The 100-kilowatt generators will be installed at the police department and the finance utility services and building development services buildings, Public Works Director Sharon Valiante said.
"Just recently, those two facilities experienced a big outage and had to stay out for like six hours one day because we had a power interruption," Valiante said. "We didn't have any way to operate or do city services."
The generators will allow facilities to operate at 100% in an emergency and will be portable.
Power outages causing disruptions in phone services and voiceovers and servers can limit first responders' ability to respond in an emergency, Mayor Aaron Groff confirmed with Valiante.
"During Harvey we weren't able to provide any kind of operation out of those buildings because they didn't have any emergency power," Valiante said.
L J Power Generators was awarded the bid at $141,059.50, according to city documents.
The project will be completed well into the hurricane season due to delays related to COVID-19, Valiante said.
The project was not initially budgeted, but public works used savings from other accounts, one being a capital improvement program for facility improvements and the other being an operational account for facility improvements, Valiante said.
"We decided that this would be a beneficial project to spend these funds on," Valiante said. "There is funds available in both of those projects to cover this project."
The generators will have a manufacturer warranty.
