Grant County Civic Center will be "cooling off" in the near future.
Grant County Commissioners voted unanimously in favor of Mari Honstead, Civic Center Manager, purchasing two new HVAC units for the facility during their regular meeting October 3.
Honstead put out the project for bid with three companies.
"I was only able to get two different bids," she said. "I contacted Ross and did not get a response."
Honstead presented the two bids - Air Comfort Consultants (ACC) and Weber Refrigeration & Heating, to the commissioners.
ACC's bid to furnish and install two package units came in at $42,225. Weber Refrigeration's came in at $35,000 for the same units.
Honstead confirmed to the commissioners that there are two, 10-ton units in need of replacement.
"I had asked Weber to quote only for Lennox units and they provided two - one from Lennox and one from Daikin."
Honstead requested the commissioners look at the second quote from Weber on the Lennox brand units. Honstead also noted the quote provided by Weber included economizers for an additional $3,700, plus tax.
"I don't think that (economizers) works for us, because if the humidity is right, the temperature is right, outside it pulls in outside air," Honstead added. "It's a big, programmable thing."
Grant County Commissioner Marty Long said he had experience with economizers from a business he once had.
"I think I had more trouble with (the economizers) than with the units," he said.
Honstead noted with the number of people who "deal with thermostats" at the civic center, they "need something simple."
"We just need on and off and (be able to) set a temperature," she said. "I just don't think (economizers) are the right place for us."
The units in need of replacement were not the ones Honstead thought she was going to need to replace first.
"The ones I thought weren't going to be a problem are going to be a problem," she said. "In the commercial building, we have been having a lot of trouble with it. We've had them go down twice while we've had events there. Paul (Rosales with ACC) has been gracious enough - within 20 minutes - to to have somebody there to get them fixed."
Rosales takes "extremely good care of them", according to Honstead.
"This summer during the fair, when our air conditioner went down in the 4H building - the rabbits were about to die," Honstead said. "(Paul) had somebody there in like 15 minutes and got us going. There were two events one was a Friday night and one was a Saturday. They were right there doing what they could to get them going again."
Honstead said the two units are both 20 years old.
"The compressor is going out of one of them," she said. "The wiring has gotten very brittle - that is what has been popping them. A wire will break and then it will touch the side, and trip the breaker. The belts are (also) about shot."
Honstead commented she was "unsure"with winter coming if the problem would also affect the heating part of the unit, to which Long responded "it will".
The units needing to be replaced are located on the west side of the civic center - one in each corner. Duct work will not need to be replaced.
Honstead told commissioners they won't need a crane to move it like they will need when the unit in the auditorium needs replaced,
"And it possibly could be replaced in a full day's work," she added.
She also told commissioners what was important to her in deciding which bid to accept.
"I do want to add, and this is a biggie for me, is the service," Honstead said, pointing out how Rosales had taken care of the center's needs.
Long asked if the money needed was in her department budget, to which Honstead replied in the affirmative.
"I have $50,000 every year for an HVAC unit," she said.
Long made a motion for the commission to accept the bid from ACC in the amount of $42,225, to replace the two units.
The motion carried unanimously by the three commissioners with no further discussion on the matter.
Prior to talking about the HVAC needs, Honstead spoke with the commissioners about another issue.
"I want to touch on something I talked to John (Martin) about (regarding the stage," Honstead said. "I have it in my capital improvement."
Honstead said she would like to redo the stage in the civic center.
"I want to redo the stage this year, because it is getting kind of washy in the middle," she explained. "With the bands and stuff up there, we are getting concerned those boards are getting weak underneath."
Honstead explained what she had planned.
"My plan is to take those two front stair areas and put the stairs on the back so we will have a wall on (one side) with a very good, sturdy handrail," Honstead said. "And then a rail on the other side of the step so we are not trying to make something stand without a lot of support."
Honstead said she would like to completely do away with the stairs on the front of the stage, and just fill it in, and put stairs on the back.
"The other thing is OSHA requires on a stage like that - that there is some kind of safety rail in front that you can drop during an event," Honstead said. "I'm kind of on the fence on that because the kids will be climbing on it. If that would give that's a further fall for them and it could dump them on the floor."
Long asked if Honstead was talking about "rebuilding the entire stage" and tearing the existing one out."
"I think we can fix it for a lot cheaper, because the framework is fine," Honstead replied. "I think the supports in the middle are getting weak. The carpet needs to be replaced and then when we take that off and the flooring material, then we can get down into the bones of it and replace those, resheet it and recarpet it. That is something we can do. If we were to tear it all out and try to rebuild a new one - I don't know if we could handle that."
Honstead also provided commissioners with an update on grass at the center.
"(We have been) working on the goatheads pretty regularly," she said, adding, "I think the only way we will get rid of them is to physically chop them."
There has been progress on the grass, according to Honstead, confirming they had gone to using pasture Bermuda and that she thinks it will be more resilient with all of the "traffic" at the center.
"Both the Buffalo and Bermuda grass are shooting runners now it's cooling off," she said. It's starting to fill in.
Honstead said she thinks they will see progress on the weed situation next year.
Commissioner John Martin brought up that the budge for the civic center had a "sizeable increase" approved by the commissioners for next year.
There was then some discussion by Long and Martin about "finding someone" to help with keeping up the grounds at the center.
Martin pointed out that the man who had been taking care of yards at the senior center might "fit that bill" pretty good. Martin did point out that the decision of who to hire was up to Honstead.
Long added that he would have to submit an application for the position, "to see if he fits up to Mari's standards."
When clarifying who they were referring to, Long said, "the one who is going to be out of a job in January." Long added he would be free to apply and that the commission "hoped he does."
Honstead said the position, depending on experience, she thought pay for the position would be $13 to $14 an hour.
She and the commission also briefly discussed flooring. Honstead pointed out that some of the tile flooring they had at the center has had to be replaced three times in the 15 years she has been at the center.
Watch for more action taken by Grant County Commissioner in next week's edition of the Ulysses News.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here