The Phelps County Commission refused to approve a $237,209 bid for HVAC repair and maintenance at the Sheriff’s Department until it investigates alternative options.
Citing incomplete installations of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system in the four-year old building by a number of contractors, spokespersons for the company submitting the bid explained the reasons for the high cost for the computer-controlled system.
Representatives from Air Masters, Bob Wood and David Wann, said they had contacted other contractors, including those who had originally installed the system, and were told “they didn’t want to have anything to do with it.” Wann specifically identified Hogan Construction as one of the original contractors.
Moreover, Wann said, the vice-president of the company that manufactured the original system, Teletrol, told them to “take it out because they didn’t want to support it anymore.”
Presiding Commissioner Randy Verkamp said, “The pivotal issue is whether Teletrol should be abandoned.”
The Air Masters representatives said they could not communicate with the Teletrol system and would need to replace it with a Reliable (brand name) board, essentially replacing one HVAC brain with another, to regain control of the system, for a cost of $80,789 for the new unit and its installation. Other HVAC components, such as wiring, thermostat, sensors and valves, would not be replaced.
Preventive maintenance costs for five years totaled $156,420 and includes boiler start up, operating inspections, main inspections, spring start-up, monitoring of the system and inspecting the recovery units on top of the building that supply fresh air . The entire unit has 61 heat pumps, the representatives said.
The cost of the new control unit would need to be paid at installation, the reps said, but the preventive maintenance could be paid out through a five-year period.
Phelps County Detective Mark Leathers told the Commission that Mark Brookshire, the facilities manager for Phelps County, had remote and authorized access to the system from the courthouse.
“In the past, if we had a temperature problem in the jail, we’ve had to call Mark to turn the system on or off. Otherwise, people just manually turn it on or off,” Leathers said.
Jail Supervisor Ed Clinton said, “What if Mark Brookshire is not available to come and set it? How do we turn the system on or off when Mark is gone?”
Verkamp said, “It’s a pretty big decision, and we need to weigh in with Mark Brookshire and the Sheriff next week because this is a pretty big chunk of his budget.”
