Public works staff told the Richland County Public Works Committee that one of two 43‑year‑old boilers at a county facility has developed an internal leak and is effectively nonrepairable, and that staff are seeking replacement estimates and procurement guidance.

Committee members heard that the failed boiler’s fire chamber is full of water and that the unit has been losing water since about July of the prior year. The county’s service contractors removed the boiler front and found internal corrosion and a breach that staff said cannot be fixed in the field. Public works staff said the facility currently operates with the remaining boiler and that both units are rated at about 1,300,000 BTU each, meaning the county needs roughly 3,000,000 BTU capacity to match existing heating output.

Why it matters: the boilers provide building heat and hot water for county facilities; replacing both units requires piping and gas‑line work as well as new boilers and filtration equipment. Committee members flagged cost, procurement and lead‑time concerns and directed staff to obtain additional estimates and follow the county procurement policy before returning a funding request.

Details and next steps
Public works staff said they had asked the county’s usual vendors, Precision and Ash Creek, for an estimate. Staff reported a verbal, not‑to‑exceed figure from those vendors but did not provide a clear numeric amount in the meeting record. The vendors’ estimate, staff said, would cover new boilers, associated gas and water piping work, labor and a magnetic filtration system to capture metals. Staff said they are seeking at least two additional estimates to “match apples to apples” on BTU and flow specifications and will aim to meet the county’s procurement requirement of three bids when the project exceeds formal thresholds.

Staff also noted that the boilers had passed a state pressure inspection in August of the prior year and that routine chemical treatment and annual inspections had been performed. Committee members said they will place the item on the next meeting agenda for a formal funding request after staff return with written estimates and procurement‑compliant bids. One committee member asked whether the county’s general fund or “article money” could cover the work; staff said funding sources are not yet finalized.

Staff cautioned that lead times for new boilers could be several weeks (reported in the meeting as about three to four weeks for the models under consideration) and that delaying replacement could increase costs. No formal appropriation or vote to commit funds was recorded during the meeting; the committee’s direction was to gather more estimates and return with a procurement‑compliant recommendation.

Ending
Public works staff said they will obtain additional written estimates, confirm procurement steps, and put a funding request on the next meeting agenda once competitive bids are available. The committee did not commit county funds at this meeting.