Staff photo by Fritz Busch Brown County Commissioners unanimously approved an $8,460 purchase of a new Law Enforcement Center generator switch Tuesday.

NEW ULM — In an effort to prevent costly future service calls and keep the power on at the Brown County Law Enforcement Center, commissioners unanimously approved the purchase of a new generator switch Tuesday.

Brown County Facilities Manager Jesse Kral said the existing generator switch is 32 years old, has required several costly repairs in recent years and replacement parts are no longer available for the existing unit.

Kral said the existing generator is proprietary equipment of Cummins Inc. requiring costly repair charges. Cummins bid $6,282.06 just for the switch itself. Full Service Electric, Inc. of New Ulm bid $8,460 including installation, start-up and 7-9 week lead time.

“In my view, it’s better to get a generic transfer switch (from Full Service Electric Inc. of New Ulm),” said Kral. “The last time we needed repairs, I found some parts on eBay. They only lasted about six months. We’ve had to make three repairs in the last four years. I’ve spent a lot of time on it.”

Kral said the Full Service Electric switch is non-proprietary, meaning it can be repaired by local electricians, not Cummins technicians.

Brown County Administrator Sam Hansen said he’s dealt with proprietary units before that were more difficult to find and repairs were limited to only company technicians.

“If the company gets bought out, it can be more difficult. We’re talking about a $2,000 difference but repairs can be done by local electricians instead of company people over the life of the product,” said Hansen.

Commissioner Brian Braun said he favored spending $2,000 more for the locally-sourced switch due to speed and convenience and expressed concern of future repairs costs with a non-proprietary switch.

Commissioner Scott Windschitl said Full Service Electric has been a preferred vendor for Brown County for a long time.

Approval came on a motion by Commissioner Brian Braun, seconded by Tony Berg.

Commissioner Dave Borchert abstained from voting due to a potential conflict of interest as New Ulm Police Chief.