City decides to put generator inside building

MARENGO — While most cities are moving their generators outside, the City of Marengo has decided to place the generator for its wastewater treatment facility inside.

Marengo Public Works Director Lonnie Altenhofen asked the city council Feb. 26 to let him have a generator placed inside during improvements to the wastewater treatment facility. The council voted 4-0 to allow it.

Councilwoman Karen Wayson-Kisling was absent.

The generator currently sits by the gate, and rats get in it, Altenhofen said. He asked that the city allow him to put the generator in its own room in the equipment building, a wood-frame building with a concrete floor, on the east side of the property.

Control panels would also be placed inside, Altenhofen said.

Engineering firm Veenstra & Kimm estimated that the cost will be about $90,000 more than putting it outside, said Altenhofen, though he thinks the price tag will be a little lower.

Councilman Travis Schlabach said he pays $250 a month to heat his outside generator. An inside generator wouldn’t have to be heated, though the room it’s in would have to be.

“It definitely needs to be inside,” said Marengo Mayor Adam Rabe.

A memorandum from Veenstra & Kimm dated Feb. 21, says city staff was concerned with protecting the generator from rodents and thought maintenance would be easier for the staff if the generator were placed inside.

The request is unusual, said Veenstra & Kimm in the memorandum. Most clients are removing generators from buildings and placing them outside.

City representatives did not think the cost would be significant, says the Veenstra & Kimm letter.

The firm developed a layout that would add a room 22 feet by 15 feet in the UV building for the generator. At $200 per square foot, that adds $66,000 to the project, the firm said.

Additional costs related to ventilation and installing louvers at both ends for intake and exhaust would add another $25,000, Veenstra & Kimm said.

The engineering firm also noted safety and health concerns of locating the generator inside.

A fuel tank and engine will also have to be located inside the building, and the generator would have an open frame with no sound attenuation. According to the manufacturer, the generator’s noise level is 96 decibels at one meter, so hearing protection would be required for people working near the generator.

Veenstra & Kim also warned of the potential for accumulation of carbon monoxide if the engine or ventilation system had “any problems.” The city should discuss potential additional insurance charges related to the fuel storage, engine and noise issues, the firm said.

V&K was also not convinced that the interior generator would be more protected from rodents. The location of the facility near a farm filed will always make it susceptible to rodents, the firm said.

V&K said it has not installed generators inside buildings in the last 15 years, mostly due to cost and health and safety issues.