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Kootenai County approves major upgrade to jail hot-water system
Summary
The Kootenai County Board of Commissioners approved a change order to replace and upsize the jail hot-water system after repeated failures and an engineering review that found the existing system undersized for continuous laundry demand.
Kootenai County commissioners on March 3 approved a change order to upgrade the jail’s hot-water system after staff said repeated equipment failures showed the existing setup could not handle demand from on-site commercial laundry machines.
Building and grounds director Jeff Fuller told the board that a mechanical engineering review showed the county had under‑sized the system and recommended moving to an on‑demand configuration with a substantially higher total output. "The five commercial washing machines are drawing an awful lot of water at 160 degree temperature; that's really taxing that system," Fuller said, explaining why earlier replacements failed to resolve the problem.
Fuller said the county will increase the system’s output (the transcript reports a change from roughly 1.2 million BTU to about 4 million BTU) and switch to an on‑demand approach. He said he negotiated the contractor’s markup down from 15 percent to 5.5 percent, "which saved the county $30,000," and that two existing units could be repurposed in the coroner's autopsy lab as a credit against the contract.
Fuller also said that one of the replaced heaters failed a second time and the manufacturer declined a second warranty on the grounds it is a demand problem, not a product defect: "The manufacturer ... said they will not warranty it a second time because it is a demand problem, not a product problem."
Commissioners questioned how the issue was missed during the prior purchase cycle and emphasized the importance of more thorough vetting. After discussion, the board moved and approved the change order and related contract adjustments.
The action authorizes the county to proceed with the upgraded design and contractor work; staff said they had negotiated savings and expect to capture credit by reusing some equipment. The transcript lists the contractor name with inconsistent spellings (Sletin / Slutton / Sutton); the county record should be consulted for the contractor's official name and the finalized contract amount.
