Aldermen approve Border Services Inc. contract for HVAC and water-heating replacement

The Board of Aldermen unanimously approved an ordinance authorizing execution of a contract with Border Services Inc. for replacement of HVAC and water-heating systems at a city facility, and the council approved a higher project amount after staff said additional work was necessary to address indoor air and temperature balancing issues.

A staff speaker told aldermen that the original contract amount had been described previously as “not to exceed $165,000” but that additional scope — including duct boosters and individual thermostats to address temperature imbalances after the conversion of a large bunk room to individual rooms — added roughly $12,000 to the project. The speaker said carrying out the additional work now would avoid repeat remediation later and that the project remained under the overall project budget. “It would be silly to put this much money up there and then have…we're almost here at the end of 35 degrees lower here at 60 degrees,” the speaker said, arguing for doing the project properly the first time.

After discussion, the board advanced the matter through second reading and then adopted the ordinance on final passage. The mayor asked for a roll call on final passage; Alderman Parker, Alderman Riley, Alderman Welsh, Alderman Stark and Alderman Dyle all voted Aye. The mayor declared the motion passed.

Officials said the contract covers replacement of HVAC and water-heating infrastructure and includes work to improve air quality and temperature zoning. Staff said the city is still under budget for the broader project and had discussed the additional cost with the mayor and finance staff before the meeting. The contract will be executed following the formal ordinance process and contracting steps.

Next steps: the administration will finalize the contract documents and proceed with vendor coordination and project scheduling under the approved ordinance.