County staff report HVAC failures, odor and access problems at Health & Human Services building; consultants investigating

County staff reported ongoing operational problems at the Health & Human Services building on Sheridan Road, including recent rooftop-unit failures, persistent odors in the coroner’s space and building-automation glitches that have interfered with 24/7 coroner access. “Kyle” (staff member) told the committee he identified “three main things going on” after several hours on site: lingering HVAC performance problems, an odor problem in the coroner space and building automation/security issues that sometimes prevent staff from accessing areas when needed. “Initially, the RTU 1 was having substantial issues, conditioning the building ... that really was the catalyst for bringing in the temporary cooling units and the temporary gensets,” Kyle said. Kyle reported that temporary HVAC units have not run for several weeks because reprogramming of RTU 1 appeared to restore adequate cooling for much of the facility. He said RTU 3 failed over a recent weekend and technicians determined the likely cause to be a blown fuse; the fuse has been ordered but no delivery date was available at the meeting. Kyle said River City and designers from Farnsworth are engaged to investigate odor and ventilation issues in the coroner’s area. Committee members pressed for additional detail about whether the coroner’s room was designed as negative-pressure space and how temporary cooling units could be used. Kyle said the design intent for that room — whether it was supposed to be negative pressure — is still under investigation and that the temporary units are plumbed through second-floor windows, making them impractical to reconfigure for the ground-floor coroner area without additional work. He also said the odor issue is being studied by vendor and design partners. Paul (committee member) referenced a comment by Jamie Harwood that the room should be at “0 pressure” and asked whether Kyle or the consultants had confirmed that design intent; Kyle said that question remains part of the investigation. Kyle also said technicians and designers are reviewing the ventilation, door seals and alarms tied to the building-automation system to restore reliable 24/7 access for the coroner’s staff. No formal action was taken during the meeting. County staff said they would continue coordinating with River City and Farnsworth to diagnose the odor and automation issues and to obtain the replacement fuse for RTU 3; no delivery date for the fuse was available at the time of the meeting.