By unanimous vote, the Panola County Board of Supervisors has voted to spend $87,500 with Jenkins Refrigeration for the installation of ionizers in air and heating ducts in county-owned buildings.

Supervisors heard a presentation about the ionizers last month and asked Jenkins Refrigeration to provide the board with a quote for its Monday, March 1, meeting at the Sardis Courthouse.

The board did not take other quotes, citing that Jenkins Refrigeration is a sole source provider of the ionizers in this area. The ionizers are purported to remove up to 99.4 percent of the allergens, dust particles, and Covid-19 germs from the air that is breathed by employees and customers in buildings.

Several families in Panola County have reported that the air in their houses smells cleaner, and has noticeably less dust and particulate matter coming from their ducts once the ionizers were installed.

The board agreed that any measures taken to make the county courthouses, detention center, and other buildings safer was worth the expense. The county expects to have 75 percent of the cost covered by FEMA grants.

The remaining 25 percent will be the responsibility of the county, although several state programs may be tapped to help with that portion of the costs as well. Besides safer and cleaner air, the supervisors are also expecting to lower maintenance costs because HVAC filters will last longer being serviced with the ionizers in place.