MOUNT VERNON — Knox County Career Center’s school board heard a presentation Thursday night from representatives at Plug Smart, a full-service Ohio-based energy services company the Career Center is using to update and bring all buildings into one heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.
There are maintenance and operation advantages to switching to one comprehensive system, Lucas Dixon of Plug Smart said during the board meeting Thursday.
“When you bring all of your stuff into one system you will gain a much better ability to quickly diagnose problems, respond to complaints and also run your building more efficiently,” Dixon said, adding that having one system will help with energy efficiency.
The new equipment will be put in during a 20-week schedule, and Plug Smart will work around the Career Center’s class schedule, mainly doing installations at night, Dixon said.
“You have four different systems going on right now, and at the end of this you would have one system that was controlling all of your equipment in your building,” Dixon said. “And, you would have your facilities staff be able to pull up one screen and see the conditions and the schedule and the alarms of your entire building.”
Plug Smart will be implementing a BACnet system, Dixon said.
BACnet is a communication protocol for building automation and control networks developed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers.
The system has a uniform industry standard, which allows BACnet-compliant equipment to be sold from various vendors and provides the school district with more vendors from which it can purchase replacement equipment from in the future.
The entire project will cost $250,500 and will be paid for using money from the district’s maintenance fund, treasurer Tracy Elliott said.
Plug Smart will handle the project engineering, programming and installation. The company has also recently worked with nearby East Knox school district to install/update HVAC systems in East Knox’s existing and new building, Dixon said.
Plug Smart will replace Knox County Career Center’s system using Reliable Controls, a corporation that specializes in the design and manufacturing of Internet-connected green building controls.
Dixon pointed out that it is a Canadian-based company.
“With all the disruptions in the supply chain in the last year and a half, we’ve been really lucky because the manufacturing has been in Canada, we have not seen major supply disruptions,” Dixon said.
The HVAC system will be able to be controlled remotely, and can be programmed for specific scenarios.
For example, when the district has a snow day and students and staff are not using the buildings, heating in its buildings can be turned down without having to be physically in the buildings, Dixon said.
In other business:
The board amended the Ohio Deferred Compensation Plan to include a Roth 457 Option, which will allow employees to pay taxes on contributions when they are contributed, presumably at a lower tax rate than they would expect to pay at retirement.
“One of my goals for the last couple of years is trying to stress to our employees how important it is to save,” Elliott said.
The board also accepted a donation from Robert Renee Uniform Apparel Ltd. of 12 hoodie sweatshirts, for the approximated value of $300. The sweatshirts will be placed in a pantry for students who may need them, Elliott said.
In terms of employee updates, the board approved a 10-month administrative assistant contract for Erica Geiger, effective September 27. The approved contract is now pending completion of all requirements for Career Center employment.
Several staff members were approved for the next class on the salary schedule for teachers and teacher-coordinators (effective in the 2022 fiscal year), including Greg Deckling, Jeremy Hubbard, Melissa Nowicki and Cortney Springer. The board approved supplemental contracts for Local Professional Development Committee members Jeremy Hubbard and Lyle Reusser.
The board also approved the Knox Technical Center student and employee handbooks.
There was no public participation during Thursday’s meeting.
