County government buildings may be going green soon, allowing for a savings of over $30,000 in utilities and maintenance bills.

Ameresco representative Theresa Barton visited with the fiscal court during a special-called meeting on September 22 to discuss the potential savings of the county focusing on energy-saving improvement projects.

Ameresco, a Louisville-based company, focuses on bundling certain projects together to save businesses money.

Barton had approached Grayson County Judge-Executive Gary Logsdon about the chance to speak to the fiscal court about the services her company offers.

She said a bundled contract package would include updating the county government building’s water and electric infrastructure.

For example, explained Barton, the courthouse has over 140 windows. If those were upgraded to more energy-efficient ones, the savings from the upgrade would help to pay for upgrades in HVAC.

Currently the county spends around $109,000 a month in utilities between the county courthouse, the county-owned former War Memorial hospital building, and the county-owned property around the public square.

By becoming more energy efficient, the county could cut those costs by $31,330, or $27,330 in utilities’ savings and $4,000 in maintenance savings per month for the first year with a bundled contract.

Barton said the company could not control the fluctuation in utility prices, but Ameresco could guarantee the savings and consumption.

The cost of the services is estimated at $526,000 for 20 years or $408,000 for 15 years, or $26,300 a year for 20 years, or $27866 a year for 15 years.

Logsdon said the court will make a final decision on the matter during the next fiscal court meeting.

In other county business:

• The court voted unanimously to dispose of the old 1242 electronic voting machines.

Grayson County County Court Clerk Carletta Farris said the machines are of no use to anyone.

Farris explained the cartridge inside the machines would need to be reset for someone else to use, and did not see that as a very cost-effective project.

The batteries in the machines will be removed before being taken to the landfill site.

The reason for the disposal of the old equipment is because the county recently switched to paper-ballot voting machines.