Honeywell audit recommends roughly $12.5 million in upgrades for Grand Island facilities; ice-rink revival offered as optional $2M project

Honeywell International told the Grand Island City Council on Sept. 30 that an investment-grade audit of four municipal buildings recommends about $12,500,000 in combined projects, with alternative “priority” packages that would cost about $10.6 million and $8.6 million depending on whether the Heartland Event Center ice-rink work is included.

The recommendation matters because it groups energy-efficiency, operational reliability and capital-repair work into a single financing proposal that Honeywell says could be paid in part from guaranteed energy and operational savings and by financing; the city also heard that a state grant program could cover up to $1,125,000 of an ice-rink conversion, if council pursues that option.

Honeywell presenters said the audit covered City Hall, the Heartland Event Center, the Law Enforcement Center and the public library. Jordan, Honeywell’s local account executive, told council, "All of the projects we've looked at for you are totaling to a budget of about $12,500,000." Don Borgman, Honeywell’s solution development engineer, summarized the firm’s approach: "we do what we call a line by line audit." The report included detailed retrofit suggestions and three funding scenarios for council consideration.

What Honeywell recommended

- Heartland Event Center: The largest scope of work is at the Heartland Event Center and includes two separate lighting projects (concourse/administrative lighting and a separate arena light replacement), replacement or refurbishment of boilers, roof recoating, mechanical insulation, building-controls replacement, sound-system upgrades and an optional ice-rink revival. Honeywell estimated concourse/fixture LED upgrades at about $700,000 with roughly $23,000 a year in energy savings and additional operational savings from lower maintenance. The firm said arena LED fixtures would increase measured on-floor light from about 41 foot-candles to about 100 foot-candles and improve uniformity (from roughly a 6.5:1 contrast ratio to under 2:1) while reducing energy demand.

- Boilers and HVAC: At the Heartland Event Center Honeywell found only two of the original five boilers in service and recommended removing three nonfunctional units and installing three high-efficiency replacements to restore designed redundancy. Council members pressed on timing for that work; Honeywell said a full packaged schedule would not be ready for the coming winter but could be expedited if council treats a boiler replacement as a stand-alone emergency procurement. Council member Nickerson said, “We definitely have to have a contingency plan,” noting winter event schedules.

- Law Enforcement Center (LEC): Honeywell recommended replacement of rooftop HVAC units (priority given to Rooftop Unit 1, which serves 24/7 operations). The firm also reported results of an invasive building-envelope study that removed portions of exterior brick to inspect flashing and coping; Honeywell concluded that flashing and end-damming details are a primary driver of long-running water infiltration and recommended targeted flashing and lower-roof replacement rather than repeating short-term patch repairs.

- City Hall and Library: City Hall measures focus on occupant comfort and include refurbishing air-handling units, replacement of three humidifiers that have been out of service (which Honeywell said would not produce energy savings but would improve comfort), window-film installation to reduce solar heat gain in the main entry, and building-envelope work. The library needs only limited control-system reprogramming, Honeywell said.

- Ancillary upgrades: Honeywell also recommended mechanical insulation, low-flow and hands‑free plumbing fixtures, and building-envelope sealing and weather-stripping at several facilities. The Heartland Event Center vestibule (replacement after a vehicle strike) was presented as a capital upgrade with no direct energy savings.

Ice-rink option and grant opportunity

Honeywell presented a separate ice-rink revival package for the Heartland Event Center that would require removal and replacement of the existing chiller and associated equipment. Kyler (identified in the meeting as the Heartland Event Center executive director) summarized local interest: "The number 1 thing I've seen from the community is the number 1 question I get from people about the event centers, are we gonna get an ice rink?" Kyler said a Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) expansion team had expressed interest in locating in Grand Island if ice were available and that a properly managed program (public skate, team tenancy, special events) could produce meaningful revenue. Honeywell estimated no direct energy or O&M savings from the ice plant (it is equipment that has not been in service for about 20 years) and showed an incremental project cost of roughly $2,000,000 in the all‑in scenario. Honeywell and city staff said the Community and Civic Center Financing Fund (CCCFF) could provide up to $1,125,000 toward an ice project if the city matches award dollars at a 50/50 ratio.

Financing scenarios, savings and timeline

Honeywell presented three scenarios: an "all-in" package at about $12.5 million; a "priority" package at about $10.6 million (which trims lower‑priority items but keeps the ice-rink option); and a reduced package at about $8.6 million excluding the ice work. In Honeywell’s 20‑year cash-flow model (used as an illustrative example) estimated energy savings over 20 years were roughly $2.3 million, operations-and-maintenance savings about $700,000 and capital-cost avoidance about $2.0 million (a funding total near $5.0 million). Using an indicative financing rate of about 4.25% and a 20‑year term, Honeywell’s model showed a remaining annual shortfall under the all‑in scenario (the firm highlighted that additional revenue, grant awards or direct capital contributions would be required to fully close the gap).

Honeywell described measurement and verification (M&V) procedures to monitor guaranteed savings and modeled three years of M&V in its illustrative cash flows. The firm said the typical construction timeframe for the combined scope is about 16 months, with equipment lead times (notably for chillers) currently in the range of roughly 30 weeks; Honeywell said individual projects could be expedited if council treated them as standalone procurements. The firm also told council that Nebraska state law requires an outside engineer or third‑party review of savings guarantees before financing is finalized; the city attorney and administrator said that outside review and procurement could take about a month to complete and would affect the earliest possible financing schedule.

Council and staff questions and next steps

Council members asked about project sequencing, warranties, expected life spans (Honeywell cited 20‑plus years for many envelope and boiler materials and 10‑ to 20‑year warranties for LED fixtures), and contingency planning for critical items, especially boilers and chillers. City Administrator Patrick Brown and other staff flagged unresolved financing and scheduling questions; Brown noted the city could consider multiple funding approaches, including phased contracting or using lodging/occupancy tax revenue. Brown described a hotel-occupancy tax currently at about 2% that, if increased, would increase annual receipts (the administration gave example figures roughly showing that a 4% tax would generate approximately $1,000,000 annually from current activity, while 5% would approximate $1,250,000). The city attorney reminded council that the state-required independent review must be procured; she and staff said that step would affect the timeline for any financing.

No formal action or contract award was taken on Sept. 30. Honeywell asked council to indicate a preferred project scenario so the company could prepare a single energy‑savings performance contract; Honeywell proposed bringing a contract and financing request to council on Nov. 18 if the city could complete internal review and the required third-party review. City staff said more time likely will be needed to complete internal review and to evaluate financing paths; several council members said they wanted additional analysis of projected revenues and financing options before committing to a package.

Council members expressed interest in preserving options: several said they support pursuing better lighting, controls and HVAC replacements and want more work on financing details before committing to larger capital projects. Several also said the CCCFF grant and a possible hockey tenancy made the ice-rink option worth deeper study, while noting the city would need a clear business plan and firm grant award to justify a multi‑million‑dollar capital commitment.

Next steps outlined in the meeting record included city staff review of Honeywell’s full investment‑grade audit report, procurement of the state‑required independent engineering review if the city seeks financing, and follow-up council discussion about which scenario to pursue. Honeywell indicated it could prepare contract documents once the city selects a scenario and secures financing arrangements.

The presentation and council discussion for the item lasted the bulk of the meeting. City staff and council members asked for more time to examine Honeywell’s detailed report, for refined revenue and financing estimates, and for community input on the ice‑rink option before final action.