deploy the cheapest, cleanest and most reliable energy technologies across the country. By the end of the summer, workers will install a total of five solar photovoltaic collectors at Road & Bridge shops, the Laramie Building on the main Jeffco campus, the Jefferson County Fairgrounds and the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport. Also, the parking lot between the District Attorney's Building and the Sheriff's Office Detention Center on the Jeffco campus will receive solar-powered lighting.
With the Phase-I technology alone, Jefferson County expects to save nearly $74,500 annually in utility and maintenance costs, receive $40,000 in utility rebates and reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 935 tons. Phase II of the project would include more traditional energy conservation measures and improvements to the Detention Center.
The county hired McKinstry, a Seattle-based company with offices in Conifer, to conduct an energy audit of the county's buildings. As part of that audit, McKinstry studied how Jeffco might use EECBG funding and other energy efficiency-related programs, such as Xcel Energy's Solar Rewards Program, to reduce the county's energy use and save taxpayers money.
The county anticipates the total cost for all projects in both phases to be $6 million to $7.8 million. However, the projects would save the county $380,000 in annual energy costs and $90,000 in annual maintenance costs. Jeffco also would receive about $35,000 in annual renewable energy credit payments.
To learn more about Jefferson County's energy efficiency efforts, visit the Conversations with Jeffco blog. |
Red Rocks Elementary Students Thank County for Support for Outdoor Classroom
Red Rocks Elementary students and parents, along with Principal Wanda Hamilton, thanked the county for its support of Project PRIDE, which recently completed an outdoor classroom surrounded by the natural red rocks near Morrison.
 About two years ago, parents, teachers and community members started Project PRIDE, which stands for Protect, Renew, Integrate and Discover your Environment, to enhance students' learning experience by integrating curriculum with the natural beauty surrounding the school. In addition to the outdoor classroom, Project PRIDE created a learning trail with a curriculum designed for students in all seven grades at the school.
The program is supported through donations and grants from the Conservation Trust Fund, Safari Club International, Aggregate Industries, Whole Foods Market in Belmar and Jefferson County.
To learn more about Project PRIDE, visit the Red Rocks Elementary School Web site. |
BCC Prioritizes County's Applications for Gaming Funds
The District Attorney's Office, Sheriff's Office and City of Golden are applying for a total of about $313,400 in Limited Gaming Impact Funds, now that the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) has lifted its freeze on the funds for 2010.
The District Attorney's and Sheriff's Offices and Golden have requested as much as $687,400 in past years, but DOLA froze the grant program this year in light of the state's budget problems. It recently announced it was lifting the freeze for the last half of 2010 and would accept applications.
The Limited Gaming Impact Fund program allocates funding to entities that are impacted by the gaming activities in Colorado mountain areas. As part of the application, the Board of County Commissioners in the county where the applying agency is located must rank the priority of applications for DOLA. The BCC agreed to rank the applications as it has in the past: 1) District Attorney, 2) Sheriff's Office and 3) City of Golden.
The District Attorney's Office would use the $173,800 it is seeking to pay for about 4.5 full-time equivalent staff positions for the final six months of 2010. The Sheriff's Office would use the $39,600 it is seeking to pay for jail and law enforcement operations and personnel costs. Both offices currently fund these services with taxpayer money. With the gaming money, however, they can allocate that money to other priorities.
The city of Golden is seeking $100,000 and is directly applying to DOLA for the funds.
For more information, visit the Department of Local Affairs Web site. |
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Other BCC Actions
Airport to Buy Runway Broom for Snow Removal
The BCC approved a request from Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport to buy a new tracking tow runway broom for $233,900 from Myslik, Inc., of Morrison. Runway brooms are used for snow removal. The airport owns one other tracking tow runway broom and plans to sell a front-mounted broom that it bought from the city of Denver in the early 1980s. |
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