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Supervisors approve jail HVAC replacement; award contingent on contractor matching warranty
Summary
After receiving three bids, the Patrick County Board of Supervisors approved awarding replacement of a failing female‑housing rooftop HVAC unit to the lowest‑cost responsive bidder, contingent on labor‑warranty terms; board members also discussed jail staffing losses and the countyʼs $30,000 capital set‑aside for replacements.
The Patrick County Board of Supervisors voted to award emergency replacement work on a rooftop HVAC unit serving the jail’s female housing area to the low bidder, with the award contingent on the contractor matching the labor warranty offered by a competing bidder.
Jail staff told the board that maintaining temperature within inmate housing is required by state statute and by guidance from the Virginia Department of Corrections, making rooftop unit failures effectively emergencies. The county has $30,000 set aside in capital improvements for HVAC replacements; staff said the unit bid amounts were in the ballpark of $13,000 for the immediate repair and that the jail has about 14 rooftop units in total.
Three local contractors submitted quotes; one bidder recommended a larger 7.5‑ton unit because of supply constraints for the newer refrigerant, and that bid included about a one‑week lead time. Staff and supervisors expressed concern about lead times and refrigerant availability; one supervisor noted that some vendors quoted a 7.5‑ton system because the currently available model required new adapters.
During discussion, supervisors favored the bidder known to the county for prior service (identified in the meeting as Handy). The board made a motion to award the work to Handy contingent on Handy matching the labor‑warranty terms offered by Vipperman (the higher bidder). The motion passed unanimously. The board then approved an additional motion to award to Vipperman if Handy later failed to accept the warranty condition.
Separately, jail leadership told the board the county lost three jail positions from the state comp board funding formula, creating vacancies the department expects to cover temporarily. Staff said the comp‑board allocation is based on inmate population and that the county was notified of the change after the budget process; supervisors were told the jail would attempt to operate with current vacancies and could return to the board if staffing problems worsen.
What’s next: Staff will collect warranty documentation from Handy and confirm whether Handy will meet the Vipperman labor‑warranty level; if not, the board approved awarding the contract to Vipperman.
