Council authorizes two HVAC renovation contracts for City Park and Westview recreation centers

The Westminster City Council approved two consent-agenda contracts on Feb. 10 to replace heating and cooling systems serving indoor pools at the City Park and Westview recreation centers.

Why it matters: The two projects are maintenance-driven replacements of aging HVAC equipment at two heavily used recreation facilities. Councilors asked whether alternative systems such as geothermal were evaluated before authorizing conventional heat-pump replacements.

Contract details and votes: - City Park Recreation Center: Council authorized the city manager to execute a contract with Reliant Mechanical Services to renovate pool heating and cooling systems at City Park Recreation Center in the amount of $904,150, plus a 10% contingency of $90,415, for a total authorized expenditure not to exceed $994,565. The motion was moved by Councilor DeMott, seconded from the dais, and passed on a 7-0 roll call.

- Westview Recreation Center: Council authorized the city manager to execute a contract with Design Mechanical Inc. to renovate heating and cooling systems at Westview Recreation Center in the amount of $846,965, plus a 10% contingency of $84,697, for a total authorized expenditure not to exceed $931,662. The motion passed on a 7-0 roll call.

Council discussion: Councilor DeMott asked whether staff had evaluated non-conventional technologies for the replacements, such as geothermal or other low-carbon systems. Paul Knippel (identified earlier in the meeting as Director of Public Works and Utilities) and other staff said the current contracts address replacement of conventional air-to-air heat pump systems as part of maintenance and lifecycle replacement.

Knippel said the projects were part of routine maintenance and that a full evaluation of geothermal would increase upfront cost and require an analysis of payback periods; staff did not present a detailed geothermal cost comparison at the Feb. 10 meeting. Staff noted the city already uses solar for electricity purchases at major facilities and that City Hall is heated with ground-source heat, but the two rec-center replacements were scoped as maintenance projects in the current budget.

Next steps: Contracts are authorized and staff will proceed with procurement and project scheduling under the approved contingency limits. Council directed staff to follow up if alternative energy evaluations become practicable within project budgets.