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Postbulletln.eoin: Geothermal tapped 1'6r Grahairt rink ice -Wed, Apr 25, 2007 Wage i of 2 <br />Local[ News <br />Geothermal tapped for Graham rink ice <br />4/25/2007 9!21:34 AM <br />By Jeffrey Pieters <br />The Post -Bulletin <br />Starting this winter, Olmsted County's premier <br />competitive ice rink will have ice made using <br />geothermal energy. <br />County commissioners voted 7-0 on Tuesday to <br />replace the 40 -year-old ice -making equipment at <br />Graham West Arena with a geothermal -powered <br />system, <br />The $696,500 project, which includes systems for <br />building heat, as well as ice -making, replaces an ice - <br />making system that had developed coolant leaks that <br />ran it afoul of the Rochester building code. <br />NewMech Facility Solutions, a St. Paul -based firm, <br />was awarded the job on an energy performance <br />contract. The county can award such a contract <br />without soliciting bids. <br />It did so in this case, officials said, to avoid delays <br />that would keep Graham West from being ready for <br />the next hockey season, Its ice -making equipment is <br />unusable, said county public works director Mike <br />Cousino. <br />The geothermal project was the most expensive of <br />three options presented Tuesday at a county board <br />work session. <br />Other options included a "band-aid" repair, costing <br />between $75,000 and $285,000, and a conventional <br />system replacement for about $400,000. <br />The geothermal project promises the best return in <br />the long run, Cousino said. <br />Construction costs would be offset by an estimated <br />$27,000 in rebates from Rochester Public Utilities <br />and Minnesota Energy Resources Corp., the gas <br />company, <br />In addition, the county expects to save an estimated <br />$27,000 per year in reduced energy and <br />maintenance costs for the new system. That arnounts <br />to nearly half of the $59,000 annual bill to repay <br />system installation over 15 years. <br />"If you look at the savings over 25 years, it's like <br />$1.3 million," Cousino said. <br />NewMech guarantees the savings. <br />The system installation at Graham West, the oldest <br />of the three ice arenas in the Graham complex, <br />comes at the same time the county is building a <br />http//postbuiletan,com/newsmanager/ten7plates/localnews_story.asp?a==291945&z=2 4/25/2007 <br />