Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/235968
Sarasota News Leader January 3, 2014 When Commissioner Christine Robinson asks how much, his answer is $3.9 million. "That's almost 25 percent over budget," Commissioner Joe Barbetta points out. The PowerPoint slide about the EOC project pegs its construction cost at $13.2 million, with another $830,000 for equipment. The county has received federal grants totaling $1.3 million to help pay for the facility. Stuckey tells the commissioners staff already has determined it can reduce the overage by $1 million by modifying plans for window glazing. A five-year contract initiated by the Sarasota County School Board with Cenergistic Inc. (formerly Energy Education Inc.) has resulted in savings of $16 million, the school district announces. Scott Lempe, the district's chief Page 18 operating officer, tells The Sarasota News Leader, "First of all, just because our contract is up, doesn't mean our relationship with Cenergistic stops." He adds, "The contract with us financially, where they get 30 percent of the savings, has ended, but our relationship otherwise will continue. So I see us still meeting with their mechanical engineers and see them informing us of new technologies and developments they have learned from other sites." "Terrible" is how North Port Vice Mayor Jim Blucher describes the Sarasota County Commission's $2 million offer for the city's share of Warm Mineral Springs during a City Commission hearing held Feb. 11. The City Commission votes unanimously to reject the Early this year, the City of North Port reaffirmed its desire to sell its half of Warm Mineral Springs. Photo by Stan Zimmerman