Efficiency upgrades are on their way for city buildings.

Havre City Council accepted the recommendation of David Peterson and the Public Works Department at Monday’s meeting regarding two grants for renovations to increase energy efficiency.

Peterson said he had been working with Bear Paw Development Corp. to secure the necessary state and federal grants to complete both projects, eventually.

City air handlers

The first grant is one coming down through the U. S. Department of Energy to replace the air handlers in the city complex at 4th Street and 5th Avenue, in both city hall and the police and fire department building.

Peterson said the city sought bids to fit the $157,860 budget for the project and received one bid, for $158,000, from Nault Plumbing and Heating.

He recommended the council accept this bid and move forward, as he explained the money might go away.

“Our fear is that we have $50,000 from the Department of Energy, ” Peterson said. “If we don’t get something going with it soon, we might lose it. ”

The funding seems, according to Peterson more secure in the next project, which gives the city more time.

City shop lights and fans

The other project, funded partially with a grant from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, would replace lighting fixtures and fans in the city’s shop to improve visibility and efficiency, following a recommendation from a recent safety audit.

Peterson said the city had received two bids, another from Nault and one from a company in Kalispell.

Since both bids were more than expected, and the DEQ money has a longer shelf life, Peterson recommended that they reject both bids, reconfigure their proposal and try again.

Nault was there to explain that he had just made some calls to his wholesalers and could now make a bid up to $7,000 below his last one.

Going back to accepting bids should be simple, Peterson said, as “we’ve already got the stuff to do the bids again. ”