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Lampasas council approves up to $25,000 to diagnose and repair Calvert Municipal Building HVAC
Summary
Council voted to engage a contractor to diagnose and repair the leaking HVAC control system at the Jack Calvert Municipal Building, with staff to seek extended warranty coverage for controls and software.
The Lampasas City Council authorized up to $25,000 to diagnose and repair the HVAC system at the Jack Calvert Municipal Building, citing concern about summer temperatures and controls that have left part of the building without cooling.
At a workshop earlier in the meeting city staff described complex problems: the building’s rooftop and ceiling cassette units are networked together rather than independently zoned; the system uses an older two‑part R‑410A refrigerant that will be phased out and is expensive to replace; and a failure in the building controls (the intelligent manager software) has rendered multiple zones inoperable. Staff said a vendor quoted roughly $9,400 to locate and repair a refrigerant leak and another estimate of similar magnitude for control‑software work; a full replacement of top‑and‑bottom systems could approach the six‑figure mark.
Contractor and local HVAC specialists advised the council that, because the controls are networked, technicians must pull and weigh out the entire refrigerant charge to find and fix leaks, and that converting to current refrigerants will likely require new equipment for some components. Staff and a consulting installer said the building is seven years old and that careful repair now could yield another 10–15 years of service, while replacement would cost substantially more.
During the regular session council member moved to engage BRF (a local service contractor) to diagnose and repair the leak and related control issues at the Calvert building in an amount not to exceed $25,000. Council discussed seeking a multi‑year warranty for labor and software; staff said they would attempt to negotiate extended warranty coverage and report back if that is not achievable. The motion passed with council voice vote.
Council members said the priority was restoring cooling for staff and public meetings before the summer heat, while trying to avoid a full system replacement before October when newer refrigerants and compatible equipment are more widely available.
