Shorewood council authorizes unbudgeted chiller replacement at Public Safety building

Shorewood fire and police leadership told the City Council on June 9 that the Public Safety building’s central chiller had reached the end of its service life, that some components had been damaged historically by lightning and that replacement chillers now carry substantially higher equipment and labor costs.

Fire Chief Mackey said the building contains multiple variable air volume (VAV) boxes and external compressors; completing a full, competitively bid replacement required a consultant to scope the work and produce bidding documents. Contractors told staff that tariffs and recent labor cost increases raised equipment and installation prices substantially; staff warned that if a working compressor fails before replacement, temporary rental of a chiller could cost roughly $17,000 per month.

Because the expenditure was not in the adopted budget, the Council adopted Resolution No. 25-056 authorizing the purchase and a budget adjustment to proceed with scoping, procurement and installation. Councilmembers asked staff to pursue any practical cost reductions in the contract package, such as removing nonessential work the city can do in house.

Quotes

"When the building was constructed, there were things that were cut ... which means the units have been hit by lightning numerous times over the years," Fire Chief Mackey said, explaining the need for a careful scoping process.

Next steps

Staff will finalize procurement documents, issue the competitive bid and return with contract execution details and a timeline. The Council noted the procurement may take months due to equipment lead times and asked staff to report promptly if a temporary rental becomes necessary.

Ending

Resolution No. 25-056 passed during the meeting and staff will bring an update to Council when procurement is underway.