City employees who may be getting pink slips might consider applying for one of  a dozen county jobs that will  soon be opening up.

The jobs are the result of a cooperative agreement finalized this week in which Colorado Springs has agreed to pay El Paso County $836,000 to take over the maintenance and upkeep of 138 city-owned buildings.

Monnie Gore, deputy county administrator, said the $836,000 will be used to fund twelve permanent positions in the county’s Facilities and Security Maintenance Division. The new positions will include electricians and technicians skilled in heating and cooling systems, generators, boilers, and other equipment.

Colorado Springs several years ago transferred its building maintenance functions to the city-owned Colorado Springs Utilities. Gore said that city officials now think the county can maintain the buildings more cheaply.

The money that the city will be forking over will cover salaries only. The city will still be on the hook for overtime, materials and contracted work. Both the city and county routinely use outside contractors to sweep the floors, empty the trash and clean the bathrooms. They also farm out work that requires specialized knowledge, such as repairing elevators and security systems.

The city-county contract begins in January of 2010 and runs for one year. If all goes well, city and county officials will be looking into more long-term arrangements. Over time, Gore hopes to consolidate contracts in both governments.

“They have a lot of small contracts. We have big contracts. When we combine those contracts, we’ll see efficiencies down road,” he said.

The agreement is one of the first aimed at eliminating duplicate services in El Paso County. “As elected officials,” said commissioner Sallie Clark, “we need to reduce the overhead that citizens pay.”

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Call the writer at 476-4825.

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