Finney County approves HVAC VRF upgrades, authorizes lease financing and accepts contractor bids

The Finney County Board of Commissioners voted to authorize HVAC upgrades to four county buildings and to pursue lease-purchase financing for the work, approving the related resolution and accepting low contractor bids at its July meeting. The commission also authorized the chairman to execute documents required to proceed.

County Interim Administrator Gary Meager told commissioners that Integrated Consulting Engineers (ICE) completed a study and prepared design documents for VRF (variable refrigerant flow) heating and cooling improvements for the administration building, the courthouse, the county attorney’s office and the public library. Meager said bids were solicited and opened July 10.

The county will divide the work into two contract packages. Project A covers the administration building and library; the low bid was from Tetro Plumbing for $817,957. Project B covers the courthouse and the county attorney building; the low bid was from Central Consolidated Incorporated for $1,425,700. ICE reviewed the bids and recommended awarding to the low bidders.

Meager told the commission the county plans to fund the work through a lease-purchase agreement and asked the board to authorize staff and the county’s financial adviser to pursue financing options and return to the commission on Aug. 18 with specifics. He also said the combined authorization ceiling for financing would be up to $6,250,000, and that the actual requested amounts on the next steps would be lower than earlier estimates.

Commissioners discussed technical and schedule issues. Meager said the county expects the work to start around Aug.–Sept. and to run through the end of the year. He warned there is a $2,500-per-day liquidated-damages clause in the contract to encourage timely completion because parts of the buildings could be without heating or cooling for extended periods. Meager said the contractor timeline was driven by a short window and that many bidders said they could not undertake both project packages at once because of scheduling constraints.

Commissioners also asked about system reliability and warranties. Meager said the new major units carry a 10-year warranty and that the new design should improve reliability; he noted parts of the existing system have been a recurring problem, leading to building closures and disrupted services in the courthouse and library.

After discussion the commission adopted Resolution 19-20-25 authorizing the lease-purchase transaction and to proceed with the project and then voted to accept the low bids for Project A and Project B. The chairman was authorized to sign the documents necessary to proceed with financing and contract award.

The commission directed staff to return on Aug. 18 with the proposed lease-purchase terms for formal approval.

Details on bid amounts, the liquidated damages clause and the Aug. 18 financing update were provided during the public session of the July meeting.