By Robert Williams

Editor

The Vergas City Council received information from their energy grant that is looking at municipal building energy efficiency and clean energy integration. The grant was used in collecting and trending energy consumption data, along with energy audits on municipal buildings and building audits.

“A large piece of that was data collection and analyzing it and turning it into information we can use,” said Mayor Julie Bruhn.

Daniel Handeen, a Research Fellow at the Center for Sustainable Building Research in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota, presented the findings.

Garrett Mosiman, another senior Research Fellow, joined the call and discussed the energy assessments of the fire hall, city office, event center and liquor store buildings.

Two points of focus were what can be insulated better and where leaks or drafts can be stopped.

The city office had little to do there being a relatively updated building. It has been fitted with a multi-split air source heat pump and that does the heating and cooling for the building.

An infrared analysis did not show any leaks from the exterior.

The fire hall was the most interesting, according to Handeen, given there were two buildings built in two different fashions.

Significant air leakage was found at the top of one of the overhead doors. 

“Talk about easy return on investment,” said Handeen.  “That won’t take long and it will save a lot of energy.” 

The attic hatch has not been sealed, which can be important for rising heat looking for a place to leak. A tighter seal was recommended. There was also an opportunity to add insulation in the attic.

The Event Center, originally built as a school in 1953, the heating registers are running underneath the insulated wall portion. The registers are run right underneath the concrete slab and it can be seen that heat is conducting through the edge of the slab. Heat is conducting through the ground and the slab and being lost. The proposal is to add insulation around the perimeter of the slab. The fire hall has something similar, an aggregate insulation board that runs around the edge of the building.

The liquor store, formerly the creamery building, had an insulation retrofit around different panels around the outside in the past. The building has an economizer built into the cooler system that brings in cool air when the temperature outside allots.

“It really helps with the efficiency,” said Handeen.

No further exterior modifications were recommended. Infrared did show an air leak on the back wall, including one panel that was not retrofitted due to it being the place where utilities enter the building.

An access penthouse atop the elevator shaft is very leaky. Significant energy savings could be had by properly sealing up the area. 

Gas data is still being prepared by Otter Tail Power. Once received it will be overlaid with the energy consumption data to see the total energy consumption and how it’s playing out in cooling and heating seasons. 

Zoning

The council approved an updated zoning map on November 12, 2024. (See attached map). Categories have been matched with new ordinances. It also includes site changes—the gravel pit is now all zoned industrial; commercial permits have been zoned C1 by County Road 4 and 35, along with near J&K Marine. Sunny Oaks has been zoned R2.

“It acknowledges where we are at with things,” said Bruce Albright. “We had a hearing on it. There were no questions or comments.”

Election

The council approved the city election results.

Trails

The council approved the Lake Runners Trail Association request to route snowmobiles from County Roads 36 to 35 to run Scharf/Townline Road. The Streets committee also recommended that route, rather than the other option utilizing Pelican Avenue.

“If you look at safety, that is probably the safest route,” said Councilman Bruce Albright.

The trail will be on the south side of Scharf to keep snowmobiles off of private property as much as possible.

The city is going to have one point of contact between the snowmobile association and city for any issues that come up. 

A Step Up

A project to improve lighting in the staircase leading to A Step Up Thrift Boutique and replacing all light bulbs with LEDs was approved contingent on budgetary coverage in 2024. If not, it will be bumped to 2025. 

Plastic bags got into the upstairs furnace which burnt out the motor and also caused the capacitor to burn out. The council is liable for repairs according to the rental agreement with the store unless the problem was caused by negligence. The council approved the payment of the $944 repair bill.

Clerk/Treasurer Julie Lammers brought up the cost of the lighting and furnace repairs equate to $6624.52 and the total rent the city gets from A Step Up is $6,600 as a conversation piece. She stated that if the city does not raise the rent to at least $700 per month by next September the taxpayers are being charged to rent the space. The council approved the furnace purchase.