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County facilities staff warn boilers aging; urge planning for $500,000 replacement
Summary
Facilities manager reported courthouse boilers are 22'23 years old with failing pumps and ductwork; a budget quote for replacement including pumps and controls was cited at roughly $460,000 and the proposal figure was increased to $500,000 for contingencies.
Anthony (county facilities) briefed the board on courthouse heating and related county-facilities needs, saying boilers are about 22 to 23 years old and some components have deteriorated. "The boilers are 22, 23 years old. Been repaired several times," Anthony said, adding that ductwork has been rotted and pumps are beginning to show failure.
Anthony said the county has budget estimates from its maintenance contractor for replacing pumps and associated equipment, and that he had bumped an internal estimate to $500,000 to allow for additional work discovered when tearing into existing systems. He also said some data-room cooling split units are near end of life and mini-splits are in server closets; several bearings on cooling units are failing.
Facilities staff and commissioners discussed existing flow-switch safeguards and sensor-based fail-safes that shut boilers down if problems are detected, but Anthony warned that frozen flow switches could bypass expected shutdown behaviors and cause damage if not caught. Commissioners asked about alarms and monitoring; Anthony said many fail-safes exist but recommended active sensor checks and eventual equipment replacement planning.
No formal award or contract was approved; facilities staff asked that the project be considered as part of capital planning and possible SPET prioritization or paid from the building reserve with a caution that using reserves now could reduce capacity to respond to unforeseen emergencies.
