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HHS flags building HVAC and lighting in county capital improvement plan; staff to seek updated estimates
Summary
Richland County HHS reviewed the county capital improvement plan items affecting its building — an HVAC overhaul estimated at $150,000 and LED lighting upgrades previously estimated at about $25,000 — and directed staff to gather updated vendor estimates before final action.
Members of the Richland County Health and Human Services committee reviewed their section of the county capital improvement plan and focused on two facilities projects that could affect the HHS building in 2023: an HVAC overhaul and an LED lighting replacement.
Why it matters: HHS staff said 15 of the facility’s roughly 18 HVAC units are more than 20 years old and that a small area of the building remodeled in 2009 has persistent temperature control problems. The administrator’s preliminary CIP estimates included $150,000 for HVAC work and approximately $25,000 for LED lighting in earlier proposal documents.
HHS staff described the $150,000 HVAC figure as a “rough guess” and said vendors have been reluctant to bid without an approved funding commitment because a major overhaul requires engineering, phased work and downtime. Staff also noted the county budgets roughly $5,000 per year as a contingency for the occasional unit replacement.
Board members discussed deferring a proposed storage/shed carport project to 2025 and using existing transportation trust funds to build a bus shelter or garage in future years. HHS said the transportation trust fund currently has about $61,000; the state DOT requires spending that fund once it approaches $80,000 or returning funds to the state.
On LED lighting, staff referenced a 2017 estimate that listed about 951 fluorescent bulbs in the building and a rough replacement cost of roughly $25,000 at that time, but they cautioned that the earlier estimate likely omitted fixtures, ballast replacement and installation. Staff asked for permission to solicit updated bids and to consider paying vendors a modest fee to perform an on‑site assessment if necessary.
The committee did not adopt a final CIP amendment at the meeting. Members instructed staff to obtain updated estimates from vendors, to return with more precise costs for Finance and Personnel consideration, and to track possible grant or trust fund matches for transportation and energy projects.
