COEUR d'ALENE - City Hall is thinking green.

Coeur d'Alene will consider hiring a contractor tonight to make several of its facilities more energy efficient, saving money down the road.

The contract with Johnson Controls, Inc., would be for $800,184 for improvements to the Coeur d'Alene Public Library, Jewett House, Fire Administration and stations 1, 2 and 3, the street department building, police station and city traffic controls.

Coeur d'Alene received a $191,700 Energy Stimulus Grant in early 2009. It's also expecting $118,820 worth of rebates tied to the project.

That drops the improvement project down to $489,664. The savings in energy consumption - with lighting, heating, cooling and other improvements - will pay for that cost over a period of about 14 years, staff reports state.

That breaks down to around $34,000 a year, said Doug Eastwood, parks director.

The front end cost of the project will be paid by a loan from the city's fund balance and that fund will be repaid too through cost savings in reduced energy consumption, reports state.

The city conducted a workshop in July 2009 to gather input in areas where it could upgrade energy use and reduce energy consumption. This recommendation is the result of that input and an energy audit conducted by Johnson Controls over the past six months.

The City Council will meet at 6 p.m. in the library Community Room.