New windows at courthouse

A Sletten Construction Companies employee helps install a new window on the top floor of the Hill County Courthouse Tuesday afternoon.

Over the next couple of months, 103 windows at the Hill County Courthouse are being replaced with energy-efficient ones.

Sletten Construction Companies out of Great Falls began working on the project about two weeks ago, but Hill County Commissioner Kathy Bessette said the work for the grant began "a long time ago."

Hill County Deputy Clerk and Recorder Lois Ann Nichols said the county applied for a Department of Environment Quality energy-efficient grant in January 2010 and received $200,000 from DEQ in September 2010 to begin work on upgrading the facility's windows. The county also applied for a Montana Department of Transportation Community Transportation Enhancement Program grant in May 2010 and received $96,440 from CTEP in August 2010.

Bessette said DEQ informed the commissioners about grants that were available for the upgrade and Bear Paw Development Corp. assisted in writing the grant applications.

"It's been a long time coming. The (old) windows are not very energy-efficient," Bessette said. "We utilize any grant that we can qualify for."

Bessette said during the winter months people sitting or standing next to the windows could feel the cold winter chill from outside. The new windows will lower the heating bills during the winter and the cooling bills during the summer as well because a special film on the windows blocks out some of the sun's heat.

Construction of the courthouse began in 1914. Bessette said Sletten has had to do "modest" changes during the installation, such as filling in gaps with wood, to install the new windows properly. She hopes the project for the four-story building will be done before winter hits.

She stressed that the project is not being paid for by taxpayers.

"This is not costing one nickel of Hill County tax money," she said. "It will enhance the exterior of the courthouse, and it will save the taxpayers money because the power bill should go down."