Shut-off for heat planned

Jay County Commissioners agreed this morning to pay for installation of a cutoff switch for a garage heater at the Jay County Emergency Medical Services station since the bay doors are often left open during the winter.

The commissioners gave permission for Don Crawmer of Fort Recovery Construction and Equipment to install an $874.50 system that will shut off the garage heater when the bay door is open.

"It's basically redoing everything from the thermostat to the boiler," Crawmer said, explaining that the switch will allow the heater to finish a heating cycle before shutting down. A hard power cut, Crawmer said, would damage the heater, so additional safeties must be installed.

"Everything will operate the same as it does now," Crawmer said. "When the garage door is open, it'll shut off."

Crawmer is a former employee of Sertech Heating and Cooling who helped the county get grants for energy audits at the Jay County Retirement Center and Jay County Health Department. Those audits were done by Crawmer's new employer, Fort Recovery Construction and Equipment.

The commissioners hesitated, however, on whether to shell out the money to solve a problem with a simple solution - close the door when leaving the base.

"We spend $800 for them to be doing what they should be doing anyway," said commissioner Jim Zimmerman.

Although the commissioners grumbled amongst themselves about the situation, they unanimously approved installing the cutoff switch.

"We'll get that done as quick as we can," Crawmer said.

In other business Monday, the commissioners:

•Informed members of the Jay County Historical Society that they could take several books of old records from the courthouse basement. The commissioners turned over old ledgers, township audits and township school records among others. The commissioners said they would need to check before turning over old court records to the historical society.

•Heard a proposal from county clerk Ellen Coats and county prosecutor Bob Clamme about purchasing a document scanning system. The system would allow offices in the courthouse to go paperless by scanning and sharing documents. If purchased, the county could receive up to two-thirds reimbursement from the state.[[In-content Ad]]