Commissioners pause award for jail rooftop HVAC; ask bidders for five years of references

Coffee County maintenance staff presented three bids to replace three rooftop rooftop HVAC units on the county jail, and commissioners held off awarding a contract while they seek more contractor history. The bids were Powers Heating and Air, $330,055.44; CHC Mechanical Contractors, $330,375; and Lee Company, $349,820.

The maintenance supervisor told commissioners the bids were close and raised concerns about future service and warranty coordination if a contractor other than the county’s maintenance contractor installed the units. He said the county has experienced trouble when maintenance contractors decline to service equipment they did not install. "With Lee Company, my original mindset was to let them do it because they are the company that does our maintenance," the maintenance supervisor said. "If there's something wrong, they tend to blame that we didn't install this unit."

Michael Powers, whose company submitted the lowest bid, attended the meeting to answer questions. He identified himself as "Michael Powers with Powers Heating and Air" and described prior work at prisons and other rooftop installations, including coordinating crane lifts and control-system work. He said he had contacted local crane services and that his team planned to use a 50-ton crane and that set-up could take several hours. A county staff estimate for crane services was about $20,000 total, and Powers said his lead time for the Aon units is about "8 to 12 weeks."

Staff and bidders discussed technical issues tied to the equipment model and servicing. A county representative noted the jail units are Aon units and that Hobbs and Associates represents that equipment; a bidder recommended Hobbs and Associates for technical service because the new units use updated controls and refrigerant safety systems. "We have a lot of new safeties on on these units. Our refrigerant is now flammable. So we gotta have a lot of new safeties on there," one bidder said, adding that specialized technicians would be required.

Rather than award the contract, commissioners asked staff to collect at least five years of comparable-project references from each bidder and to return the information at the next meeting or a special meeting. One commissioner framed the request as a way to avoid installing equipment from a contractor that might not be in business later: "We're trying to fix this problem... where we get a contractor that doesn't stay in business for, you know, 5 or 10 years down the road and there we are, we're stuck again."

Discussion points: close bid amounts; crane logistics and estimated crane cost of about $20,000; lead time of 8–12 weeks for Aon units; need for Hobbs and Associates or similarly trained technicians for Aon controls; warranty and long-term maintenance concerns.

Direction: staff will request and compile five years of references and comparable-project histories from Powers Heating and Air, CHC Mechanical Contractors and Lee Company and present those to the commission. Commissioners said they may call a special meeting before the next scheduled session to decide the award.

Decision: no contract awarded at this meeting. Commissioners directed staff to gather references and schedule follow-up.

Ending: Commissioners emphasized the need to resolve the procurement quickly but carefully; they said they want to avoid installation delays while ensuring future serviceability and warranty support.