County staff report they now own a 50-ton chiller after PO cancellation; procurement and budget adjustments expected

County staff on May 12 told commissioners they currently hold a 50-ton Kiesel chiller the county had ordered last year after the county canceled a purchase order tied to an ongoing facilities decision.

Bryce Taylor and county staff explained that the county issued a purchase order in 2024 for a chiller and later decided not to proceed with installing a chiller in the facility in question. Eaton Engineering told county staff it would not accept the chiller back because of the unit’s nonstandard size and market demand, so the county has taken ownership of the equipment. Staff said the purchase price the manufacturer invoiced was roughly $73,000; the original budgeted amount for purchase and installation had been about $149,000.

Taylor said the chiller is a closed-loop water-chiller unit intended for a smaller building and that county HVAC staff did not identify an immediate county facility that could accept the unit without further modifications. "It's a smaller chiller... it's a 50 ton unit," Taylor said. Staff said they had asked county HVAC staff and library facilities staff whether the unit could be repurposed; there was no immediate candidate identified in the work session.

County staff said the vendor had already ordered and manufactured the chiller before the PO cancellation and that a budget adjustment will be required to absorb the equipment cost in the county’s capital projects budget. Staff said commissioners would see a proposed budget change and that the county may discuss facility disposition or offload options in a later closed-session item tied to facility disposition.

Commissioners did not take formal action at the work session other than directing staff to prepare the budget adjustment and to return with options for reuse, sale, or inclusion of the chiller in any facility disposition process.